Week of September 15, 2026: a low-sugar meal plan.

Breakfast

Cottage cheese, tomato, olive oil

290 kcal · 26 g protein · 2 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Slice 1 ripe tomato. Salt it and let it sit 2 minutes so the juice comes out.
2. Spoon 1 cup cottage cheese into a bowl. Plain only — no fruit-on-the-bottom.
3. Lay the tomato on the cheese. Grind black pepper.
4. Spoon 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil over the tomato, not a sweet dressing.
5. Finish with parsley. Eat it savory. No fruit cup, no honey.

Lunch

Yesterday’s tuna beans on greens

500 kcal · 36 g protein · 10 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. This is Monday’s tuna-bean salad, cold. Do not recook it.
2. Put 2 cups arugula on a plate.
3. Spoon the leftover salad on top.
4. Add a little lemon and a thread of olive oil if it looks dry.
5. Eat it as packed. No new mayo, no bread.

Dinner

Sardines, greens, roasted cauliflower

560 kcal · 34 g protein · 8 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Heat the oven to 425°F.
2. Cut 2 cups cauliflower into florets. Toss with olive oil and salt on a sheet pan.
3. Roast 25 minutes, until the edges brown. Do not add a glaze.
4. While it roasts, put 2 cups bitter greens on a plate.
5. Open 1 tin of sardines in olive oil. Lay the fish on the greens and spoon the tin oil over them.
6. Add the roasted cauliflower and a squeeze of lemon.

Breakfast

Eggs and zucchini

340 kcal · 20 g protein · 3 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Slice 1 zucchini into half-moons.
2. Heat a skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high.
3. Cook the zucchini until it takes color, about 6 minutes. Add a smashed garlic clove for the last minute, then pull it out.
4. Push the zucchini to the side. Crack in 2 eggs.
5. Cook until the whites set and the yolks are still soft. Pepper. No toast required.

Lunch

Turkey leftover, cabbage slaw

510 kcal · 34 g protein · 7 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Warm Monday’s turkey-cabbage skillet in a pan with a splash of water, just until hot. Do not brown it again.
2. Shred a handful of raw cabbage.
3. Dress the raw cabbage with lemon, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and a dab of Dijon. No sugar in the dressing.
4. Put the warm skillet on the plate and the cold slaw beside it.

Dinner

White bean tomato pot

540 kcal · 24 g protein · 14 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Warm 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot. Add 2 sliced garlic cloves for 30 seconds.
2. Add 1½ cups cannellini beans and 2 chopped ripe tomatoes.
3. Simmer 15 minutes, uncovered, until the tomato breaks down. Salt.
4. Turn off the heat. Stir in parsley and another teaspoon of olive oil.
5. Serve with a side of greens. Do not add sugar, ketchup, or a bottled sauce.

Breakfast

Kefir and apple

310 kcal · 17 g protein · 5 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Same build as Monday’s kefir bowl.
2. Slice 1 apple, skin on.
3. Pour plain kefir, add 1 tablespoon almonds, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.
4. No honey and no granola.

Lunch

Sardine salad

490 kcal · 32 g protein · 5 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Open 1 tin of sardines in olive oil. Keep the oil.
2. Mash the fish lightly with a fork — leave some pieces.
3. Chop tomato, a little red onion, and parsley. Fold them in with lemon and the tin oil.
4. Put greens on a plate and spoon the salad on top.
5. Eat it cold. No sweet chili sauce.

Dinner

Turkey, zucchini, cauliflower sheet pan

530 kcal · 38 g protein · 7 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Heat the oven to 425°F.
2. Pat 6 oz ground turkey into two small patties. Salt them.
3. Cut zucchini and cauliflower into bite-size pieces. Toss with olive oil, salt, and a little garlic.
4. Put vegetables and patties on one sheet pan. Vegetables get more oil than the meat.
5. Roast 20–25 minutes, until the vegetables brown and the patties are cooked through.
6. Lemon at the table. No glaze. The browned vegetable is the sauce.

Breakfast

Eggs, spinach, tomato

360 kcal · 22 g protein · 3 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Warm a skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil.
2. Add a handful of spinach and wilt it, about 1 minute. Push it aside.
3. Fry 2 eggs in the same pan until the whites set.
4. Slice tomato, salt it, and put it on the side of the plate.
5. No pancakes, no syrup, no jam.

Lunch

White bean bowl, leftover pot

500 kcal · 22 g protein · 14 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Reheat Wednesday’s white bean tomato pot until steaming.
2. Put greens in the bowl.
3. Ladle the beans and tomato over the greens so the heat wilts them.
4. Finish with olive oil and lemon.

Dinner

Sardines and cabbage sauté

520 kcal · 30 g protein · 6 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Open the sardine tin and pour the oil into a skillet over medium heat. Set the fish aside.
2. Add shredded cabbage and a pinch of salt. Cook until it wilts and tastes sweet, 8 minutes.
3. Add garlic for the last minute.
4. Lay the sardines on top and warm them 1 minute. Do not fry them hard.
5. Lemon at the table.

Breakfast

Kefir bowl, extra apple

330 kcal · 18 g protein · 6 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Same kefir bowl as Monday, with a second apple if you are hungrier.
2. Plain kefir, sliced apple, almonds, cinnamon, pinch of salt.
3. Weekend does not mean pastry.

Lunch

Big tomato and bean plate

510 kcal · 22 g protein · 12 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Slice ripe tomatoes thick. Salt both sides. Wait 5 minutes.
2. Rinse cannellini beans and warm them in a spoon of olive oil, just to take the chill off.
3. Put tomatoes and beans on one plate. Add parsley.
4. Olive oil over the tomatoes. Optional: a tin of sardines on the side, oil and all.
5. No balsamic glaze.

Dinner

Turkey cabbage for the table

540 kcal · 38 g protein · 7 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Same skillet method as Monday, scaled up with the remaining turkey and cabbage.
2. Brown the turkey in olive oil until no pink remains.
3. Add the cabbage and salt. Cook until sweet, 8–10 minutes. Garlic in the last minute.
4. Lemon at the table.
5. Hold about a pint for Sunday. Freeze the rest if you cooked too much.

Breakfast

Cottage, apple, almonds

310 kcal · 24 g protein · 4 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Spoon cottage cheese into a bowl.
2. Slice an apple, skin on, and add almonds and cinnamon.
3. Eat it, then shop next week from this week’s list. No pastry detour.

Lunch

Saturday’s leftover plate

470 kcal · 20 g protein · 11 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Take Saturday’s tomato-and-bean plate from the fridge.
2. If you want it warm, heat the beans only. Leave the tomatoes cold.
3. Add greens and a thread of olive oil.
4. This lunch exists because Saturday was cooked once.

Dinner

Clear the tins

530 kcal · 32 g protein · 7 g fiber · 0 g added sugar

Cook strategy

1. Pull the remaining sardines or tuna and the remaining vegetables.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet.
3. Cook the vegetables first until hot. Add the fish at the end so it only warms.
4. Lemon. Eat it. This is how Monday does not become takeout.