I am curious do you follow the meal plans or go on your own. I am starting SF tomorrow and I was going to go by the back of the can. I don't like following meal plans, I would rather eat to my taste, budget and lifestyle.
Hi
I've been on the plan for 3 days and I do my own mealplan. I just eat fruit or crackers to snack on throughout the day, or if I feel like something more tasty a low fat breakfast bar (anytype). Then my evening meal is whatever I fancy. I had homemade chicken curry, tonight I'm having chicken and veg pasta. Its just about common sense and we all know what to avoid, cheese, chocolate etc. It can work out quite expensive if you just stick to the slimfast products, there are lots of other substitues out there. Good luck
I notice that you asked the same question (back in Oct) that I am asking today. I just started this month and I emailed one of the technical people??? asked them if it was ok if (as long as I stayed with the food on their list) if I changed the menus to suit my taste and finances. I too, cannot afford to purchase the volume and variety of foods. To date, I have not gotten an answer from anyone. What have you found out? If I purchase a pound of deli turkey slices for sandwiches, I cannot afford to let it spoil, my husband and I will probably eat Turkey sandwiches for the week.
I'm not quite sure how this buddie system works, but if someone would let me know what they do, that would be great! If only to let me know if someone is out there
P
P,
We have tried, when putting together the menus on the Slim-Fast site, to provide recipes with affordable ingredients, while at the same time providing an array of recipes. However, if the variety of the items ends up being a problem, you can try substituting in different ingredients. For instance, if a recipe calls for beef tenderloin, try substituting ground lean hamburger meat instead. As you mentioned, you can also change your menus to suit your taste and your finances.
The Meal Planner selects foods to meet your nutritional needs for the day and lists them in "My Meal Plan". If it selects a food/recipe you feel is too expensive, simply click on "Substitute". A list of foods with a similar nutritional value will appear and you can select an alternative to replace the item you do not like.
In "My Meal Plan" you can also select foods that you like and choose more often. Simply click on these food items and add them to "My Favorites" (a link at the top of the page). This food will be at the top of your substitute list and when the system selects menus for you each week it will select these foods most often.
If you find that there is nothing in your "Substitute" list that you want, you can edit each day individually. You can "Add Items" from a food database or "Define New Food" and put in the nutritional information and title for a new food not in our food database. You can also "Define New Recipe" and put in the ingredients for a meal you have created. These items will be added to your “Add Item” list from which you can select to personalize your meal plan for the day. The system will analyze the foods for that day that you have selected and compare it to what you need to meet your weight loss goal. You can then see if you are meeting your calorie and nutrient needs.
As for a one-to-one buddy system, currently we do not have one up and running on this site. Stay tuned to the "About our Site Update" Forum for more information in the future.
Sincerely,
Ali Auerbach, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian
I just started using the online plan myself and will try to follow the calorie outline for each meal in the event I can't follow the meal plan. For example, if I don't have the time to make the dinner the plan has laid out for me, I will stick to the 500 calories and make my own meal that way.