Your What-to-Eat Guide

From breakfast to dessert, here’s your complete eating strategy.

Forget the word diet. Why? Diets are about deprivation, the last thing you need for lasting weight-loss success, Richter says. She’s designed a creative food plan that will give you the variety you crave while teaching you to choose wisely in the future, so those pounds stay off. Just follow these guidelines, and download our first-week meal plan to get you going. When you reach week two, supplement your menu with these great healthy recipes.

Eat small, frequent meals.
Keep your metabolism stoked by eating five or six small meals for a total of 1,600 calories every day. You’ll eat every two to three hours to help you avoid hunger and overeating. And you can eat a cup of nonstarchy veggies (anything but potatoes, corn, peas, and beans) whenever you’re hungry. Break up your 1,600 calories this way:
Breakfast: 200 to 300 calories (Split your plate, so you get half protein and half carbs.*)
Snack: 100 to 150 calories
Lunch: 400 calories (half protein, half carbs) Snack: 150 to 200 calories
Dinner: 500 to 600 calories (half nonstarchy veggies, one-quarter protein, one-quarter carbs)
Snack: 100 calories
*Carbs include whole grains, fruits, starchy vegetables.

Schedule in a splurge.
Allow yourself 400 extra calories per week (on top of those allowed on the plan). So if you want a cocktail or two on Friday night or that slice of pizza on Saturday, go ahead.

Add a snack with cardio.
On days you do 30-minute Feel Great Weight cardio workouts, you can add a 100-calorie snack: Try 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 cup berries or an apple and piece of string cheese.
Fill up with fruits and veggies.

Aim for two or three servings of fruit and three to five servings of vegetables per day; a serving equals 1 medium-size fruit or 1 cup fruit or vegetables.

Fiber up!
Aim for 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day to keep you full, aid in digestion, and help lower cholesterol. Choose high-fiber carbs: whole-grain cereals, breads, and pastas; brown rice; quinoa; oatmeal; flaxseed; unpeeled fruits and veggies.

Pick lean protein.
Protein makes you feel full, and the amino acids it contains will help you build lean muscle mass, which, in turn, burns calories more efficiently. Aim for 0.75 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, and think lean.

Chicken: Choose white meat, no skin.
Fish: Go easy on shellfish if you have high cholesterol.

Red meat with no visible fat: Select the leanest cuts like eye round steak, top round steak, and flank steak.

Pork: Pick a lean chop. Eggs: Limit yolks to three per week.

Low-fat or skim dairy: Snack on cottage cheese or yogurt.

Tofu, quinoa, or beans: Learn to love these great vegetarian options.

Don’t forget fat.
For this 1,600-calorie diet, shoot for 36 to 53 grams of fat per day. It’s necessary to have some fat in your diet—about 20 to 30 percent of your total calories (no more than 10 percent from saturated fat). Fat gives you energy, helps insulate your body, and helps your body make hormones. Several vitamins (A, D, E, and K) also need fat to be absorbed. Try these good sources of healthy fat: avocado, nuts, seeds, salmon, and olive oil.

Weigh in weekly
Because weight can fluctuate daily (thanks to carbohydrate and salt intakes), Richter recommends weighing in once per week—same time, same scale; that will give you the most consistent read on your progress. Because you’re replacing fat with muscle, you can also measure your waist, hips, thighs, and arms to find out if your shape is changing (even if the number on the scale isn’t)...

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Sexy Bikini Body Foods

6 Foods for a Hot Bod

Forget the latest tabloid diets and incorporate these six types of food into your eating plan now for an ultra-desirable, beach-worthy bod. Each food has an accompanying recipe to fill you up, keep you satisfied, and curb the need to cheat. For variety, you can choose another food from that same group. Combined with a daily exercise routine, this sensible plan will help you lose pounds, get toned, and keep the weight off throughout the summer.

Cross Training

Now that summer’s nearly here, chances are you’ll find writer Judy Waytiuk, 54, swimming in her backyard pool or riding her bike along the tree-lined streets near her house. She rarely goes a day without exercising, and especially treasures the time she spends swimming laps at dusk after a day devoted to juggling phone calls, emails, and assignments.

Waytiuk’s love affair with exercise began during the winter of 1995–96. She’d finally begun, with the help of an antidepressant, to climb out of the depression she’d fallen into the previous spring. In a moment of inspiration, she strapped on her long-neglected cross-country skis. Out on the crisp, clean snow, her mood lifted. “There’s absolutely nothing as beautiful as skiing along in the quiet of a wonderfully groomed park while the sky starts staining pink from the setting sun,” she says.

Soon, Waytiuk was skiing four times a week for an hour and a half at a time. When the snow melted and the seasons changed, she simply went with the flow, relocating her workouts to the pool and dusting off her old, neglected road bike.

While Waytiuk’s workouts are plenty vigorous, she says she’s too busy enjoying the scenery to notice all of the effort she’s exerting. “I love the air, the changing landscape, and the peacefulness of it all,” she says. “It’s glorious.”

The take-away: Outdoor workouts might be more palatable for obvious reasons (like scenery and fresh air). But the real news is that you may actually burn more calories outside than you would indoors. Utah State University researchers recently studied a group of men and women as they ran on treadmills, around an indoor track, and along a scenic outdoor route. The participants reported feeling more revitalized and tranquil—and notably less exhausted—when exercising outside than they did indoors. Plus, they ran almost 15% faster outside than they did on the treadmill. However, they felt they were exerting themselves less, says Rick LaCaille, PhD, a psychologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

Make it work for you: Try running in your neighborhood park or cycling on your local bike path. On the weekend, reward yourself by seeking out the best scenery (even if you have to drive a bit to get there). If you can’t go outside, at least choose the treadmill closest to a window, surround your home stationary bike with gorgeous plants, pop a scenic movie into the DVD player, or tune in to the Travel Channel—anything to keep your mind off what your body’s doing...

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Each part of this 40-minute toning and calorie-blasting circuit workout from popular The Sports Club/LA instructor and personal trainer Maeve McCaffrey contains a quick cardio blast followed by a body-toning strength move. Do this workout three times a week, and you’ll cover both your cardio and strength needs. Each time, do the workout straight through as described, then repeat twice.

Part 1. Cardio Blast Squat Reach
With your feet about hip-width apart, squat down and touch the fronts of your shins. Return to standing and raise your hands overhead. Do 12–15 quick reps

Stability Ball Chest Press
for core, chest, arms, legs, butt
Sit on a stability ball, holding a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in each hand. Slowly walk forward, and roll the ball under your body until only your head and shoulders are supported. (Your body should be in a straight line from your head to your knees.) Press both weights upward; then, keeping your right arm straight, bend your left arm and lower the dumbbell until your elbow forms a 90-degree angle. Extend your left arm, then repeat with your right to complete 1 rep. Do 12–15 reps, then put down the dumbbells and do 12–15 crunches on the ball. Move directly to Part 2.

Part 2.

Cardio Blast! Squat Jumps
With your feet about hip-width apart, squat down slightly and extend your arms behind you. Swing them above your head and jump a few inches off the ground. (If you have knee or hip problems, just rise up on the balls of your feet instead of jumping.) Land softly and return to squat position. Do 12–15 quick reps.

Wide Squat and Power Press
for legs, butt, arms, shoulders, core
Start with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart and hold a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell down in front of your body with your right hand. Squat slightly, and let your arm drop down between your legs. Stand up, and lift dumbbell straight up in front of you (as if zipping a jacket) to shoulder level. Rotate right arm until palm is facing forward, then extend right hand overhead. Low–er hand to shoulder, then return to start–ing position. Do 12–15 reps with right hand; switch sides and repeat. Put down dumbbell and do 12–15 push-ups, then move directly to Part 3.

Part 3.

Cardio Blast! Modified Side Lunge
Stand with feet together and arms down by your sides. Keeping left foot facing forward, turn your body and lunge to the right with your right foot. Return to starting position, then repeat move on the left side; that’s 1 rep. Do 12–15 quick reps.

Single Leg Lift and Row
for hamstrings, back, butt, arms, core
Stand with left foot in front of right foot, holding a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in right hand and keeping arms by your sides. Lean forward, and raise right foot off the ground. Extend weight toward the ground, then raise it to your hip.
Do 12–15 reps with right arm, then switch arms and legs and repeat on left side. Afterward, return to starting position and do 12–15 front lunges
with each leg. Move directly to Part 4.

Part 4.

Cardio Blast! Mountain Climbers
Starting in push-up position, step your right foot in toward your hands. In one motion, extend your right leg back to the starting position and bring your
left foot in toward your hands to complete 1 rep. Do 12–15 quick reps.

Stability Ball Roll Outs
for abs, back, shoulders
Kneel with a stability ball about 2 feet in front of you. Place your forearms on the ball, and bend your elbows to 90-degree angles. Keeping your abs tight, lean into the ball and allow it to roll forward about 1 foot. Using your ab muscles, pull the ball back toward you. Do 12–15 reps, then stand up and do 12–15 side lunges with each leg.Four weeks to your healthy beach body!

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You’ve been on the plan for a month, now it’s time to step up your exercise. Try these two ramp-it-up moves—from Feel Great Weight dream team member Geralyn Coopersmith.

Add in Superwoman
Superwoman works the back (pictured above).

This move will balance the back muscles that work with the ab muscles targeted by the Diagonal Crunches, further strengthening your core.

Here’s how to do it: Lie face down on a mat with your arms straight overhead. Exhale and lift your right leg and left arm several inches off the floor. Pause for a second, inhale, then lower down. Repeat using your left leg and right arm; continue alternating for a total of 20 reps (10 per side). Do 2-3 sets.

Replace Step-Up with Crane Lunge
This move works the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves.

Now that you have mastered the Step-Up, you’re ready to advance to the Crane Lunge. Not only does it challenge your balance, but it also provides a great workout for the same muscle groups with absolutely no equipment needed, since your body provides the resistance.

Here’s how to do it: Begin in lunge position with your left foot in front and right foot in back (don’t let your left knee go over your toes). Exhale, straighten your left leg, and bring your right knee forward and up as high as you can while maintaining a straight back. Inhale and return to the starting position. Do 10-12 reps, then switch sides and repeat. Do 1-2 sets.

Her biggest challenge: “I love going for drinks with my husband and friends, but cocktails are so fattening. Can I keep this ritual and stick to my plan?”

The fix: “Before heading out, stand in front of a full-length mirror and list aloud the reasons you want to lose weight,” says motivation expert Judith Beck. Next, make a game plan. (Nurse one Cosmo, say, then follow it up with seltzer and lemon.) “With a plan, you can relax and have fun,” Beck adds. Need extra motivation? Think about how you’ll feel if you stick to your plan, versus how you’ll feel if the effects of your partying show up on the scale the next day.

1. Grab-and-go breakfast item: Planters Daybreak Blend, Berry Almond Trail Mix. Dashing off to work without time for a real breakfast? Instead of getting sucked in by that jumbo coffee-shop muffin, grab this satisfying blend of almonds, raisins, cranberries, and granola clusters. (It’s also good stirred into vanilla yogurt.) Watching your hips? Each portable pouch has 180 calories and 3 grams each of fiber and protein. ($3.49)

2. Frozen breakfast item: Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties. Most of us steer clear of traditional breakfast sausage, but no one wants to eat vegetarian versions—until now. These low-fat 80-calorie patties actually taste like the old-fashioned meat kind. Plus, they only take a minute-and-a-half to zap in the microwave and give you 10 grams of protein per patty. ($3.99)

  3. Hot cereal: Quaker Simple Harvest Multigrain Hot Cereal, Maple Brown Sugar with Pecans. Oats are great for your heart, but a lot of instant oatmeal is packed with sugar and sodium. That’s why we love this new natural option from Quaker Oats. Not only is it a whole-grain bonanza (it has oats, whole wheat, and barley), but it also packs half as much sugar and sodium as most instants. And it only has 160 calories. ($3.89)

4. Cold cereal: Barbara’s Bakery Cinnamon Crunch Shredded Oats. A quick bowl of cold cereal for breakfast just got healthier: These tasty cinnamony squares scored a thumbs-up from judge Nancy Rodriguez for delivering more than 80 percent of your daily whole grains. Plus, it boasts 4 grams of filling fiber per serving. ($4.99) 

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1. Frozen lunch: Helen’s Kitchen Thai Yellow Curry with Tofu Steaks & Vegetables over Rice. Another lunch at your desk? Go gourmet with this vegetarian meal that judge Phil Lempert calls “fabulous.” This vegan dish is a tasty mix of organic broccoli, red peppers, tofu, and basmati rice. It’s satisfying, too, thanks to 12 grams of protein per serving. All this for 280 calories, less than 5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, and 30 percent of your daily calcium needs. ($4.89)

2. Cheese: Kraft LiveActive Cheddar Cheese Sticks. Get more bang from your Cheddar: These on-the-go snack sticks—with 120 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 20 percent of your daily calcium needs—have live, active probiotic cultures that help promote digestive health. We’re fans of the Cheddar flavor, but they’re also available in mozzarella and colby-Jack. ($3.99)

  3. Sandwich bread: The Baker Organic Pomegranate & Blueberry. This fruit-laced bread can do it all. Top it with almond butter to get your day going, use it to spiff up your turkey sandwich, or serve it with your spinach salad at dinner. We love that each slice has 15 grams of whole grains, 3 grams of fiber, and only 100 calories. ($4.99)

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1. Dairy beverage: Springfield Creamery, Nancy’s Lowfat Organic Raspberry Kefir. If milk has lost its excitement (or if you’re lactose intolerant), this smooth, yogurtlike drink might win you back. Judge Robin Miller loves the great raspberry flavor—brought to you by organic berries and organic agave nectar. It’s a nutritional powerhouse, too, with 7 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and 25 percent of your daily calcium needs. ($1.49 for 8 ounces)

2. Enhanced water: Kellogg’s Special K2O Protein Water Mix Iced Tea. Didn’t think your water could pack a punch? Add a packet of this mix to your 16.9-ounce bottle, and you’ll get 5 grams of protein and fiber for only 30 calories. It’s a great way to banish those hunger pangs between work and dinner, so stock your desk drawer with them. Bonus: You get 20 percent of three B vitamins for a nutrient boost. ($3.99 for a box of 7)

  3. Bottled tea: Honest Tea, Pomegranate White Tea with Açaí. Antioxidant alert! This refreshing organic brew is full of antioxidants from white tea and Brazilian açaí. It’s light, too, at just 40 calories per serving, or 85 if you gulp the whole bottle (like we do). Plus, it has about one-eighth of the caffeine in a cup of coffee—a little pick-me-up without the jitters. ($1.59)

4. Juice: Kagome 100% Juice Blend Yellow Mango Orchard. Like most of us, you’re probably not eating enough fruits and veggies. No problem, just drink them! This refreshing blend of four fruits and eight veggies—including mango, banana, carrot, and even asparagus—has no added sugar and tons of sight-saving antioxidants. Eight ounces nets you a full serving each of fruits and vegetables for only 120 calories. ($2.29 for 11.5 ounces)

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