I just started my plan on Saturday, I feel I am doing really well, but would like to have more variety.  I feel like I am stuck with the meals listed in the book.  What is the easiest way to create my own meals.  Also, I feel like I am eating double of what I ate before.  Do I really need to eat such big meals?   

It's fine to make your own meal plans!  Many people do and I'm sure you'll have lots of posts on this.  If you're familiar with the Exchanges you can use them to plan meals. If not, let me know and I'll give you more info.

You can also use the Sample Menus to guide you in the beginning.  They show how to distribute calories and fat throughout the day.  Look at them for a while and then substitute types and amounts of food and you'll come close to the recommended calories and fat for your level.

Be patient in the beginning.  Remember, getting into the routine is like learning any new skill.  It takes a little practice in the beginning and then it becomes routine once you get into the swing of things.

I hope this helps.  Please let me know if you need anything else.

Pat Baird, MA, RD, registered dietitian

 i love using the meals on the alli plan. but when i make up my own meals i usually figure the calculations for a few "big ticket items" to get the fat amount in place, then add in veggies and other ff stuff to fill out. like for a soft taco i figure out how much ground turkey and cheese i can have with 1 tortilla then fill in with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, ff sour cream etc and fruit/yogurt on the side to reach my calorie target, same with pasta, even hamburger(ground turkey) helper, tuna(or shrimp) helper and chicken helper. (these were left in my cupboard from before i started my new life, i couldnt just throw them out) just watch the portion sizes. make the Xhelper be the big ticket item and fill in the rest to make a meal.

i made it easier for me to use the alli meals, i used to bring my laptop into the kitchen and open myalli as i planned .meals but i wasnt enjoying that and my sister doesnt use my laptop. so, i printed a couple weeks worth of the meals using the "printer friendly" version, cut them apart and stapled them onto pages into a blank recipe book. (i also clip LF recipes from magazines that have the nutrution values on them) they are divided out B L D. this only covered the top half of my page, i use the bottom and my handy dandy post it notes (i have a love affair with post its). as i portion out parts of the meal or entire meals i write on the post it, "7 baggies of meatballs, 3 baggies of pasta, 1 baggie of sauce" for example, so if im looking thru the book for dinner ideas i can see that i have some of the work done for me already. i also note if the item is in the fridge or freezer, so i know which meals to eat 1st so the elements dont go bad. then as i eat the elements of the meal i update the post it with new info. so i know i dont need frozen meatballs for a while. and i do need pasta/sauce so i can have meatballs if i want them.

 I look at a recipe and basically adjust using lower fat or fat free version of the ingredient.  When I make a cake I use an egg substitute for the eggs, and applesause for the oil.

If I have to saute something in oil, I instead use a poaching method with broth.  But there are times that you have no choice to use an oil like if you want a fried egg.  Then I use and olive oil and as little as possible.  I do have a microwave egg poacher that works great and I use that instead of frying an egg and if I am in a hurry for a boiled egg I use the microwave egg poacher.

I also started a thread of how I converted a recipe.  It showed the actual recipe and what I used to substitute.