What does your menu look like daily

[lilliangimmelli]

Hello,

I am currently reading McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss and just not sure of what to eat to feel satisfied and still lose the maximum weight as possible. If anyone can share with me as to what my daily menu can look like so that I can get the maximum weight loss possible and not be too hungry after my meal that would be great.
Also, can I have the same menu all throughout the week? For example, can I have the same breakfast and lunch all week? Thanks for your help.
Lillian

[Kime]

Do a search on Mary's Mini for a super simple way to start.

Potatoes might be one of the least calorie dense starches.

Make sure you eat enough starch so you are satisfied, this is important.

Most people find a few (6-10) recipes they like and use them over and over. A lot of people eat the same breakfast every day. A lot of people make a larger amount for dinner, and the leftovers become the next day's lunch.

I don't have time for more right now, but I am sure others will be posting. Let us know how you are doing!

[Jackie J]

also, look at roberta's corner -- people post their daily menus

[MaryW]

I don't eat MWL for every meal. Sometimes I just eat what I have available, or what is quick and easy.

breakfast: hashbrowns (cooked dry in a nonstick pan) with braggs
or polenta with spinach (not MWL)

lunch: black bean salad (black beans, corn, red pepper,and salsa)
or soup
or baked potato with salsa and/or veggies

dinner: brown rice and veggies
or oven fries and salad
or large salad with beans
or pasta with marinara and veggies (not MWL)

snacks: baby carrots, apples, oranges, baked potatoes

The possibilities are endless. But like debbie said, pick out a few recipes that work for you, and make them over and over. You absolutely can eat the same meals. Don't feel like you have to cook gourmet food all the time. I eat very simply, but am very satisfied.

[amyla51]

Lilian-
I remember when I first read MWL, and got frustrated, because there were no amounts. I was a (unsuccessful) weight watcher's alumna, so I wanted portion sizes and amounts! It took me a while to learn the mantra "Eat til you are full."
I have trouble doing MWL all the time, but try to do it most of the time, since I have so much weight to lose. Like some of the posts have said, find a few things you like, and stick to them in the beginning. I have oatmeal every morning for breakfast; steel cut oats when I have more time. Lunch is always leftovers from the night before. Dinner is often: a sweet potato and steamed veggies and a salad. Or soup, or a casserole. The MWL book has some good recipes. Also, if you look at this forum under "Recipes" the first 2 are recipes from Mary McD that another forum member, Letha, has hyperlinked, so you can click on the name and it will take you to the recipe.

Caution, though: it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of recipes. Find a couple things you like. Remember to keep starches as 1/3 to 1/2 of your meal. If you eat less than that, you won't feel satisfied and will want to have things you shouldn't.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how you're doing!

Amy in NH

[splat]

I typically make main courses in the evening after supper, enough for at least three meals. I usually have two bowls of the "main course" for breakfast, one bowl for lunch with a whole bag of microwave vegetables, and one bowl and a huge salad of romaine, a bell pepper, celery, a cucumber, topped with balsamic vinegarette for supper. I reserve my two pieces of fruit for snacks. I rarely get hungry and have not really cheated since I started six weeks ago.
The trick is to have a whole food starch already prepared at all times for those week moments. Then, when you "cheat" by eating your starch, it really isn't cheating. The damage done to your weight loss will be insignificant and certainly not as bad as eating half the tray of brownies on the counter!

[Katydid]

I have a one week menu posted on my fridge, so I don't have to think about what I am going to eat tomorrow, I already know and have the food I need available. Every weekend I make a big pot of vegetable soup, a pot of steel-cut oats, a pot of brown rice and bake a couple of sweet potatoes. Breakfast rotates between oatmeal and fruit, hash browns and fruit or a baked sweet potato and fruit. Lunch is baby carrots, the vegetable soup or leftovers from the night before, and a piece of fruit. Dinner is a large green salad with fat-free dressing and a main course based around either yukon gold potatoes or brown rice. Monday is stir-fry and brown rice, Tuesday is potatoes with steamed vegetables and mushroom gravy, Wednesday is brown rice-stuffed peppers or rice-stuffed acorn squash (according to the season), Thursday is potato, green pea and cauliflower curry. On Friday nights, I go crazy and have some spaghetti squash with marinara sauce. Saturday I clean out the fridge of leftovers (usually dinner is mexican rice made with leftover rice, vegetables and salsa), Sunday is soup night. These are all very filling dishes that I love and never get bored with. Nothing takes more than 15 minutes to assemble. I have my shopping list memorized. I cleaned the junk out of the house and only bring in what I need to cook the weeks meals. I eat until I'm full, but make sure I save enough for lunch the next day. Between the leftovers and the soup, lunch takes all of 30 seconds to pack. Good Luck to you,
Kate

[jcthefigcurser]

I just wanted to add that you absolutely can eat the same thing for as many meals as you want. In fact, that's part of the Mary's Mini diet program. The thinking is that if you eat the same thing over and over again, you will eat less. I too have oatmeal every morning, usually with smashed up banana and cinnamon. For lunch I usually have whatever soup I've made for the week with a baked potato if I'm still hungry. Then I have whatever main meal I've made (usually some rice/veggie combo) or a baked potato with green/orange veggies, steamed.

[petero]

Usually, I fill half my plate with steamed, boiled, or raw veggies and the other half with either boil-in-a-bag brown rice or nuked potatoes. I try to consume a leafy green and some ground flax seed once a day.

This makes it quick and easy. No directions to follow, nothing to remember. Once I'm full I stick the whole plate in the fridge to be reheated later in the microwave.

[kirstykay]

A nice place to start is the Food and Recipes forum. At the top, there is a "clickable" list of foods and also some ideas for 3 ingredient/simple foods to prepare. Just spend some time with the recipes and see what jumps out at you and looks like it wouldn't be too hard to prepare. Stick with it, try some new things. In a few weeks, you'll feel like a pro!

viewforum.php?f=5

One other thing. If you have weight to lose, and especially if you're changing your diet over from SAD, make a commitment to yourself to ONLY eat MWL foods for 30 days. It will be difficult in the beginning as you crave your old way of eating, but if you promise yourself NOT to go off program for any reason for 30 days, you'll be glad you did. Your cravings will go away, and you will notice drastic improvements in your health. If, on the other hand, you sort of do it and sort of don't, you will be frustrated, your results will be slower or non-existent, and you may quit. Your health is worth making a commitment to yourself to give this a real try without "cheating" for 30 days! It's not easy every day, but it IS WORTH IT!!!!!! IMO, the people don't make this commitment of 100% compliance are setting themselves up for failure and frustration. I did it 100% for 30 days, and have been very pleased with my results. Now, I feel like this is the way I will eat for the rest of my life, and it isn't difficult anymore. I almost never have a craving, and if I do it's very mild. I've made a plan to handle situations, like dinners out where I bring something I can eat, so I don't have an excuse to go off plan. It takes determination, but you can do it, and the results are well worth it!!!!!