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I felt the same way about about the odd combination of food on the menu planner. Instead of following the menu exactly, it might be better to print off the recipes you are most interested in, and work them into a sensible daily plan.
LAHi, Webare. Just try to eat unprocessed whole foods – as long as you do that, don’t worry too much about the fancy stuff.
Here is what happened when I ran the menu planner the first time. I went through the list checking off everything I liked EXCEPT for the dark blue items, ” I knew this would lower my overall percentage”.
Then I reviewed the week, the list had scallops quite a bit I chose lobster, crab and scallops but those are really treats thatI might eat once a month. So I ran the planer again and unchecked those three and now the weekly selection looked better and my percentage went up as well. Now some of the breakfast and snack recommendations didn’t look right,”1 Tbsp of honey mustered with nothing to put it on” so I clicked on the circular arrows next to it and a list of everything I chose for snacks in that catagory shows up and I chose something that would better match. It took three passes to, “fine tune” my planner but in the end the list made sense was doable and my percentage ended up at 91% when it first started at 80%.
I’ll still occasionally have my scallops as you are allowed to splurge every once an awhile.
As to splurging,I’m aware that the more you do this the the more of a delay you will add to removing the pounds.
As to the planner it self, well it’s a program not a person it follows the guidelines it was told to do so it will blindly include some items that to a person does not make sense. But that’s why we have the option to change each item to something that makes more sense.Hope my experience with the planner helps.
Regards
I agree with jcsmith1982, the menu options that come up for me are 95% unworkable. Sometimes, the snack listings are huge and sometimes only a single fruit. I can’t figure out a formula for each meal so I can do my own planning and still get close to the desired balance of carbs, proteins, and fat. I even have trouble assembling a shopping list that ensures I have the right mix on hand with the food lists provided in the materials. The ads imply that online access to ask a dietitian is included in my package. When I went to access this, I found an additional fee ( by the minute even!) was required. I did okay the first week by simply selecting one or two of each meal option that I could work and repeating them vice following the week as shown. I just finished the 2nd week and have actually went up a little in weight even though I think I’m doing the same thing.
I’m still tweaking my menu planner, but I want to suggest to webare that at some point it asks if you want a lot of variety or a little variety. I clicked on “little variety” because I am the only one in my family of two that is on the Trim Down Plan. It seemed to simplify things. Because I am cooking for one, and I have to watch my budget carefully, and also because we don’t have a Whole Foods or Trader Joes, I don’t buy for the great variety of things on my weekly menu. For instance, I eat rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast about 6 days a week. And I have a green salad with about 2 oz of meat or cheese or tuna, plus things like chopped celery, peppers, onion, etc. My snacks are generally fruit (canned or fresh) or some yogurt sprinkled with granola. If I keep it simple, it doesn’t tear up my budget or my patience.
If you are in the US, look for organic foods in WalMart. Ours has quite a few. If you have a farmers’ market, shop there if you can. We have quite a few “farmers” who are really experts on whole foods eating and love to share their knowledge.
Remember, that this may be a very different way of eating for you, and you may have to spend some time learning more of the “why” you should eat this way. Read the articles when you have a few minutes.
Now, I wish to state that I weigh 256!!!! And I’ve been on whole food eating “diets” before. And they have worked really well for me. I just gave myself permission to got back to bad eating when I was diagnosed with colon cancer. DUH. DUMB!!! Just when I should be eating the healthiest! And that is why I am here. To get back to healthy habits. And also to get much needed support for NOT EATING SO MUCH! “Moderation” has never been an important word in my vocabulary. LOL And I also need to exercise regularly, even though I am very physically limited in what I can do. So, bug me, will you please?
Hi Ossie,
I have never followed a diet where I measure my foods of add all food groups on a daily basis. To simplify understanding the new menu am i suppose to have a protein, fruit, and carb with each meal? I am a meat eater and do not see any meats on my menu. I purchased the grass fed beef but need to be sure i am having the correct food groups and portions with each meal. ThanksHi, Nan. Ideally, you would have a protein and a carb at each meal, maybe once in a while just fruit in between, but more often than not, something more balanced. I’m not sure why meats are not coming up for you, but you can swap them out for other proteins that do, just as long as you get enough dairy for calcium.
It might be that you chose many other proteins, and the system randomly picked up on those?
If you want, you can post your height and weight, plus an example of a day’s menu, and I will do a quick analysis to see where the snag might be.Ossie,
I am 5′ 1 ” and weigh 150 lbs. Below is an example of one day. Most of my days look similar. I guess I can switch out the fish for meat when I want to change things up. Would that be okay. Other than that I am pretty happy with my menu.
Breakfast
1 cup of Basic Hot Cereal (Porridge)
1 Apple
Snack #1
1 cup of Tea, Green/White/Red
1 cup of Breakfast Cereal Kashi
6 ounces of Light Yogurt, 0%
1 large Orange
Lunch
1 cup of Steamed Vegetables
3 ounces of Tuna, Canned in Water
1 cup of Barley (Cooked)
1 ounce of Almonds
Snack #2
1 cup of Strawberries
Dinner
1 serving of Green Vegetable Salad with Dressing
1 slice of Stuffing from Mix, Prepared
1/4 tsp of Mustard
12 ounces of Low-Fat Yogurt, 2%
1/2 cup of Green Beans/French Bean/Haricot
Snack #3
1 cup of Tea, Black
1 ounce of AlmondsI like my food choices and I am enjoying the menu. The problem is I think I’m eating too much food. I haven’t lost one pound and it may be that I’m ingesting too many calories. I am 48 years old 5’2 and my weight is a consistent 154.5lb. I don’t excercise much b/c of my busy schedule. I work 6am-7pm and then attend family activities (2 teens at home). Should I be counting calories? How many colories in each meal? A day?
Help I really want to loose weight.i just sarted this plan also and i went shopping yesterday and couldn’t beleive the prices of everything. so i put alot of things back. now i am not sure that this is going to work for me. also my husdband is a diabetic. He said that he doesn’t want to do this becouse he doesn’t like alot of the food it requires. so what do i do? I paid money for this and now i feel that i lost my money. HELP!
Please note that the Menu Planner also includes many “regular” foods. As for your husband, the foods on the plan are particularly relevant for him, as they are more likely to balance glucose and insulin metabolism.
Hi, MGonzalez. If you feel like you are eating too much and stuck at your weight, and you have no time to exercise, you might try to cut back a little on carbs and fats – but not too much, because you don’t want to slow down your metabolism.
Having said that, do try to steal time once in a while even to just take a walk.Nan, I have forwarded your issue to the tech support team. In the meantime, I suggest you replace the tuna and almonds at lunch with meat, or the large amount of yogurt at dinner. If you do swap out the yogurt, then it is recommended that you add skim milk to your cereals in the morning.
Hi Ossie, I joined yesterday and I agree with the comments made at this site in relation to meal planning. On the one hand this program reiterates that it’s not about calorie counting, but when you get to the pointy end, it is about calories ingested and calories expended that’s just a reality we can’t escape. I’m vegetarian and I would’ve preferred to tick a box (once only) against the foods I like and have the system design a balanced menu which also shows the carb, protein, fats, etc against each menu item. I’m not sure why we have to tick the boxes under different categories for the same food. It would’ve been easier to access a diet online – at no cost.
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