Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid: A sample menu

This sample menu shows you how the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid can help you plan daily meals and snacks.

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The Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid is a tool designed to help you eat a balanced, nutritious diet while achieving a healthy weight. It illustrates the types and amounts of food you need to eat every day from each of the five represented food groups.

This sample menu shows you how the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid can help you plan daily meals and snacks. Note that if you're hungry, reach for more fruits and vegetables. But make sure your fruit is fresh or is canned in water or juice with the liquid poured off. Limit dried fruit and fruit juice to no more than one to two servings a day because they're high in calories and low in volume. Regular vegetable juice is high in sodium, so you may need or wish to choose a low-sodium variety.

Example of a 1,200-calorie menu

Breakfast

1 medium banana

1 cup bran cereal

1 cup fat-free milk

Herbal tea

Lunch

Tuna salad sandwich made with 1/2 cup water-packed tuna, 1 tablespoon low-calorie mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, chopped celery as desired, leaf lettuce and 2 slices whole-grain toast

2 cups raw baby carrots, jicama and bell pepper strips

1 small apple

Water

Dinner

3 ounces broiled cod sprinkled with juice of 1 lemon wedge and 1 teaspoon drained and rinsed capers

3/4 cup steamed green beans

1/2 cup sliced beets

Salad made with 1 cup bibb, Boston, butterhead or leaf lettuce, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, a splash of balsamic vinegar and 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 nectarine

Sparkling water with lemon

Snack (anytime)

1 small pear

Nutrient Analysis
Calories	1,191	Cholesterol	92 mg
Protein	85 g	Sodium	1,263 mg
Carbohydrate	196 g	Fiber	36 g
Total fat	15 g	Potassium	2,967 mg
Saturated fat	4 g	Calcium	385 mg
Monounsaturated fat	6 g