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Lose up to 10 pounds this month with Joy Bauer's #startTODAY meal plan

If you’re looking to lose weight and improve your health in 2015, this food plan is the perfect guide. These meals are designed with the right mix of lean proteins, high-quality carbs and healthy fats to give you fast and effective results.Simply follow the daily menus—or mix and match any of the breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options to create your own regimen. You can also repeat meals a

If you’re looking to lose weight and improve your health in 2015, this food plan is the perfect guide. These meals are designed with the right mix of lean proteins, high-quality carbs and healthy fats to give you fast and effective results.

Simply follow the daily menus—or mix and match any of the breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options to create your own regimen. You can also repeat meals and snacks as often as you’d like.

A tasty breakfast idea: berry-granola parfait.
A tasty breakfast idea: berry-granola parfait.Today

DAY 1:

Breakfast: Berry-Granola Parfait

Lunch: Turkey Tortilla Roll-Up — Enjoy with baby carrots or crunchy bell pepper sticks.

Afternoon Snack: Apple + 15 almonds

Dinner: Grilled Chicken Parmesan — Enjoy with unlimited steamed broccoli or green beans.

DAY 2:

Breakfast: Egg and Cheese Sandwich

Lunch: Fiery Chicken Salad — Enjoy with 2 rice cakes and baby carrots or sliced cucumber.

Afternoon snack: Parmesan popcorn

Dinner: Hoisin-Glazed Salmon — Enjoy with sugar snap peas.

DAY 3:

Breakfast: Greens-In-a-Glass — Enjoy with a hard-boiled egg or an orange.

Lunch: Kitchen Sink Salad

Afternoon Snack: Nutrition bar — Enjoy any brand with no more than 200 calories.

Dinner: Turkey Sausage with Sautéed Peppers & Onions — Enjoy 1 to 2 servings.

DAY 4:

Breakfast: Pumpkin-Chia Oatmeal

Lunch: Mini Vegetable Pizza — Enjoy with 1 cup of vegetable soup or salad with light dressing.

Afternoon Snack: Pistachio nuts in the shell — Enjoy ½ cup.

Dinner: Three Bean Turkey Chili

DAY 5:

Breakfast: Protein Pancake — Enjoy 1 large pancake topped with ½-cup fresh or frozen, thawed berries OR a dollop of any flavor nonfat yogurt.

Lunch: Open-Faced Turkey Sandwich

Afternoon Snack: PB-Banana Freeze

Dinner: Chicken Curry and Vegetables —Enjoy 1 serving without rice.

DAY 6:

Breakfast: Apple & PB ‘Wiches (Note: You may replace the apple with a banana spread with peanut butter, if desired.)

Lunch: Tuna Avocado Salad in a Pita Pocket — Stuff tuna avocado salad in a whole-wheat pita pocket and enjoy with bell pepper sticks or sliced cucumber on the side.

Afternoon Snack: Ginger-Spiced Pumpkin Muffin

Dinner: Broccoli-Cheddar Burger with Mashed Cauliflower — Enjoy 1 burger (may swap for any lean burger) with ½ hamburger bun and 1 serving of cauliflower mashed "potatoes” (or unlimited steamed or roasted cauliflower, broccoli, carrots or green beans).

DAY 7:

Breakfast: Vegetable Frittata Muffins — Enjoy 3 vegetable frittata muffins with 1 orange or ½ grapefruit.

Lunch: Salmon Salad with Crackers — Serve over a bed of salad greens and enjoy with 150 calories-worth of whole-grain crackers

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower or Pumpkin Seeds in the Shell — Enjoy ½ cup.

Dinner: Spinach Lasagna — Enjoy 1 to 2 servings.

Mix and match these meals all month to lose up to 10 pounds!

FOLLOW THESE 3 TIPS TO STAY ON TRACK:

1. Keeping hunger in check

You can enjoy unlimited amounts of non-starchy vegetables at any point during the day. Non-starchy veggies include: peppers, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, beets, sugar snap peas, snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, onions, green beans, asparagus, lettuce and leafy greens like spinach and kale. Additionally, all the non-starchy vegetables listed within the formal recipes are interchangeable.

2. Best bets for beverages

Skip sugary drinks like soda, fruit drinks, sweetened iced teas and flavored waters, which add unnecessary calories. Instead, drink plenty of water throughout the day, including two 8-ounce glasses of water before lunch and dinner to help fill you up. If you prefer something other than water, stick with calorie-free beverages, such as naturally flavored seltzers/sparkling waters and unsweetened iced or hot coffee and tea (with optional skim, soy or unsweetened almond milk and up to one packet of a sugar or zero-calorie sweetener).

3. Dinner advice

Whenever possible, start dinner with a vegetable first course to take the edge off your hunger. It can be a vegetable salad tossed with 1 to 2 tablespoons of light dressing, a bowl of my Skinny Veggie Soup or any plain vegetable, such as a sliced cucumber or red bell pepper or a handful of cherry tomatoes or baby carrots.

For more weight loss tips you can #startTODAY, follow Joy on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest