Please help me to create a weekly healthy menu to lose weight

[AngryFeet]

I have been trying to lose weight for ages unsuccessfully and am getting confused by all the advice out there and what I should be eating vs what I can actually stomach

I am 5ft 3 and 13st so am obese and would like to lose 4 stone.

Exercise I have no problem with doing and I can fit in 4 x 1 hr sessions a week doing aerobics DVDs plus 2 runs a weekend (can probably do 2 miles a time without dying!). Not that I have been doing any of these but I do have the time to!

Food wise I like things that are quick and easy as I work and life is spent rushing around during the day. I tend to eat a couple of slices of brown bread, butter and smoked salmon for breakfast or toast and scrambled eggs, lunch is something from the shop so usually a sarnie and bag of crisps but the sandwiches I like are always about 550 cals , dinner time I like to have a big meal of something like meat, pots and veg in cheese sauce (I find them hard to eat without a sauce but do like them) but also get a few takeaways during the week as me and DH are feeling too tired to cook . I also snack a bit but can do this if I can have a small snack at 4pm as we eat at 8pm and the break between lunch and dinner is too big.

Here are the things I HATE (which is why I struggle with set meal plans):-

Salad in any form unless it has mayo and something nice like salmon fillet or leg of chicken too which ends up being too much bother!
Porridge
Cereal as I don't like milk
Fruit

Pretty much everything else I am ok with! I am also rubbish at portion sizes and fill my plate then finish it (licking it clean usually ).

Please help me! I can't afford a slimming club and am getting confused with Atkins/Dukan etc - plus I LOVE carbs! I just need a simple easy menu with about 1300 cals a day so hopefully with the exercise I can lose 1-2lbs a week. Is this too much to ask or can you lovely ladies give me some tips?

I'll do a day! Hopefully you'll get 6 others...

MONDAY

Breakfast: Scrambled egg (no butter or cream, no toast as 2 slices of bread a day at lunch is enough!)
Mid morning: Fat free yoghurt
Lunch: Homemade sandwich - granary bread 2 slices, plus smoked salmon and quark. Plus yoghurt if still hungry.
Snack: Oatcake plus tuna (no mayo!)
Dinner: griddled chicken breast, plus massive serving of homemade ratatoiulle made with tinned chopped tomato (don't use oil!) (so its like a tomato sauce) plus v small serving of brown rice.

Thanks forever that's great :) How many eggs for breakfast? Is 2 ok?

try cutting out some of the bread, couscous is low GI and doesn't seem to have the same bloating effect as other carbs, also try roasted seeds (I dry-fry pumpkin, sunflower, pinenuts and fennel seeds, add a splash of soy sauce - tasty snack) and no take aways - they are the work of the devil (sadly!)

eggs are great, also sainsburys tasted the difference chipolatas are 0 carb I think

So I need to go along the low carb route then? Was hoping to avoid it tbh but it feels like people believe there is no other way to lose weight nowadays :(

2 eggs for breakfast.

No need to do low carbs initially anyway but make a bit of effort to cut down a little and ensure they are healthy carbs (ie low GI), eg 2 slices of granary bread a day and a half sized portion of brown rice / brown pasta at dinner. Oakcake or ryvita (stick to one though with topping!) good for snack.

If you want to stick to 1300 calories have to make every calorie count nutritionally wise, don't have space for refined carbs in diet.

Buy loaf of bread and make whole weeks sandwiches in one go and freeze them. Then easy to take out of freezer! Smoked salmon freezes nicely.

Buy a cooked chicken and remove skin. Then you will be able to take salad and chicken to work twice (two legs) and slice the breast for stir fry for dinner.

Cheap way to do it as well. Waitrose and Tescos cooked chickens are cheaper than raw whole chicken. Waitrose ones are less than a fiver, and if DP is away I can make one do at least 3 meals for me and DD, 22 months. I have a one chicken leg for lunch and dinner, DD will have wings for lunch and then I will make a stir fry, carb free curry or whatever for dinner the next day.

Hi, Can anyone tell me a syn free free yoghurt that's suitable for vegetarians?most of the mullers are not suitable. x

No idea about syns but some (but not all) of the activia fat free are veggie. otherwise eat natural fat free yoghurt with nothing added!

Have you looked at the Good To Know website?
They have a lot of info on diets. I'm going to try and (loosely) follow this one
www.goodtoknow.co.uk/diet/132654/Rosemary-Conley-s-Kick-start-Low-GI-Diet-Food-Plan