The Building Blocks of a Healthy Diet

How do you translate the checklist into a week of meal planning? Here's a day-by-day road map to get you started. Again, this represents the minimum amount of food you need to get all your nutrients. If you're hungry, you can eat anything from the first three columns of the Checklist, or you can add your weekly treat.

Day 1
Breakfast

1 cup low-fat yogurt

Hard-cooked egg

1 slice whole-grain toast

Banana

Snack 1

1/2 peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread

1 cup low-fat milk

Lunch

Tuna salad on whole-grain bread

Apple

Snack 2

1 cup bran flakes

1 cup low-fat milk

Dinner

Pork chop

1 /2 cup cracked wheat

Broccoli

Sliced tomato

Day 2
Breakfast

1 cup oatmeal

2 tablespoons cashews

Pear

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1

1/2 cheese-and-tomato sandwich on whole-grain bread

1/2 cup low-fat milk

Lunch

Cheeseburger on whole-wheat roll

Spinach salad

Snack 2

Hard-cooked egg

1 slice whole-wheat toast

Parmesan

Dinner

Chicken breast

Baked potato

Peas

Wedge of melon

4 ounces red wine

Day 3
Breakfast

1 cup Kashi or bran flakes

1/2 cup blueberries

1 slice whole-wheat toast

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1

Cheddar cheese

Whole-wheat roll

Pear

Lunch

Peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread

Shredded carrot

1 cup milk

Dinner

Broiled cod

Mashed sweet potato

Asparagus

Broiled tomato

Day 4
Breakfast

1 cup oatmeal

Orange

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1

1/2 chicken sandwich on whole-grain bread

Lunch

Tuna sandwich

Shredded carrot

Broccoli

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 2

1/4 cup hummus

Small whole-wheat pita

Dinner

Walnut and tofu stir-fry with

Brown rice

Sliced red pepper

Whole-wheat dinner roll

Grapes

1 cup low-fat yogurt

Day 5
Breakfast

1 cup bran flakes

1/2 cup strawberries

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1

1/2 peanut butter-and-banana sandwich on whole-grain bread

1 cup low-fat milk

Lunch

Chicken-and-tomato on whole-grain bread

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 2

Smoked salmon on 1 slice whole-wheat bread

Dinner

Small steak

Baked potato

Carrots

Kale

Roasted squash

4 ounces red wine

Day 6
Breakfast

1 cup bran flakes

1/2 cup raspberries

1 slice whole-wheat toast

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1

1/4 cup hummus

Small whole-wheat pita

Broccoli

Green beans

Lunch

Cheese-and-egg sandwich on whole-wheat bread

Banana

Snack 2

2 tablespoons peanuts

Parmesan

4 ounces white wine

Dinner

Broiled shrimp

Brown rice

Peppers

1 cup low-fat yogurt

Day 7
Breakfast

1 cup oatmeal

1 slice whole-grain toast

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 1

2 tablespoons walnuts

Grapes

Lunch

Ham-and-cheese sandwich

Spinach

Shredded carrot

1 cup low-fat milk

Snack 2

1 cup low-fat yogurt

Orange sections

Dinner

Baked salmon

Steamed red potatoes

Baked squash

Sliced tomato salad

Whole-wheat dinner roll