I DONT LIKE TO TAKE A LONG TIME COOKING WITH FOUR CHILDREN I LIKE TO GET IN AND OUT OF THE KITCHEN. I LOOKED OVER THE PLANNED MEALS AND IT'S TOO MUCH FOR ME, I JUST WANT TO MAKE THINGS SIMPLE. DO I REALLY NEED TO DO THE PLAN MEALS BEFORE I START THE PILL. CAN I JUST GO INT MY FOOD GUIDE AND PICK SOME THING THAT IS SIMPLE

Hi Chooses,

I don' t have children at home, but I can sympathize.  Please give the food plan a chance.  Using the meal plan makes it so much easier to keep track of fat grams and calories.  You can substitute any meal or snack you want.  If you look at the recipe detail, you'll see that all breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks in your plan have basically the same calories and nutritional content.  Print them all up and make what you like. 

I have the reverse problem.  It's just me, my husband and our dog.  He's a picky eater and doesn't want to hear about eating "diet food".  So my big issue is avoiding waste.

Since the dog food poison scare, I've been cooking for our dog.  So there's always roast chicken around.  While I'm pulling it apart for Wizzy, I take out my scale and measure out a few 2 oz portions for myself and put them in plastic bags along with chopped scallion and celery.  Presto!  I've got several Chicken Salad Pita meals ready to go in an instant.  All I have to do is add the mayo and it's done.  Breakfast can be as easy as keeping whole wheat English Muffins on hand.  Add your PB&J and you're good to go.

I also like the Dole fruit salad cups and mandarin orange segments, so I keep those around for snacks.  When I buy a bag of pretzels, I portion those out into bags as well, so there's always something "allowed" on hand when I'm hungry.

The biggest challenge is dinner.  I make things in larger portions, then divide them up and put the leftovers in the freezer in the correct amounts.  If I have to make something different for hubby, so be it.  My dinner just has to be warmed.  It's OK to eat the same dinner more than once in the week.  Already I've got a variety of things in the freezer so there is variety, yet I know I'm sticking to my food plan.

Maybe you could take one day a week when the kids are in school and cook up a couple of different meals, package them up, and refrigerate or freeze so you're set for the week?

Chooses, this is the most satisfying diet plan I've ever followed.  It doesn't leave me feeling famished all the time.  In just two weeks, I've got a lot more energy and am learning how to eat well.

Best of luck to you!

Mary