breakfast
Fresh fruit of juice 1 serving—½ cup
Egg—cooked without fat 1
Bread or cereal 1 slice of bread or a serving
of cereal (1 cup prepared or
½ cup cooked)
Butter or margarine 1 level teaspoon
Milk 1 glass—8 ounces
Coffee or tea
Cream 1 tablespoon
dinner
Lean meat, fish, or poultry 3 ounces (average serving)
Vegetables[3] ½ cup Group I and ½ cup Group
II
Potato 1 small
Butter or margarine 1 level teaspoon
Milk 1 glass—8 ounces
Fruit—raw, or cooked or 1 serving—½ cup
canned without sugar
lunch or
supper
Cottage cheese, meat, or ½ cup of cheese, 2 ounces of
eggs meat, or 2 eggs
Vegetables[3] ½ cup Group I and ½ cup Group
II
Bread 1 slice
Butter or margarine 1 level teaspoon
Milk 1 glass—8 ounces
Fruit, plain custard, or ½ cup of fruit or custard, or
plain cookies 2 cookies
Vegetables are listed below in two groups, according to their
carbohydrate content. Those in Group I have no more than 3 percent
carbohydrate, and those in Group II have no more than 9 percent. It is
simpler to choose the vegetables according to the listings than to count
the calories for each vegetable in the day’s meals.
Where the diets on pages 16-17 call for fruits, these may be chosen from
the lower-calorie fruits listed below.
_vegetables_
GROUP I
Asparagus
Beet greens
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Chicory
Chinese Cabbage
Cucumber
Endive
Escarole
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Mustard greens
Radishes
Sauerkraut
Spinach
Summer squash
Tomato Juice
Tomatoes
Turnip tops
Watercress
GROUP II
Artichokes
Beans, green
Beans, wax
Beets
Brussels sprouts
Carrots
Collards
Dandelion greens
Eggplant
Kale
Kohlrabi
Lambsquarters
Okra
Onions
Peppers
Pumpkin
Rutabagas
Squash, winter
Turnips
_fruit_
Apples
Apricots
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cherries
Cranberries
Currants
Gooseberries
Grapefruit
Grapefruit juice
Lemons
Limes
Loganberries
Melons
Cantaloupe
Casaba
Honeydew
Spanish
Watermelon
Oranges
Orange juice
Peaches
Pears
Pineapple
Pineapple juice
Plums
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Tangerines
_On Keeping a Record_
Most people find it helpful to keep a record of their progress. Weight
should be recorded once a week only. To show progress accurately, the
same scales should be used at the same time of the day.
It is also helpful to make weekly notes of body measurements. Sometimes
a person gets discouraged because, after a period of satisfactory loss,
the scales show no drop for a week or more. But during these periods
body measurements often continue to decrease. To know that another half
inch has melted off the waistline is encouraging at such times. It
stiffens resistance to the common temptation of saying, “Oh, what’s the
use?” and stopping when success is in sight. Weight loss begins again if
the diet is faithfully followed.
The most important record to keep carefully is a list of the foods eaten
each day, and the quantity. Such a list serves several purposes. It can
be checked against the essential foods to make sure there are no
omissions. It will help the doctor in adjusting a diet to slower or
faster weight loss, as the need may be. It is useful as a reminder of
slips and indiscretions in eating or drinking which must be checked. It
helps to keep a person convinced about the number of calories he is
really taking in.
_Special Problems_
On a reducing diet many people find themselves eating more vegetables,
raw fruits, and salads than they did before. Most of them benefit from
the change. However, anyone who has previously had signs of ulcers,
colitis, or other digestive disturbances should tell his physician. A
person susceptible to such conditions may need to use raw fruits and
vegetables sparingly, substituting fruits stewed without sugar, or
perhaps using pureed vegetables.
Constipation sometimes occurs when eating habits are changed suddenly.
It can often be corrected by drinking more water and by using green,
leafy vegetables more generously. The substitution of stewed, dried
fruits for some fresh fruits may also help. The amount must be watched,
because dried fruits are richer in calories than fresh fruits. They are
often eaten in greater quantity and cooked with sugar.
People who are on a diet and who eat in restaurants a great deal have a
problem. Unless their budget runs to a daily steak diet, a good
cafeteria is often a better choice than other types of restaurants. The
foods are usually plainly cooked, without much fat, and can be chosen
individually. The chief problem is to develop the habit of passing by
all the display of foods which must not be eaten. The temptation to add
something extra is sometimes greater than it is at home.
If lunch is the only meal which must be eaten out, and there is no
suitable eating place available, the problem may be solved by taking
lunch from home. Some suggestions for a day’s menus, including
low-calorie lunches which can be carried to work or school, are given on
the opposite page.
PACKED LUNCH
for 1200 Calorie Diet
BREAKFAST
½ cup fruit
1 egg
1 slice toast
1 teaspoon butter
1 glass milk
Clear coffee or tea