Meal & Snack Ideas

What Should We be Eating and Drinking?

Breakfast

Breakfast is the most-important meal of the day. Your body has been starving (fasting) while you've been asleep, and it's time to break the fast!  A healthy and filling breakfast will help you perform at your best throughout the morning, give you lots of energy and keep you satisfied until lunch. Your brain and your body will thank you!

• Oatmeal (Old Fashioned Quaker Oats, not instant), whole wheat toast, whole wheat pancakes, bran muffins, and frozen whole wheat waffles are all good choices. Peanut butter is a great high protein topping for your toast or waffles. Try adding fresh or frozen berries, bananas or nuts to cereals and oatmeal.
• Drink nonfat or 1% milk. If you drink juice, make sure the label says "100% juice" and make sure your serving is 4 ounces (1/2 cup).
• Eggs are full of protein. Try them scrambled (with olive oil instead of butter) or sunny-side up. You can have two per day, twice per week. 

Lunch

• Sandwiches are great, with lettuce and tomato and lean meats like sliced turkey. Try mustard instead of mayonnaise.
• Vegetable sticks, such as carrots or celery, and sliced fruit, like apples or pears are healthy and filling, too, because they're full of fiber!
• You can snack on chips that are labeled on the package as "baked," and not fried. 

Dinner

• Dinner is a great time to have that big salad that's not so easy to pack for lunch! Load it up with your favorite veggies. Did you ever think to add mandarin oranges, apple slices or raisins to your salads? Try a raspberry or balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
• If you're having meat, eat a piece that's the size of a deck of cards. Load your plate up with sauteed veggies and brown rice. (Fish and boneless, skinless chicken are great meat choices.)

Water

• Don't forget to drink a lot of water throughout the day.

Healthy Snack Options

• Dried fruit and nuts (preferably raw, not roasted or salted), trailmix, celery sticks with peanut butter, carrot sticks, cucumbers, wheat crackers, yogurt (low or nonfat), apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, etc.

• Try dipping veggies or crackers in hummus.

What foods should we limit?

Breakfast:

• Juice "cocktails," which contain lots of added sugars
• Butter
• Sugary cereals
• Muffins and donuts

• Egg yolks

Lunch and dinner:

• Mayonnaise
• White bread
• Fried snacks (chips). They are full of "trans fats" which are very unhealthy
• Sugary sodas, sport drinks, energy drinks
• High-fructose corn syrup (in most packaged foods)
• Fast food
• Heavy cream or cream-based sauces, like Alfredo
• Lard or margarine for cooking
• Salt