Healthy Eating Menu Ideas

Breakfast. Start the day with a bowl of granola (1/2 cup), with two tablespoons of plain yogurt, and milk. The granola should contain oats, nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds), seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower), and no hydrogenated fats. Sprinkle blueberries, or add slices of fresh fruits such as strawberry, banana, or peach. Add a tablespoon of soy or whey protein powder. This is a very satisfying breakfast with whole grains that contain complex carbohydrates, healthful fats, fiber, and beneficial bacteria. If you eat it at 8 AM you will not feel hungry until 1 or 2 PM. This makes it possible to have a light meal for lunch.

Lunch. Light meal suggestions:

Dinner.A reasonable meal with vegetables and dessert. It is a good idea to put all the food that you are going to eat on your plate before starting to eat. In this way, you will see how much you actually eat. When you have multiple-course dinners, second helpings, or snack before eating, you lose perspective of the amount that you eat. Dinner Suggestions:

For dessert: flavored gelatin, fresh fruit cocktail, or one small scoop of frozen yogurt.

What happens if you are still hungry after eating a meal? Wait twenty minutes and then, if you are still hungry, eat an apple, a pear or an orange. When you wait, you give your body time to digest the food that you just ate and your hunger will diminish. A high-protein snack fills you up longer than a high carbohydrate snack. A sardine on a cracker, hummus on a pita bread chip, or a dab of peanut butter on a celery stick will satisfy your hunger longer than the equivalent weight of carbohydrate snacks.

General dietary suggestions:

Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Raw fruits and vegetables contain many healthful antioxidants and nutrients, although they are high in carbohydrates.
Drink purified water. Metropolitan water systems use chlorination to kill bacteria that might be harmful, but the organic chlorine compounds created by this process may not be safe.
Use olive oil for cooking. This oil has been used for thousands of years and has some beneficial health effects.
Trim fat from meat before cooking, and drain fat after cooking ground meats to reduce your intake of excess calories.
Restrict the amount of candy, sugar, sodas, cakes, white bread, pasta, white rice, and potatoes. These foods are mostly carbohydrates which are good sources of energy, but don't have much nutritional value. Regular consumption of high-fructose corn syrup used for sweetening soft drinks and other products may promote obesity.
Analyze your nutrition and take vitamin or mineral supplements to make up for deficiencies. CRON-o-meter is a free nutritional analysis program.
Don't eat hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils and the foods that contain them. Hydrogenated oils generally contain Trans fatty acids with unnatural shapes that cannot be metabolized properly and cause cardiovascular diseases. Manufacturers use hydrogenated oils because they do not turn rancid as fast as natural oils and the products using them have a longer shelf life. Hydrogenated fats are far worse for your health than the saturated fats found in lard or butter, and unfortunately, they occur in high proportions in commercially prepared fried foods, margarines, pastries, and baked products.
Don't eat charred or burned food. Cooking carbohydrate-rich foods at high temperatures creates acrylamides which are known to cause cancer. Restrict consumption of grilled or smoked meats and cheeses because they contain many toxic chemicals from the smoke and the chemical breakdown of the food components. High temperature cooking also binds sugars to amino groups in proteins and nucleic acids to create advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that can have harmful effects over time. Restrict consumption of roasted nuts, toasted breads, crispy fried foods, and sauces and glazes made from roast pan drippings.
Avoid or restrict consumption of meats cured with sodium nitrite because such meats almost always contain detectable levels of carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Avoid potato chips, corn chips, and French fries or deep-fried potatoes. They are mostly carbohydrates and fat.
Avoid caffeine; it is addictive. Caffeine occurs naturally in coffee, cola nuts, and tea, but soft drink manufacturers add it to soft drinks like Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, and Mountain Dew because it increases repeat sales. Caffeine is a central stimulant and people who regularly consume caffeinated drinks get an initial energy boost from caffeine, but later may suffer headaches, restlessness, and other withdrawal symptoms when they stop consuming the products.
Avoid hard liquor. Alcohol is toxic to the liver, disrupts the functions of the nervous system, and slows your reflexes. If you drink, do not drink more than one glass of wine or beer per day, and always drink with a meal. Do not drive or operate mechanical equipment after drinking to avoid accidents.
Do not store food in aluminum containers. Metallic aluminum reacts with acid foods to create soluble aluminum compounds that may be unhealthy. Avoid using baking powder and self-rising flour that contain aluminum.
Read food product labels carefully to know what you are eating. Pay particular attention to the list of ingredients. Many products claiming to be "fat free" or with "no trans-fats" achieve that status by mathematical rounding and by using unrealistically small serving sizes.