Planned Menus VS DIY?

Since I don't have the extra money for a weight loss program like Jenny Craig, I use the MyFitnessPal app on my phone when I do grocery shopping. Having my goals right there where I can see them helps me choose better options when it comes to everything I eat. Not only that, but unlike SparkPeople, I can choose what I eat, not have it laid out for me with suggestions for stuff I either don't like or can't eat. Freedom of choice is amazing.

You can turn off the meal suggestions on SP...Some of them sound good though lol.

I normally just eat whatever I want to eat and make sure it is the right portion size so I can't really help you out there...

I do my own menu. Besides not having money for the other programs, I figure that learning to plan menus and cook healthy meals now will help this be more of a lifestyle change and not just a diet.

I eat more junk that I should... but here is a typical day when I am doing what I am supposed to! Oh, I usually eat between 1300-1500 calories a day.

Breakfast: eggs and toast (I either fry eggs in a bit of olive oil or scramble with cooking spray... I throw in whatever veggies I have if I am scrambling them or doing an omelet. Spinach is great -- so are mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomato. Throw a bit of cheese on top -- mozarella, lowfat cream cheese and sour cream are all good -- and you are good to go!) The amount varies -- at the most I eat 2 whole eggs, but usually I eat some combination of eggs and egg whites (the protein is in the white). Oatmeal is another good option but I got a little burned out on it. I also make French toast with whole wheat bread. one egg, a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg and a tiny sprinkle of powdered sugar (like a teaspoon for 2 pieces of toast, if that much) -- no syrup.

Lunch: I typically use leftovers from dinner for lunch... or a salad if I have lettuce and vegetables. Now that it is cooler I have been making a lot of soups for dinner and having tons of leftovers though.

Dinner: All over the board. You can check out menu plans at melodygreen dot wordpress dot com. I get a lot of recipes from allrecipes.com and eatingwell.com. I also get a lot of menu ideas from other bloggers and from people on here.

Basically, ideally I try to stick to some recommendations I heard at Weight Watchers a few years ago:
1) At least 5 servings of fruit/vegetables (1 serving is 1/2 cup or 1 cup of leafy greens)
2) 2-3 servings of lowfat dairy (for me that is usually skim milk or lowfat cheese)
3) Healthy oils (mostly olive oil and avocado here)
4) Whole wheat products (bread, pasta -- actually I use Ronzoni Smart Taste because no one else in my family likes ww pasta --, brown rice)
5) Sweets in moderation (not that you can tell that from my diary lately!)

I usually modify recipes by decreasing or omitting salt (except in baking), decreasing oils (again, except in baking -- though I usually substitute unsweetened applesauce for oils there), and adding in extra vegetables where I can. I try to cook where I can instead of eating more processed foods. I look up nutritional information online before eating out. I drink mostly water, skim milk, and unsweetened tea or coffee (sometimes with a bit of Splenda).

I hope that helps a little!

I built my own menu. I actually do up a meal plan in Excel including all meals and snacks for every 2 weeks. We hang it on the side of the fridge so we can just "grab and go" as we plan and prepare things the day before for lunches, or take out the next nights meat so it is thawed, etc. I build my grocery list from this and we actually waste nothing now.
The better you plan the better results you will see.

Weekdays breakfasts are typically cereal with berries, or weight watchers whole wheat bread with natural peanut butter and an apple or orange, or oatmeal with cinnamon and frozen blueberries.
My lunches are usually a salad with chicken breast or shrimp for protein, my husband likes sandwiches with homemade sliced chicken breasts and light havarti.
Our dinners are always a lean protein, steamed veggies, and brown rice or whole wheat couscous.

My husband prefers nuts, yogurt, fruit, and kashi bars for snacks, but I really like veggies, Im weird that way.

We have gone back to the basics, I even pulled out my breadmaker and have made some great whole wheat/multigran pizza dough and bread. I now think, did my grandmother eat this (?) before I make a choice.

If you are having trouble creating a menu and feel like you need a change but don't really know where to start, then a planned menu will definitely help. It takes the guesswork out of things and you know exactly what you'll be eating. Once you get comfortable with the diet and do it for awhile, it becomes a lot easier to start deviating from the planned diet and start creating your own menu based on the general diet concepts that you learn. You might try a few different types of diets and see which ones you like because they are definitely not all created equal.

A few that I like are:

Body for Life -- this is one of the more simple ones and relatively inexpensive. I think this is a really good beginner menu plan. One of my friends (female) did it (both the diet and the workouts) and it was genuinely transformational for her. She is beyond busy and was not really a diet/exotic food person.
Perricone -- this has awesome recipes but is heavy on fish (salmon in particular). Low-carb/low-glycemic. There is a 3 day diet you could try to see if you like it.
P90x nutrition plan -- another pretty simple one and actually pretty tasty.

One con to doing a planned menu is that following them to the letter can be very expensive (Perricone falls into this category) because you end up buying too much food that doesn't get used because you're making new recipes all the time. I still think it's good to try some, especially if you are kind of new to planning menus. After a few months you start just "getting it" and will be able to plan your own menu on the fly without much thought. I can do Perricone in my sleep now.

All in all, it doesn't hurt to try one (or several) out. You might find you really like it and if you don't, well, then you can always go back to doing something that is easier for you to do.

Also, sometimes it's just kind of fun to try something new. I was reading about some diet called the primal blueprint that I am thinking of trying just because it sounded interesting.

Anyways, good luck!

I've been at this weight loss journey (with LOTS of highs and lows) for about 10 years now so I know what is healthy eating and what is not. I've had the majority of my weight off for over 3 years now (been trying to lose those last 10ish pounds for that long too). I do love this book:

http://www.amazon.com/This-Youre-Thin-Forever-More/dp/044654860X

She has a really great eating plan that is pretty easy to follow. I have to eat and find that filling up on fiber filled food with lots of protein works best for me. You can check out my food diary for some ideas.

Oh...and tell that sweet, wonderful boyfriend of yours to kindly stop bringing home tempting food! I'm sure he wants to support you and believe me, will power is VERY overrated. Keep the bad stuff out of your grasp and you are less likely to have a "food moment".

Also, I always carry 16 almonds in a baggie in my purse. It is 100 cals worth of protein packed snack. So if I find myself stuck somewhere, I've got the almonds to fight off the hunger until I can make it home or somewhere I can eat healthy. I sometimes will even throw in an apple or banana if I know I might get stuck somewhere.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I tend to cook A LOT. I live with 3 roommates, two of them guys so I tend to make healthy meals for all of us because we are all trying to get in shape, except my boyfriend who brings home the most terrible things. I think the main issue I have is planning meals. It always seems that something comes along, or I'm too busy to eat at the time I need to. I like the pre-made snack solution because then when i'm on the run I can just grab it and go.

There wouldn't be a a site where I can build a menu and print it out is there? I don't have excel on this computer which makes it hard. Or maybe filling out my MFP food log before I eat it so it's there?

I sit down on Sunday night and plan out my menu for the whole week and log it all. that way I don't think about what to eat all week I just look on MFP and it tells me what to eat.