The sun is shining and I’m going outside…

Even if it is still 12 below. I slept in today. I don’t normally get to do that but I got Jim off to work and fell back to sleep until 8:15. A good night sleep does make the day brighter and to wake up to the sunshine. Now this day I can handle.

As you all know I struggle with menu’s. It’s a stupid struggle but when it’s just me for supper and a one year old for breakfast and lunch it’s really different. I have never gone grocery shopping for just me foods and tomorrow that is what I get to do. I know that whatever I get for me Joss can eat so I can really plan a menu and stick to it. As long as I get the groceries for it. Debbi has offered me some advice on menu’s and she has some really great recipes to check out. And I found this….of course I copied and pasted it without the link but here’s the full page. I am going to use it to plan my menu next week. Also for me, if I can work up something that has flavor and is filling I can follow the same one for weeks without much changing. Just gotta get the first one done.

1200 Calorie Diet Plan for Women

Servings/day

Fruit (2-3 svgs) Choose from:

4 oz. juice (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup sliced/chopped cooked or raw fruit
(fresh, frozen, or canned.)

1 whole medium piece of fruit

1/4 cup dried fruit

Vegetables (2-3 svgs) Choose from:

4-6 oz. juice (1/2 – 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup fresh non-leafy vegetables

1/2 cup cooked vegetables

1 cup fresh leafy greens

NOTE: Choose at least 5 total fruit and vegetable servings a day for a healthier diet. Have no more than 1 serving of fruit or vegetable juice per day

Whole grain breads and cereals (preferred) (3-4 svgs) Choose from:

1/2 cup high fiber dry cereal (about 80-100 calories with
4+ grams of fiber)

1 slice high fiber bread with at least 2 grams of fiber

about 1/2 cup whole grain crackers (less than 100 calories with 2+ grams fiber)

1/2 cup cooked whole grain (brown rice, pasta, cereal)

1 SMALL whole grain muffin (about 150-160 calories providing 1/2 svg whole grain plus 1/2 serving fat)

Refined grain breads and cereals such as white bread (Try to avoid on a 1200 calorie diet. Eat only when whole grain choices are not available.)

Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or beans (1-2 svgs)
Choose from:

2 oz. lean meat, fish, or poultry

1/2 cup cooked dried beans (legumes)

1 egg

1 Tbsp. peanut butter or other nut butter

Low fat and nonfat dairy (2 svgs) Choose from:

1 cup skim milk or 1% milk

1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese

1-2 oz. light cheese

1 cup low fat yogurt

Fats (1-4 svgs) Choose from:

1 tsp. healthy oil (such as olive oil or canola) or soft margarine

1 tsp. regular mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. regular salad dressing

2 Tbsp. light salad dressing

Nuts and Seeds (A healthy choice but high in calories eat only on occasion.) Choose from:

1/2 oz. nuts

1 Tbsp. seeds

Sweets/other (1-2 svgs) Choose from:

1 tsp. maple syrup, sugar, jelly, or jam

1 gingersnap

1 vanilla wafer

Manageable, right? I think so. If anyone has other ideas or thoughts about this I’m game to listen. I live in the sticks and our groceries are the pretty normal kind plus I’m a farm girl which means something like humus or artichokes or ….. well the strange things I’m not going to buy and just see if I like since I have a limited budget of $40.00 a week for groceries. I’ll share my first menu plan when I get it worked up today but for now I have to go clean out the coal stove and then take care of the animals and head over to mama’s to do some visiting and working on her computer.

So take care my friends and thank you for all your help. I have never ever felt like this in my life but I am planning on crawling back out and moving forward. Terri gave me some hormonally tea tincture she made up and I’m going to start that today. Betty suggested that and so did Terri last week. Maybe that’s part of all of this too. We’ll see.

Blessings you all!!! And thank you too!!!