Breakfast: Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt (80 cals), Coffee with Creamer (40 cals)
If I wasn't dieting, I'd be enjoying a Jimmy Dean sausage, egg and crossant sandwich most mornings for breakfast. But I am dieting, so that's out. Breakfast is the most challenging meal of the day for me: I'm only allowing 120 calories for it, and there's a long stretch between it and lunchtime.
What works best is yogurt, but which one? The craze right now is Greek yogurt--which I really don't like. Fortunately, Dannon's Light & Fit Greek yogurt (80 calories) tastes great. In fact, they've done something remarkable with the huge variety of delicious flavors they offer. It comes in Banana Cream, Blackberry, Blueberry, Caramel Macchiato, Cherry, Cherry Chocolate, Citrus Blend, Key Lime, Peach, Pineapple, Pomegranate Berry, Raspberry, Raspberry Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, Strawberry Cheesecake, Toasted Coconut Vanilla, and Vanilla. They're always experimenting with new flavors too, so it doesn't stop there. I've recently seen limited edition flavors as well such as Pumpkin Pie. I've tried about half of these so far, and nearly all of them are really delicious.
But it doesn't stop there. There's also Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt Mousse (also 80 calories), which tastes more like a dessert. These come in Cherry Cheesecake, Coconut Cream, French Vanilla, Lemon Meringue, Blueberry Tart, Raspberry & White Chocolate, and Salted Caramel flavors.
You can buy Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt in packs of 6 or individually.
With my yogurt I'll have a cup of Breakfast Blend coffee (2 calories) from my Keurig and some creamer (30-40 calories).
Snack: Pickles (0 calories) or Tangerine (40)
Pickles: 0 calories
Another good snack are cuties (tangerines), only about 40 calories each.
Cuties: 40 calories
Lunch: Lean Cuisine Microwave Meals
Good meals under 200 cals from Lean Cuisine
Very good from Lean Cuisine in the 250-310 cal range
or:
Boston Market Turkey Medallions--a good portion of food (Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Vegetables), only 230 calories.
With one of these meals for lunch, I'm satisfied until my mid-afternoon meal.
Lunch Part 2: Mid-Afternoon Meal: Ready-Pac Bistro Bowl Salad
By 2:30 or 3:00pm I'm getting hungry again, but I have room for another meal because I kept my lunch to 200-300 calories. Ready-Pac Bistro Bowl Salads make a great follow up. They have a large variety in the 210-330 calorie range and most of them are quite good. There's a good variety and they are easy to prepare: just mix the toppings and dressing and stir.
Bistro Bowl Salads
My favorite is the Chef Salad (240 calories). If I need to stay on the lower side of calories, I'll go with the Caprese Salad with Balsamic Dressing or the Walnut Cranberry salad with Raspberry dressing (each 210 calories). The Santa Fe, Bacon Blue Wedge and Turkey & Bacon Cobb are also good, but I'll have those less often because they are 290 calories.
With my mid-afternoon salad, it's smooth coasting till dinner time.
Dinner: Home Cooking
My wife usually cooks for dinner, so it could be something different each time. Fortunately, she's good at helping me figure out the calories. On my diet plan, I've kept 600 calories (half my daily allowance) reserved so I can have a satisfying dinner.
Dessert: Sugar-free Jello and Diet Snapple
In the evening, I may have a sugar-free Jello (10 calories) or a Diet Peach Snapple (10 calories).Well, there's my default meal plan. Of course, I sometimes eat out or have to drive in to the office, which changes things. In Part 3, we'll explore survivor tips for eating lunch at fast food places.