Help With Nutrition

Once I put together a nutrition plan for someone and they start implementing it, sometimes they run into a few bumps in the road. Sometimes its motivation or accountability. Other times it is adding variety to their diet, while keeping the recommended daily target Calories and protein/fat/carb ratios in check. My client, Jen, had a question on the latter issue, recently:

Just wanted to thank you again for doing the body composition analysis,
nutrition plan and your advice last Monday. I can't believe the difference
in a week. I have cut out all junk from my diet (except about 10 Hershey
Kisses yesterday). Your comment on making each time I eat be a meal
really stuck with me. No more high-carb snacks, but filling, good protein/
fat meals. I have also made it a point to drink lots and lots of water all day.
I am amazed at how much better my clothes fit and the extra energy I
have. I'm sure I have lost some water weight as the scale had gone down
3 lbs by Thursday. The number on the scale really isn't important to me,
once my clothes start to fit better.

I am having trouble finding a variety of food. I have eaten the same
thing each and every day. Not because I want to, and I know it will
get old real soon, but because I have found a combination that gets
pretty close to the protien/fat/carb ratio that you gave me. Fitday
has been really helpful here, but now I am afraid to stray from these
foods. Also, I am a bit confused about how fruit fits in...aren't
they too high in carbs? Here's what I have been eating.....got any
advice on other foods?

• Breakfast-One half english muffin, topped with Canadian bacon, 2 eggs scrambled with a dash of cheese.
  

• Lunch-lots of lettuce topped with grilled chicken strips, strawberries, tsp. of dressing and either a serving of almonds or cottage cheese.
  

• Afternoon meal-apple and 2 T peanut butter

• Dinner-mostly have repeated the lunch.

I need some variety. Dinner is the hardest, because I want to eat what
my family is eating, but feel I can't because I can't figure out the
ratios...for example if they have lasagna or meatloaf...am I doomed to
chicken the rest of my life?

Thanks for all of your help,

Jen

Glad to hear you are doing better with the nutrition. Eating the same things over and over is good and bad...good because you know exactly what to buy and prepare, bad because you may get tired of it.

I would recommend two things:

1. Allow yourself to eat what your family is eating for dinner a few times per week. If you feel it is a little higher in carbs or lower in protein, then compensate with your meals earlier in the day. For example, cut out the english muffin in the morning, but allow yourself to eat some lasagna for dinner (just don't eat any bread, too).

2. The other idea is to add a few more meals with either fish, turkey, pork, or red meat. Mark's Daily Apple blog (which I have linked on the right side) has lots of good nutrition/ recipes. He follows a "Paleo" diet, so most recipes have a ratio close to what I recommend. Here is a link to his recipes:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/recipes/

They can be simple, too. Like an Angus beef burger with sauteed onions and mushrooms plus a piece of fruit (like an apple, grapes, or an orange). Hope this helps. I am sure you will continue to see outstanding results with your body if you are able to keep eating well.