Do It Youself Meal Plans Are Cheaper

As we move into the Spring people think about dropping a few winter pounds, and I understand why some of them turn to meal programs like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. (The latter is the least expensive of the two.) There's no guesswork. Every bite you eat is packaged for you. The cooking and cleanup are light. It's convenient and nutritionally balanced, and if you follow it, you'll drop the weight. Years ago (around 2009), I tried Nutrisystem for 30 days. I wasn't hungry on the diet and remember dropping down to 118 pounds. As a younger woman, my loftier standard of my ''ideal weight'' was much lower. I was a size 6 - 8 for many years (without starving!). Today I'd love to step on the scale at the weight that I started with before dropping down to 118 pounds. THAT number + 20 pounds would be my ideal weight today!:)

At the same time, we also don't want to gain 10 additional pounds each and every year so our weight becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, even without stringently high (or should I say low?) standards, you can't let yourself go! No, no, never, never, uh, uh, uh.

Today I'm going to discuss the well-known Nutrisystem meal plans. If you were to buy similar food independently and are disciplined not to cheat, but follow the plan, including its portion sizes, you could reduce the cost of the diet significantly. Moreover, I remember not liking all of the Nutrisystem meals, yet ate them because of the expense and my commitment to losing weight.

Breakfasts were a combination of protein shakes, dehydrated scrambled eggs (add water and microwave), protein muffins, and protein bars.

Here's what I think you could substitute:

* 1 dozen fresh eggs

* You're favorite high protein, low sugar meal bars - Clean and Pure Protein bars are examples. Look for at least 15 grams - 20 grams of protein with low sugar per bar.

* Protein shakes - Look for 25 grams - 30 grams per serving with low sugar and minerals. Consider buying protein powder (over liquid shakes) and adding it to skim milk for savings. Also try different brands like Premier Protein, Aldi or Trader Joe's house brands for greater savings.

Lunches consisted of canned soups and you could eat fruit or vegetable sticks that you furnish.

THE SAVVY SHOPPER has recipes for a variety of homemade soups, but this post is about convenience.

So you could buy the healthy choice varieties of any number of soups at your supermarket. Read the labels carefully focusing on low calories, salt, and at least 20 grams (30 grams if you can find it!) of protein. I will give Nutrisystem credit for sending chunky protein-rich soup, trickier to find with supermarket canned soup.

Dinners were frozen meals: meat (beef, chicken, or pork), carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, or pasta), and a vegetable, such as broccoli or peas and carrots).

Look for the many wholesome options of supermarket-carried frozen dinners. They'll likely cost less than what's on Amazon, but I'll link those for educational purposes. At the supermarket, most are half the price of a Nutrisystem frozen meal. I happen to like a brand called Healthy Choice, but there are other options also at the supermarket. Aim to find 17 grams - 30 grams per frozen dinner with 250 - 500 calories per serving. You may have to supplement some meals with a glass of milk to bump up the protein.

Snacks I liked the Nutrisystem protein chips and protein bars. The cookies and cake were good too. I was allowed 2 snacks per day. Protein chips are expensive everywhere. What's more, you don't get much in the costly bag. Consider skipping them as snacks for an ounce of cheddar (or your favorite cheese) on a saltine cracker to lower the price. Still, I'm not against expensive protein chips if they help on a diet. Spend the bucks as needed to succeed. 

I disliked Nutrisystem's dehydrated eggs. The pizza crust was as dry and flat as a cracker (which subsequently may have improved to taste like most frozen pizzas). Nutrisystem's vegetable patty on a bun was not good in taste or texture, and I thought their frozen pasta dinner entrèes were insufficient and expensive. I'll take a lean real hamburger over a Nutrisystem patty any day. It's easy to grill a raw beef burger on a stovetop. Add a slice of onion, tomato, and lettuce with ketchup, and thank me later.

Supermarkets offer all of the above meals for less than $5 - $10 each of the Nutrisystem entrèes. You'll spend far less money plus only have to eat the dishes you like!

When you buy Nutrisystem you still must buy extra fresh fruit and vegetables as they aren't packaged and mailed to you.

Nutrisystem is great at teaching people what they should eat in a day; selecting food with adequate protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber; eating a variety of food; learning portion control; and eating when you're hungry. Also, you should and do consume 1/3 of your daily protein requirements with each meal.

Helpful tip: If you desire to follow the Nutrisystem/Jenny Craig diet on the cheap: Go to the supermarket and buy a full month's supply of alike meals + snacks to follow the plan faithfully. Do not stray from the plan. When you subscribe to the more pricey trademarks, the companies send you a box of food you eat for the month. This will put you in the same mindset for less.

Savings versus Convenience: Finally, if you don't mind paying 3+ times the money, you avoid the work of picking Nutrisystem meal equivalents at the supermarket. The food is shipped directly to your home. Nice! I enjoyed the convenience for a short time. But. After 30 days I decided I didn't need a meal plan, as I had good eating habits and didn't mind shopping or cooking. Sometimes cleaning up seems like a repetitive chore though.

Good luck! Losing weight is hard. The older you are, the tougher it is. Cutting calories is never fun. From time to time, we all go through it. "It's a marathon, not a sprint!"

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Food For A Senior Finicky Eater

Photo: clean.png

Oh my goodness, I've never dealt with such a fastidious, hard-to-please eater as my senior mother. In old age, it's her mind and not her inability to chew. Her doctors tell me this is common in patients like her as they lose the ability to taste food. I lower my expectations of her eating a varied diet and simply focus on pumping enough milk and Greek yogurt into her to make up for the meat and protein sources she'll no longer eat. Vegetables have gone by the wayside also. Sometimes she'll eat chicken nuggets or one bite of beef, but it's not enough protein in a steady diet.

Here's what I buy to counter her self-imposed limited diet:

1) low-fat milk - I drink skim, but bumped her up to 1%. She doesn't need to watch her weight.

2) vanilla Greek yogurt

3) multi-grain bread

4) crunchy peanut butter - Toast, pb, and a drizzle of honey every morning is her only daily meal of real food.

5) honey

6) 30-gram protein powder - that I add to milk if she refuses lunch. Sometimes I toss in fruit, or spinach, or walnuts. Sometimes I lose the battle and she refuses to drink it.

7) 20-gram protein bars - She is getting tired of these, so I cut them into 3 smaller pieces and give her one piece. It's better than nothing.

8) cheddar cheese - She'll only eat one bite of cheese but sometimes will eat a grilled cheese sandwich.

9) fruit - apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and berries

10) eggs - She'll only consume one egg for dinner about twice a week. I scramble 2 eggs and scrunch them up on a plate to look like one egg. She is suspicious but eats them.

11) coffee - My mother says coffee is number one. Lord save the caregiver if she is denied her morning coffee! She drinks coffee and about one cup of milk with her breakfast. Great!

12) ice cream and dark chocolate - as treats and for calories.  She only wants a serving. I toss dark chocolate chips on her ice cream for its anti-oxidants. I hear dark chocolate is good for the brain.

I am closer to having an understanding of what it must be like to care for an anorexic child. It's a daily struggle to keep them healthy. I dislike having to put so much thought into the daily necessity of eating. I, myself, have always been a healthy eater and never a problem eater. 

As long as mom looks healthy and is of normal weight I shake off over worrying and just do the best I can by making food available. I always offer her a bite of my meals but don't push her if she refuses a taste. However I'm strict on 2 points -- I do nudge her to have a small taste, and once in her mouth, I tell her she can't spit out such a small morsel of food, as it's not poison, but to please swallow it. I'm nipping a bad habit before it begins!

I'm sure the best nursing homes can't cater to seniors the way families inevitably do at home because it's time-consuming so when seniors become bad eaters they just go downhill.

Life's challenges! If you feed an undereater and have ideas that work feel free to share them.

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Getting A Senior To Eat Her Vegetables

Photo: Cooking Perfected

Hey, mothers of young children, you are not alone! Suddenly in October, my elderly mom started refusing to eat vegetables. If I put a small portion of peas, carrots, or green beans on a dinner plate she ignores them. Then she got picky with fruit and refuses bananas, apples, peaches, and oranges ... all foods she ate all her adult life. She'll agree to 3 strawberries or a few grapes, maybe a spoonful of blueberries. Forget about mango, romaine lettuce, or avocado.

Well, I refuse to fight daily with a senior to eat her vegetables ... and I'm sorry but for her own good, she must eat a balanced diet that covers every food group. Real food + variety = good nutrition = staying healthy. I have to win this war against a refusal to eat vegetables without making it a daily battle.

So two weeks ago I started making her smoothies for lunch. Most days it's working. She's eating spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, bananas, apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and pineapple again. She just doesn't know it.

Basic Smoothie for one:

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)

1/2 cup berries (I alternate: either strawberries or blueberries)

1/4 cup nuts (I alternate between almonds, walnuts, and peanuts - or a tablespoon of peanut butter works.)

1 small banana (adds sweetness and potassium)

a handful of spinach

alternate a vegetable (see below👇)

1/2 cup of canned no-sugar-added fruit cocktail 

A drizzle of honey if needed

I select a different fruit or vegetable to add each day from the following list -- alternate and use whatever you have in the refrigerator. Mix it up over the course of a week:

1/4 cup carrots

A wedge of cooked butternut squash

1/4 cup of cooked unsalted green beans

1/4 cup cooked unsalted peas

1/4 cup of cooked California mix - broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots

1/4 cup pineapple chunks

1/2 peeled green apple

a small orange

BTW: If your ward needs a carbohydrate you can also toss 1/4 cup of oatmeal into a smoothie. My mother eats multi-grain toast and oat crunch cereal for breakfast so I don't add oatmeal to her smoothies. You can also pour in a splash of fruit juice for sweetness or to make the smoothie thinner if necessary. 

Directions: 

Toss everything into a blender and puree. Pour into a tall glass. Top with a drizzle of honey, or another splash of fruit juice to achieve a drinkable consistency. Eyeball it.

Last March (2022) when I started overseeing her meals I set 3 main goals. 1) lots of protein; 2) a variety of real food - meat, fruits and vegetables, plus whole grains over the course of a week; 3) low sugar in her diet. 

Sweets are a treat, not a staple. I think we can learn to like healthy foods just as much as junk food. Whatever our palettes are fed is what we enjoy eating. I ask reoccurring visitors intent on bringing treats to please bring her grapes, an orange, or bananas, not cookies and candies. 

We stock dark chocolate -- bars and dark chocolate chips (12-ounce bag), and she eats a serving most days. There are also special occasion treats like Christmas cookies, a slice of birthday cake, or an ice cream cone. Halloween candy once a year. Nothing mindless though.

My mother doesn't need cholesterol or blood pressure drugs, so if we can avoid various conditions with a healthy diet we're better off than having to treat them. We love her primary care physician, Dr. Jackson! He is thorough without being an alarmist. He took care of his own elderly father, and I can run any concerns by him that arise. He endorses Carnation Instant Breakfast for people who won't eat meals. We are on the same page.

Whether we need to get a fussy senior or a child to eat a variety of healthy food, we have to get the job done without making our own lives crazy. Milk, yogurt, fresh or canned fruit, and a blender are your best friends. Voilà protein, vitamins, and fiber in a glass! Into the piehole and down the hatch!!

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Fermanted Foods Boost Our Immune System

Photo: 1,2,3RF

After years of reading about the power of fermented foods, I now drink 1/2 cup of homemade kombucha daily ... or try to eat kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, or pickled vegetables (includes green pickles, i.e., baby cucumbers) -- alternating them into a given week of meals. Cider vinegar contains a few probiotics and can be turned into a delicious vinaigrette salad dressing. Fermented foods, a source of natural probiotics, help to rev up our immune system by keeping our gut microbiome healthy and balanced.

According to Dr. Vincent Pedre, author of 'Happy Gut,"and quoted in Better Nutrition magazine, "Seventy percent of our immune system is located in our gut lining." It's the area where ''the immune system is programmed," he states in the article (October 2021 issue). 

Fermented foods introduce good bacteria that fight the bad bacteria (microbes), which can also live in our gut microbiome. We carry about 4 pounds of microbes in our gut to help us digest our food. 

{Although not qualified to know having not gone to medical school, I wonder if some of the people who have irritable bowel syndrome would benefit from eating fermented foods. For sure, it won't hurt them and possibly balance their gastrointestinal tracts.}

Paraphrasing the article, fermented foods increase the variety "of microbes in the gut and decrease levels of 19 inflammatory markers in the blood." Dr. Pedre claims good bacteria helps to ''protect us from having a runaway inflammatory immune response" if we get an infection. In addition, eating fiber helps to maintain good gut bacteria and improves its performance.

As Dr Pedre explains, the combination of eating fermented foods and a high fiber diet gives us the best defense in fighting off colds, flu, and even COVID-19.

If not already eating fermented foods, consider including them in your diet ... but start slowly (for example, consume 1/2 cup of kombucha or 2/3 cup of pickled vegetables or 1 cup of yogurt in a meal -- mixing it up over a week). Let your digestive system adjust to the addition of fermented foods to your diet. Don't suddenly shock your gut with a ton of probiotics by eating too much of a good thing in a single day. Over time, you can increase your intake of fermented foods without the side effects (i.e., having to run to the bathroom).

Getting your probiotics by eating fermented foods is better and less expensive than taking probiotic pills. Food gives you organic probiotics in the right amounts.

On occasion, I make kimchi, less often yogurt, and pickle my own black olives; and now regularly I make kombucha. It's surprisingly easy ... as well as, interesting to learn how, so give it a try.

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Benefits Of Ginger Juice

Years ago I stopped drinking Coke and Dr. Pepper to protect my teeth. The magazines were I worked gave them to us for free, and I drank 2 cans each day. The acid ate away my tooth enamel, and the chemicals in the soda are not good for us either.

Now I drink mostly ice water, but every so often I crave a kick of flavor. I am giving ginger juice a whirl. Sometimes I use ginger root in recipes calling for it, and I like the subtle heat of dried ginger candy. In Manhattan buying a 32-ounce bottle of already squeezed ginger juice for about $15 costs nearly the same as buying pounds of ginger root and extracting the juice from the pulp. So that's what I'll do. I started with a 5-ounce bottle to try it out.

Moreover ginger juice is thought to have several health benefits (requiring more scientific studies to support the claims, but still worth noting). The following is what limited studies say:

1) Ginger juice improves digestion, purifies the mouth and freshens breath by stimulating the production of saliva. It might also ease nausea and indigestion caused by pregnancy, surgery and chemotherapy.

2) Ginger juice has antibacterial properties to ease colds, congestion and bronchitis.

3) It has anti-inflammatory properties (including natural compounds gingerols and shogaols) that help to relieve pain from conditions such as arthritis; backaches; and headaches.

4) Certain chemical compounds in ginger may control high blood pressure and bad cholesterol. It could reduce your chances of developing heart disease; certain cancers; and Alzheimer's. Ginger juice may sharpen your mental faculties according to a few sources. 

5) Ginger's antioxidant properties might slow down aging and promote a healthy head of hair. (Oh, good, I'm all in!)

6) Ginger has been suggested as a possible weight loss aide, yet the verdict is still out. Read more about the risks and benefits here.

What is certain: Ginger adds a kick of flavor to drinking water with no known side effects when used in moderation. (Excess is always bad with anything and most everything including eating carrots.) I pour a little of the juice (to taste) into a 32-ounce container of ice water and add a tad of Stevia as a sweetener and sip it throughout the day. Surely it's better than the soda I consumed for years. It's refreshing. I like it!

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