Breakfast:

Here are your choices — you can eat them in any order, or repeat your favorites as much as you'd like. Each breakfast is about 300 calories:

1. Omelet or scrambled eggs made with 3/4 cup egg substitute, two level (not heaping!) tablespoons low-fat cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup vegetables sauteed with cooking spray (tip: microwave the veggies first for a minute or two before sauteing them to give them a head start). 1 slice wheat toast — instead of putting butter on it, use it to scoop up some of the omelet mixture.
2. 1 cup of plain oatmeal drizzled with a teaspoon of maple syrup and sprinkled with a teaspoon of brown sugar. 1/2 cup berries of your choice.
3. Smoothie made with 3/4 cup skim (or low-fat soy) milk, 6 ice cubes and a cup of whatever fruit is in season (if you want a banana you can only add half of a small or medium one). You can use frozen fruit if you'd like — it makes the smoothie extra thick.
4. Make a sandwich with a veggie patty and a toasted English muffin (use a scant spoonful of low fat mayo, ketchup or mustard).
5. Any cold cereal that is under 180 calories per 3/4 or one-cup serving and over 4 grams of fiber. Add 1/2 cup skim or soy milk and 1/2 cup berries or half a small banana.

Dinner:

Each dinner will run you about 400 calories. Mix and match:

1. 3 1/2 oz. (that deck of cards-sized portion) of your choice of protein — white meat chicken or turkey (baked or broiled), tuna or salmon (canned or cooked without any oil other than cooking spray), or 3/4 cup beans. OR 5 oz. of white fish such as sea bass or catfish, or steamed shrimp (catfish is very tasty microwaved with blackened spices). Guys can up this to 5 ounces of white meat chicken or turkey or oily fish, or — big news — 7 ounces of white fish!
2. 2 servings of vegetables. Two cups of salad greens, including shredded carrots and sliced cucumber (or similar salad veggies) is one serving (use a tablespoon of fat-free dressing and/or a squeeze of lemon for flavoring). The other serving is one cup of any steamed, non-starchy vegetable of your choice (that means no corn — you can have an ear next week!). Flavor them with fat-free salad dressing (this is actually quite a tasty choice on cooked vegetables), or a teaspoon of butter buds and/or 2 teaspoons of fat-free sour cream.
3. 1 slice of plain, whole wheat bread or 1/2 cup (and we mean a scant 1/2 cup!) of starchy carbs — rice, potatoes or couscous. Try to make your starchy carb a whole grain choice — brown rice, for example, or potato strips baked with their skins on, sprayed with cooking oil and sprinkled with tarragon or a spice combination.

Snacks — to be eaten twice a day, one midway between breakfast and lunch and once between lunch and dinner. Again, your choice — they have about 80–120 calories each. Guys can double up on the afternoon snack or have an extra snack after dinner and before bedtime (for the latter choice, pick one of the peanut butter choices or string cheese).

1. Six celery strips with one tablespoon of peanut butter.
2. One big, red, ripe apple or a juicy pear.
4. One stick of string cheese and a few strawberries or grapes.
5. Three reduced-fat crackers and one tablespoon of peanut butter.
6. One small oatmeal cookie (or half a larger one — and if you have any doubts about size, just eat half! If it's one of those six-inch-or-larger jumbo sizes, break off a quarter of it and give the rest away).
7. A frozen juice bar.

Now, onto your fast food lunches!