[Carbie]

i just wanted to see what everyone else thinks about what i use everyday...

Breakfast: these are different things i use, not all at once... Fruit Smoothie, Egg Whites and Salsa, bowl of Cheerios

Lunch: deli meant wrap, that include 2 slices of ham or turkey and one slice of cheese, 2 spoon fulls of cottage cheese and 1 pickle

Dinner: either chicken, beef or pork, small portion, half of a potato and a large helping of veggies...

snacks i still struggle with, i do eat fruit, pb/celery or a granola bar

i do have a decent size bowl of ice cream for desert, not huge, but not tiny either...

[MsMatic]

Overall not bad but it looks like a ton of meat & dairy.
Egg whites and salsa is good... oatmeal w/fruit or a banana with nuts are some nice alternatives to the dairy.
Deli meat & cheese are heavily processed and really not healthy. Maybe try veggie wrap with hummus? Or a tuna wrap with avocado?
Just trying to offer up some ideas that are more plant based than animal.
The snacks sound excellent. Ice cream every day though? lol

[NutritionistLady]

The plan looks nice, instead, you could use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. Also grains would go great.
Also you can 'mash' your own ice cream - from natural yogurt, banana. Check internet for recipes.

But the worst in your meal plan is cheerios.

as others are saying about replacing meat, maybe you can use tortila wraps with cottage cheese, chickpeas. I have repice like this - tortila filled with rice, cucumber and eggs (sometimes lean mince)

[Scarlatina]

I would try to go with a higher protein breakfast. Eggs are good. But a fruit smoothie or a bowl of cereal do not have enough calories to keep you full for long.

The same thing goes for your snacks. Just having some fruit or a granola bar are not very sustaining.

Are you having the ice cream every night, most nights, or just a couple of times per week? Once you start feeding your body the correct nutrients, you most likely will not crave things like ice cream .

[ennay]

You are going to get a lot of conflicting advice. Clearly we have some who are not as fond of meat based protein, but you will find others that will say MORE meat. There are probably about as many "ideal plans" as there are people!

Most plans will be good with you increasing vegetables. Beyond that there is a lot of variety. I would take some time to think of what are your strengths and weaknesses. Even if calorie counting is not a plan you would like to do long term, logging your food for awhile can help you get a really good idea of how much you are eating and what your nutritional breakdown is right now.

After that you can poke around some of the diet forums, most of them have stickies at the top explaining the different diets, or just keep logging calories.

Think about what your weaknesses are, what gets you when you go OFF your diet
- too much processed or junk food? Might want to just try counting calories and increasing the quality of your choices
-get sweet tooth cravings and always head for sugar - may want to try any of the carb restricting plans just long enough to break the sweet cycle (south beach and sonoma are probably the least restrictive after awhile, atkins, low carb, paleo are more carb restrictive)
-always hungry - start logging with paying attention to what satiates YOU best. Truthfully that differs from person to person. Some swear by oatmeal, some swear by protein.
-How often do YOU like to eat. Big meals? Small meals with lots of snacks?

I push to calorie counting as a decent first step because it can be used in conjunction with any of the other plans while you try different things and see what works best for you. Don't look for what makes you lose fastest, look for what makes you feel good and feel like "yeah, I could eat like this forever". If you aren't much in to cooking its ok to used processed to get you going, but try to learn new recipes and expand your choices.

Good luck!