Are you just starting out?

ambivalence11

My friend just joined this site, I have been on here for almost a year and am back on the wagon after a 3 month hiatus. She asked me for some dinner ideas and I thought that a lot of the new dieters could use some of my ideas as well. Here is what I sent her.


I try to eat between a 400-600 calorie dinner. If you eat early (5ish) you may want to have a snack planned for the evening. I love natural (no butter) popcorn, since I can eat a lot of it and it has that crunchy snacky appeal. For dinner I really like salad, so I will bake a bunch of chicken breasts, cut them up and have them on salad with low-fat ranch. Or if I don't have chicken, I will do red kidney beans, they have lots of protein and iron. Since I am usually poor/cooking for just me/lazy I try to get stuff I can use for lots of different meals. Any 6 to 8 oz serving of meat, with veggies and a small serving of rice or a small potato is super easy. And if its not easy, I will not follow through and I will eat junk.

Example of dinners/lunches based around same foods/leftovers

Baked boneless chicken breast (I just put on salt and pepper and some dried herbs) 6oz - 250 cals
Small potato steamed in microwave - 110 cals
Light sour cream 2 T - 40 cals
Butter 1 T - 100 cals
Steamed veggie 1 cup (I am a fan of the Birds Eye frozen microwave steamer broccoli) - 30 cals

530 Calories (if you can bear to eat a potato without butter it would only be 430, I can't do it)

Small potato steamed in microwave - 110 cals
Light sour cream - 40 cals
Steamed Broccoli - 30 cals
Cheddar cheese shredded 1/4 cup - 110 cals

290 Calories

Cubed Chicken Breast 6oz - 250 cals
Bagged Salad - 30 cals (1/2 a bag!)
Sliced Roma Tomato - 35 cals
Green Bell Pepper - 20
Light Ranch Dressing 2 T - 70 cals

405 Calories

Sliced Pre-Cooked Chicken Breast - 250 cals
1/2 green pepper - 20 cals
1/4 onion - 30 cals
1 roma tomato - 35 cals
Fajita seasoning - 25 cals
Flour tortilla - 110 cals
salsa - 30
light sour cream - 40

540 Calories

I hope that helps. If you eat out a lot of places have 500 - 600 calorie meal options now. Most fast food sandwiches are in that range as well, so if you wanna do drive thru that's something to keep in mind. Also, I love Progresso soups, I stock up and they make the easiest meals ever, they run between 180-300 calories for the whole can.

Key things I have found; the more protein you eat, the better and eat lots of little meals based around proteins. I eat 4 or 5 meals/snacks a day. Oh, and I try to eat at least one non-diet food a day, but just a nibble. Today it was some nerds candy, yesterday it was real sugar soda. It keeps you from going insane and teaches the key to healthy eating... moderation.