Step 3: Plan and Shop for Your Weekly Meals

Many successful JumpstartMD patients find it easy and satisfying to think of their weekly meals as follows: keep breakfast, lunches, and snacks simple and familiar, with a handful of “go to” options that you rotate through, with variation in dinner meals. Others bore quickly with a fixed-meal routine and desire variety in all their meal types.

As you plan your weekly meals, be clear on the relative importance to you of convenience and simplicity versus variety. Regardless of your preference, these two things are equally true: JumpstartMD meals can be simple and “no fuss,” and JumpstartMD meals can be widely variable.

• Consider making eggs and Greek yogurt your breakfast “foundations”
• Eggs: Poach, scramble, fry, or hard-boil. Make into omelet or frittata with vegetables and cheese. Add different condiments for more variety, such as sour cream, chives, salsa, or parsley.
• Greek Yogurt: Add fresh or frozen fruit, slivered almonds, flax seed, or chopped nuts. Flavor with vanilla extract, lemon extract, Splenda, 1 teaspoon of sugar-free preserves, or unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Protein bars or shakes: Convenient, pre-portioned and effortless. Many flavors to choose from for variety.

• Leftovers from dinner: Pack leftovers directly into individual container for the next day. Consider leftover meat/protein, cooked vegetables, chili, soups, and the like that can be reheated.
• Salads: Use salad greens as a foundation, and simply change toppings and dressings for variety:
  • Protein: shrimp, steak, tuna, salmon, bacon, hardboiled egg, cheese, cottage cheese, tofu, pork, deli meats
  • Vegetables: cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, celery, onion, pea pods, broccoli, cauliflower
  • Salad dressings: Blue Cheese, Ranch, Italian, Caesar, Olive oil & vinegar
• Sandwich Substitutes: Substitute large lettuce leaves for bread to make a low-carb sandwich with deli meat and cheese or try wrapping deli meat and cheese around a dill pickle as a sand wich alternative.
• Protein bars or shakes: Convenient, pre-portioned and effortless.
• Eating out: When eating out for lunch, review the restaurant menu before you go to identify the best low carb options.

Whether eating at home or at a restaurant, “build” your dinner plate as follows:

• Choose a protein that will be the foundation of dinner. Think beyond chicken and fish. Eating “low carb” is a lifestyle, and it is important to expand your protein repertoire beyond the typical “diet” protein options. Consider steak, roast beef, beef tenderloin, pork chops, lamb, duck, oysters, tofu, tempeh, lobster, and the like.
• Choose a non-starchy vegetable as a side.
• Consider adding leafy green salad for additional bulk.

Add a whole grain, such as quinoa, whole wheat pasta, or brown rice, or starchy vegetable, such as carrots, potatoes, green peas, or beans, if family members desire.

Get inspired to cook delicious, low-carb dinner recipes on the JumpstartMD Patient Portal or on these reliable websites:

• Allrecipes.com
• Foodnetwork.com
• Eatingwell.com

Maintain a “stash” of non-perishable, JumpstartMD-friendly snacks in these locations so you always have access to healthy snacks:

• Home
• Workplace
• Car
• Purse or briefcase
• Gym bag

Stock up on snacks that appeal to you, such as:

• Hardboiled eggs
• Cheese sticks
• Nuts
• Greek yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Beef or turkey jerky
• Half of a Quest protein bar
• Small apple with sliced cheese
• Celery and peanut butter