What should I eat?

This is an extremely hard question to answer when trying to lose weight. The supermarket can be a very daunting place for a dieter. I know it is for me. Coming up with good and nutritious meals can be very hard and keeping it interesting and tasty is another challenge.

Here's what I do. For starters, I shop for food once a week. Every Saturday, I sit down and create a menu for the following week. I create a Mon-Sun menu including all meals (even snacks). I don't necessarily follow it to a T although I follow it about 95% of the time. Of course, I get invited to dinner and sometimes a friend will call and I'll meet for a glass of wine (my pick is Riesling which has approx. 120 cal. per glass). So things can happen that change the menu. Always try to plan ahead though... that has worked for me. So... anyway, I make a menu and from that menu I make my shopping list. On Sundays, I go to my favorite natural foods store and get ONLY what I have written on my list. Another tip: Don't buy bad foods for your home. If you feel like cheating when you're out is one thing but your home should be your sanctuary and therefore should be junk free. I do understand that for moms this can be specially hard. I have the advantage of only having to cook for me.

There are plenty of websites from where to find good and healthy recipes. There's a list of them on the right side of this blog. However, my go-to website is EatingWell.com where I can find lots of low-calorie pasta dishes (pasta is my Achilles' heel). Also, they have a number of meal plans for different likes and needs including diabetes, heart healthy, and healthy aging. You can select from a large number of 28-day meal plans at different calorie levels: 1200, 1500, and 1800 daily calories.

My main source of inspiration for food comes from the 28-day 1200 cal Vegetarian Meal Plan since I am vegetarian. Most of the recipes you'll see will be modified versions of what I find on the website. I say modified because there are certain veggies that I don't like and I always end up changing something for some reason or another so for the most part, they will be modified. I will always add the original recipe for you to follow if you wish. I promise pictures, clear instructions, and as this story progresses, perhaps I'll have you select what I should cook next.

Ready to roll? I hope so.