[VariableStar]

Hi All

I just joined here and am looking foreword to losing weight. But the biggest problem for me in the past has been menu planning. Some of the diets give you a "suggested menu”, but they are either very time consuming to prepare, have ingredients I can't find or don't like or I have food left over which my husband and I eat!!!! So I find myself making the same through meals over and over until we can't look at them again.

Does anyone know of a web site that suggests health menus, not just recipes? Software? A weight lost program that provided healthy menus?

I'm not necessarily looking for a freebee- just help in the area that I ALWAYS sink in.

I don't want just to diet; I want to learn to eat healthy.

Thanks
Carol

[almostheaven]

There shouldn't be any reason why you can't cook what you would normally cook...with a few changes.

Meatloaf - Try turkey loaf
Chile - Use turkey instead of ground beef
Spaghetti - Use whole wheat pasta and even try a meatless sauce
Stuffed Peppers - Use brown rice and turkey (Same for cabbage rolls)

Substitute chicken and turkey sausages in meal plans that use sausage. Or ground turkey burgers instead of beef. Use egg whites instead of the whole egg. Use Stevia instead of sugar. Use whole wheats/grains instead of white flour products.

Just changing some main ingredients can make a meal healthier and still be the same meal you're used to cooking.

[aphil]

Really, all you need to do is tweak the "suggested" menus to your personal taste and calorie range, rather than following it exactly.
If the suggested menus on your plan tend to have a dairy, a starch, and a fruit for breakfast-play around with that. You don't have to go through some drawn out recipe. Find what the basics of each meal tends to be and play. If the menu for breakfast is some type of homemade granola cereal that you mix and bake yourself paired with a serving of boysenberries -I say if oatmeal and a banana is easier for you and has a similar amount of calories-then go for it.
I know sometimes that the suggested menus in plans can be sortof "complicated".

If the suggested menus for lunch tend to have a recipe based around a lean meat and vegetables...then just try to have chicken breast or fish, and maybe a salad or whatever you like, can afford, and can prepare. Or, search for healthy recipes that are similar...but maybe easier.

Suggested menus are just that...suggested.

[suzefactor]

you can try www.ediets.com for meal planning. you can switch around the meals and stuff. Right now I've been cooking three meals a day from a diabetic diet book (I'm not diabetic, but I'm eating what's considered a diabetic meal plan). It's taken me an hour and a half once a week to sit down, plan the meals, and make the shopping list. It's the biggest pain in the behind ever. However, ediets will make the plans for you, and the shopping list. i paid for it, but i don't use it. I really want to join weight watchers, but I totally can't afford it right now.

Sarah

[lucky]

Tweaking my own recipes, altering how I cook, and choosing more reasonable portions is what works best for me. I still browse recipe books, magazines, and websites for new ideas but my staple menu hasn't really changed much.

[srmb60]

I'm finding that I just don't make anything fancy. We have a nice lean protein, lots of vegetables, fruits and salads and a good carb. I run into trouble when I try things with sauces or casseroles etc.

Here's an example chicken, salad, green beans and brown rice. A little later we'll have yogurt and fruit for dessert.

There is the dreaded repetition factor but nobody here seems to mind.

I guess once in a while I make my fellas something that I don't eat. Burgers or dogs and beans. They don't seem to mind if I have tuna and salad.

[the slim me]

If you don't likeit, you're not going to eat it for long! Try to "redo" your own recipes. Basically you just have to learn how to cook "lean". It's not that difficult once you learn how. Lean meat's prepared without oil, whole grain bread, Good carbs....lots of vegetables and fruit.