What is it? Developed by a team of Registered Dietitians and Health Professionals, there are 3 menu plans to choose from – 1500, 1800 and 2100 calories per day. They are available for free on the President’s Choice website and can be customized for individual tastes.
How does it work? Each plan is balanced according to Canada’s Food Guide, plus meets recommended levels of cholesterol, fibre, fat, saturated fat, sodium and protein. They weren’t designed as weight-loss programs, but more as tools to help people learn about healthy choices and portion sizes.
The menus also promote many PC Blue Menu products, but you can substitute with other choices or homemade versions. This may alter the total nutrition count for that day, but try to stick to approximate similar number of calories. For example, on the 1500-calorie plan, breakfasts are approximately 300 calories, lunch is 400, dinner is 500 and the three snacks are 100 calories each.
One of my favourite Blue Menu products for a quick grab-and-go lunch is the Ginger-Glazed Salmon frozen entree. It comes with a side of brown rice and barley. Only 300 calories, it’s high in fiber, protein and those healthy Omegas, plus it’s tasty.
What are the pros? This is the perfect healthy eating plan for people who need structure. If you stick to it, you will definitely be getting healthy, well-balanced meals. There are even weekly shopping lists to make things really simple, so really great for people with busy schedules. And after a few weeks of using the plan, you should have a pretty good idea of appropriate portion sizes. Not everyone likes eating prepared foods, but for those who need the convenience, this plan makes it easy.
What are the cons? If you don’t like structure, this probably isn’t the plan for you. And if you cook all the time and like to eat meals from scratch, this may have too many ready-made and prepared foods for your liking. People who aren’t regular Superstore or Extra Foods shoppers will probably find it challenging to find similar products at other grocery stores, or they’ll have to do a lot of label reading.
Cost: PC Blue Menu foods don’t cost any more than the regular PC items. If you are a regular Superstore shopper, this shouldn’t cost you any more than your regular grocery bill.
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