Weigh To Lose Meal Plans

The meal plans for each Weigh to Lose participant have been prepared by Washington Hospital Center’s nutrition consultant and registered dietitian, Demetre Whitmore. Each plan helps teach healthy eating, but also allows the women to include one “must-have” item every day.  While the current meal plans do not meet the Recommended Dietary Intakes for calcium and other minerals, a calcium supplement and multivitamin are recommended (see guidelines below).  And, this is just phase I in the healthy-eating process. During the course of the contest, the meal plans will be modified and improved, so that by the end, each woman will be eating a balanced, low-fat, nutrient-dense, plant-based diet that they can stick to comfortably.

Below are the guidelines each contestant has been given:

Guidelines

1. Prepare a shopping list of items needed to follow the meal plan, and buy all items at the beginning of each week.
2. Eat six times each day to keep from getting hungry. This helps in controlling food choices and takes away the feeling of being deprived.
3. Drink 48 to 64 oz. of water daily. Avoid fruit juices and soda, which add calories.
4. The vegetable allowance in each meal plan may be exceeded at any time.
5. Minimize the use of sugar, mayonnaise, cream sauce, gravy, margarine, butter and oil.
6. Use herbs, spices, lemons and lime juice, vinegar, ketchup, salsa, tomato sauce, mustard, fat-free salad dressings and sugar substitutes as desired.
7. A daily calcium supplement and multivitamin are recommended.
8. Record all deviations from the meal plan in a food journal.