Health-e-Weight for Women

Planning and preparing meals is always a challenge, and especially when you're trying to learn new ways of eating. Following a set menu plan is one option, but menus planned by someone else don't necessarily include foods that you enjoy.

Planning menus for optimum health involves using macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) for steady blood sugar, along with food preferences and other guidelines such as limiting calories for weight loss. To keep this from being too technical, we refer to the main meal components as protein, whole grains, vegetables and fruits.

We have provided some menus, but we also want to give you the tools to plan your own. In this section you will find some guidelines including which components to plan for in meals, and specific ideas for meals and snacks. Use the links for more information about these components, specific food choices and preparation methods for foods used less commonly.

Our main goals:

1. That you come to understand enough about the food categories that you can easily make substitutions to fit your preferences (i.e. we may list broccoli in a suggested meal, but you might substitute cauliflower or green beans).
2. That you get a sense of what a balanced plate looks like at each meal. Lunch without a vegetable? Something's missing. No fruit today? Add it after dinner. The Healthy Eating Pyramid is also a good guideline for what foods to fit into your meal plans more, or less, frequently.
3. That you have information regarding preparation of foods that are commonly avoided because many people don't know what to do with them (for example, Tofu, Tempeh, Greens, Fish).

Here are some meal ideas, for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. We've also included suggestions of foods you can use to alternate, to satisfy your personal preferences.

Breakfast: ( Protein + Whole Grain + Fruit )

1. Scrambled egg, whole wheat toast, orange
2. High-fiber cereal (4 grams per serving) with soy milk and banana slices
3. Peanut butter on whole wheat toast, cantaloupe
4. Omelette with lowfat cheese, whole wheat toast, strawberries
5. Oatmeal (cooked in soy milk), topped with raisins
6. Cottage cheese, bran muffin, fresh blueberries

Lunch: ( Protein + Whole Grain + Vegetable )

1. Turkey sandwich, made with whole wheat bread, tomato
2. Chicken & vegetable soup, crackers
3. Chef salad (fresh spinach, red leaf lettuce, tofu, tomato, broccoli, cheese), low-fat dressing, whole grain roll
4. Hummus, whole wheat pita bread, tomato, red pepper, salad greens
5. Tuna with celery, salad greens, whole wheat pita
6. Veggie burger, lettuce & tomato, whole wheat roll
7. Minestrone soup, turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread
8. Pita pizza (use whole wheat pita as crust, top with marinara sauce, reduced fat mozzarella) topped with red, yellow & green peppers
9. Black beans and salsa on a corn tortilla

Snack: ( Protein + Whole Grain or Fruit )

1. Lowfat cheese & crackers
2. Peanut butter & apple
3. Almonds & pear
4. Cottage cheese & whole grain crackers
5. Hummus & pita chips or carrots
6. Yogurt with granola

Dinner: ( Protein + Whole Grain + Vegetable )

1. Tofu stirfry (chicken, carrots, snowpeas, broccoli) and rice
2. Vegetable lasagna, made with low-fat cheese
3. Pizza (Boboli crust, fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, reduced-fat mozzarella, chicken pieces), mixed greens salad
4. Dinner salad: mixed greens, tomatoes, broccoli, tuna, chick peas, low-fat cheese
5. Veggie burger, whole wheat roll, low-fat cheese, tomato, mixed greens
6. Pasta with chicken, garlic, fresh tomato, chopped spinach
7. Burritos: tortilla with beans, low-fat or non-fat cheese, corn, top with salsa
8. Salmon, baked potato, steamed asparagus

Copyright 2002 Brigham and Women's Hospital