Hi guys!
I know this is asking a lot, but I know some of you keep food journals or FitDay pages and whatever, so I thought someone might not mind!

Anyone want to do me a favor and post some typical meals that you might eat on a normal day?
I want to see how far off I am from what other calorie counters choose to eat...

Thanks a million!

I am still working on amending my diet, and this was me just working with what I have around the house -- I'll buy some more groceries tomorrow and Saturday at the farmer's market.

Normally I eat a ton more fresh veggies and don't have a sandwich, I would normally have some chicken or the likes but I was out!

This day I was at 1,247.

Breakfast [preworkout]: Nonfat Yogurt, 4.4 ounces - 118 calories
Snack: 4 [lol, I count everything I eat] walnuts - 105 calories
Snack: 11 ounces raw blueberries - 178 calories
Lunch: 1 cup Raisin Bran [not the Post kind] + 0.5 cup of whole milk - 258 calories
Snack: 1 raw plum - 46 calories
Dinner: Sandwich on a whole wheat roll [just half the roll], with a whole avocado, 1.5 slices of provolone cheese, mustard and mayo: 542 calories

Water: 2 cups
Tea: 3 cups

Awesome! Thanks!

I was following a healthy eating plan, but I found that I was eating way too many calories too early in the day and then going way over what I was comfortable with, so now I am trying to get ideas from others.

I really appreciate your input!

There was a thread along these lines a short while ago although there's so much traffic here it took a while for me to find it.

Here was my input then. Since then strawberries and blueberries have come in to season so my morning yogurt features those instead of maple syrup. Also, since then I've discovered the cocoa roast almonds and I often have a 100 calorie pack of those with my daily apple rather than cheese - in this heat the almonds hold up much better as a snack in my purse.

Breakfast: ~260 calories
3/4 cup cereal
1/2 cup 2% Milk
6 oz yogurt

Lunch: ~479 calories
Morningstar Farms Burger
Light wheat hamburger bun
1 slice Cheese
1 tbsp OO Mayo
2 cups romaine
5 cherry tomatoes
Croutons
2 tbsp Light Ranch Dressing

Dinner: ~424 calories
2 slices wheat bread
1 slice cheese
1 tbsp butter
Campbell's soup at hand
1 cup cherries

Snacks: ~260 calories
1/2 cup Edy's ice cream
1 sugar cone
1 medium apple

Total: ~1434 calories

I'm still trying to tweak my menu to make it healthier. I try to eat between 1400-1500 calories a day.

Love your blog with the goal board! awesome job.

I use sparkspeople.com for menu guidelines. It tracks calories and fat, etc, what ever you want to track. But another help is its meal plan suggestions. Once you set up your profile (weight, health concerns, etc) it sets up a range of cals, fat, carbs etc and will show meal plan suggestions. You can use their suggestion or add in your own meal. This is great when you need reminded of balanced nutrition, or proper calories. The only thing I dont like about sparks is that the suggestions use things like margerine and such....but I take out the processed foods that I wish to and move from there. For example the lunch suggested for me today was half a pita, hummus, cucumber slices, and lettuce, served with greek yogurt and blueberries. It was a great suggestion for a change of pace.
It has meals laid out, so you can pick 5-6 favorites, and in a couple of your own and really have a great plan, even gives you a grocery list.
The main thing I like about sparks is the reports I can pull, I can see over a period of time when I meet my goals, and what I need to work on. For me that is getting enough calories, and getting enough iron and magnesium.
hope that helps a little

You can click on anyone's Fitday link and see what they eat, just for the record.

Every day for me (I am very boring)

pre-workout: 100 calorie bag of popcorn

breakfast: 300 grams of cottage cheese + 30 grams of wheat bran

Lunch: 150 grams of chicken

Major snack: same as breakfast

Dinner: 200 grams of chicken.

Snacks: whole grain crackers, usually rye crispbread or black pepper tricuits, more popcorn, broccolli or, twice a week, a McD's ice cream cone

Before bed: 3 Hershey kisses

All this is 1600 or so calories, 50% protein, 25% fat, 25% carb. 40+ grams of fiber

If I must eat out, I eat a Chipotle bowl with 1/2 rice, beans, meat, double salsa or a McD's grilled chicken sandwich mustard only.

You can read the food logs at my blog by clicking this link. It's all there - the good, the embarrassing, and the boring.

OP what plan are you on? What are your stats? Height,weight,age?

I am 5'2 218 and over 60
I am following Sonoma diet guidelines, so whole foods,portion controlled and whole grains with high fiber.
breakfast can be cereal(Fiber One) or eggs and ww toast or english muffin
lunch usually a whole grain tortilla wrap with chicken and greens
snack hummus and bell peppers
dinner chicken or fish ,veg like broccoli or green beans and a whole grain pasta or quinoa
Fruits blueberries, canteloupe strawberries,peaches,apricot,apples
Calories should be 1300-1450
You may need something completely different .

Today
breakfast: latte with sugar, 135 calories
snack : chocolate bunny crackers ( yes ) 140 calories
lunch: canned chicken soup with rice ( healthy choice) : 140 calories
snack : mini ice drumstick ice cream, 140 calories, sumi salad unknown calories...around 100? but very filling
dinner: 8 oz cod

Ok, this is rather atypical, I never have 2 sweet snacks usually. Yesterday I had cherries instead and whole wheat toast with jam and tea for lunch. Dinner was baked potato with sour cream and cheese and butter.

This is my day 99% of the time. Since I break my meals into mini meals, I really won't label as breakfast, lunch, etc.

Light yogurt and a piece of fruit (usually a frozen banana or an apple)

1 slice whole wheat bread and 3 slices Sara Lee deli turkey and 3oz baby carrots (raw)

8 Fat Free saltines and 1 oz sharp cheddar cheese

2 hard boiled eggs or 2 eggs cooked with spinach and cooking spray

2 cups sugar free gelatin with 4oz strawberry slices

4oz chicken breast cooked with onions and mushrooms which I add to 3-4 cups chopped lettuce and 1 tablespoon of sour cream

7oz roasted cauliflower or roasted broccoli (or any other numerous different veggies)

I have been tweaking things a little this week - here is where I am at:

Breakfast: 455 Calories
Mission Carb Balance wrap
2 (whole) eggs
one slice american cheese
coffee w/ 1/2 C. 1% milk

Lunch: 325 Calories
Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer (today it is a beef one)
Eggplant (1/3rd)
Spinach (about 1 C) w/1T Ravishing Raspberry Dressing

Snack: 207 Calories
Cottage Cheese
Grape tomatoes (1 and 1/2 serving)
Blueberries (1/2 Cup)

Dinner: 260 Calories (I usually shoot for closer to 350/375 calories for dinner, but last night was a light dinner)
Haddock (6 oz)
Eggplant (1/3rd)
Seltzer w/2 oz of juice

Evening Snack: 100 calories
Orville Popcorn

Total Stats:
Calories: 1,347
Fat: 34.8 g
Carbs: 139 g
Protein: 111 g
Fiber: 49 g

Here is my plan for today (I am a maintainer trying to lose 5 lbs). My goal is to eat between 1300 and 1600 calories a day. I pretty much eat the same breakfast every day - I occasionally mix it up with oatmeal. I eat a salad almost every day for lunch! My afternoon snacks are almost always a latte and fruit (sometimes, it's low fat cottage cheese and I eat a variety of fruit, just happens to be watermelon today because it's on sale and in season!)

The plan I have been following for 6 years: eat mostly whole foods (avoid processed foods), count calories/use portion control and eat low calorie/high volume foods to stay full.

B - Trader Joe's non fat Greek yogurt with honey, 1/2 carton of strawberries - 200 calories

L - big salad with leftover steak from this weekend - romaine, red cabbage, grape tomatoes, carrot shreddies, a few fried onions for crunch, lite Caesar dressing (500 max)

S - tall non fat latte (100 calories)

S - 1/2 small watermelon (100 calories - probably a little less, but I estimate)

D - home made chili with ground turkey, a little sausage, beans, carrots and peas, fire roasted tomatoes, small dollop of low fat sour cream, 40 calories of tortilla strips for crunch (estimate - 500 calories)

Breakfast:
2 pckgs Quaker High Fiber Oatmeal :: 320 calories

Lunch:
Ham sandwich (oscar mayer meat (6 pieces) and 2 pieces double fiber bread) :: 200 calories

Snack:
Fruit Salad :: 250 calories

Snack 2
Zone Perfect Double Dark Chocolate Bar :: 190 calories

Dinner
Black bean bowl (1/2 cup black beans, sliced tomato, onion, salsa) :: 300 calories

If I need a late night snack or something I will pop a bag of kettle corn for 75 calories or eat about 100 calories of fruit.

Mikki - Thanks! I think the goal board is really going to help a lot.

Shmead - You know, I knew that, but would never have remembered that I knew it! About FitDay, I mean.

Roc - Thanks for the link!

3Bees - I am on a mixture of Tosca Reno's Eat Clean diet and calorie counting. Tosca recommends not counting calories and just eating and, I guess, trusting that you'll get full before you get fat(ter). I followed her plan exactly, but secretly counted the calories for a few days and I was eating a crazy amount by lunchtime! And I really don't see how I could ever lose weight when I'm eating 1,400 calories three meals into the six she wants us to eat, so I'm tweaking and making her plan my own, which is probably for the best anyway. I don't agree 100 percent with everything she had to say. Like not eating butter ever again.

I am 5'0", current weight 180 and I don't really have a weight goal as I am adding a lot of strength training to my routine and I'm not sure what I can expect to weigh with the new muscle and whatever, so instead of a weight goal my goal is to be a size 6 eventually.