Help me make my grocery list!

lots of fruits and veggies , lean meats , wheat bread , lowfat cottage cheese , low fat cheese ... i use the hungry girl 200 calorie cookbook love it so i just go thru it pick a weeks worth of recipes and go buy just from the recipes .. GOOD LUCK

Forgot - another tip is to get smaller containers of things you like, but that aren't necessarily good for you. It's impossible to eat half a gallon of ice-cream if you only have one small pint of it in there!

lots of fruits and veggies , lean meats , wheat bread , lowfat cottage cheese , low fat cheese ... i use the hungry girl 200 calorie cookbook love it so i just go thru it pick a weeks worth of recipes and go buy just from the recipes .. GOOD LUCK

That cookbook sounds interesting

ALWAYS- Chicken, shrimp, salmon, eggs, bananas, romaine, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, skim milk, seasonal fruit, and a good red wine.

SOMETIMES- filet (or other lean red meat if it is on sale), low sodium deli meat, frozen dinners (for quick lunches), and baked tortilla chips & salsa or pretzles.

* It really depends what is on sale when I go outside of my "list"

Frozen or fresh chicken breasts, pork chops, ground turkey, 2 heads of lettuce, cucumbers, eggs, honey wheat bread, oatmeal, honey wheat pretzels, skim milk. Oh, and for a yummy treat...Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches!

Special K cereal
Soy milk
Veggies... tomato, cucumber, lettuce, sweet potatoes, spinach, onion, broccoli, carrots, greens (kale, swiss chard), avacados
Fruit.... bananas, apples, berries. oranges
Snacks... almonds, cheese, yogurt, rice crisps

Here is the staples that I always buy:
Fresh spinach
Mushrooms
Bell Pepper (Green)
Broccoli (eaten raw)
kohlrabi (eaten raw)
bok choi (eaten raw)
Celery
Carrots (eaten raw)
Herbs (great for flavoring any soups and especially fish)
Hummus
Mootopia fat free milk (12g of protein)
Suncrystals (better than splenda)
Tuna in pkg
Low Fat Cottage Cheese
93/7 Lean ground beef
Tuna Steaks
Salmon
Halibut
Shrimp
Turkey Sausage
Turkey Bacon
Eggs
Chicken Breasts
Dehydrated Banana's
Nuts
Granola
Kashi

I love multi grain Cheerios, for breakfast & in between snacks. Its has a sweet flavor to it & its really tasty! Then I eat an apple or banana with breakfast to fill me up.

For lunch - tuna with Hellmann's light mayo usually on saltines. I like the saltines for a snack also. I also eat turkey breast lunch meat, pre-packaged from Walmart is 97% fat free. The sodium is a little high in it but I can't eat tuna everyday. I keep Wish Bone Salad Spritzers on hand also, to spray on a salad or a sandwich for flavor, there is next to no calories in it (only 15 in 10 pumps)!!!

Dinners - I try to keep it pretty normal, I have a family to feed & I really don't get down with cooking 2 dinners. So I measure & keep track of everything, & I really don't cook anything that unhealthy.I like to cook alot of chicken breast &pork tenderloins, I just spice them up differently & look for different recipes. I also keep ground turkey pattys in my freezer they are a really healthy alternative to ground beef, just be sure to get the 99% lean.

Snacks - Del Monte Fruit Chillers, they are frozen fruit pops made with real fruit(DELISH!!!)they are in the canned fruit section. I keep 100 Calorie Snack packs on hand, i can't completely give up on my snacking!! And i found Herr's Light Popcorn, 120 cals. in 3 cups!!! Its my TV time snack.

And of course WATER!!!! I drink Regular Pepsi Max (0 cals.) with dinner, it doesn't have that nasty diet taste to it!!! Coke zero isn't bad either.

I hope this helps you out!!! These are my diet staples...good luck!!!

yogurt
fat free milk
100% whole wheat bread (40 calories per slice)
mixed nuts
olive oil
salad veggies
veggies that I can roast, grill, or steam (squash, zuchinni, red potatos, sweet potatoes, asparagus, etc)
sunflower seeds (to mix in my yogurt)
lean meats (chicken breasts, ground turkey)
fish (especially talipia and salmon)
deli meat (turkey and chicken breast). Avoid those with sodium nitrate.
Fat free cheese
fat free/calorie free I can't believe it's not butter spray
100% whole wheat wraps
For snacks I buy the 100 calorie snack packs or eat 2 pieces of 70% (or more) Cocoa Dark Chocolate. I stay away from milk chocolate.

Special K cereal
Soy milk
Veggies... tomato, cucumber, lettuce, sweet potatoes, spinach, onion, broccoli, carrots, greens (kale, swiss chard), avacados
Fruit.... bananas, apples, berries. oranges
Snacks... almonds, cheese, yogurt, rice crisps

IF YOU AREN'T LACTOSE... FAT FREE MILK HAS LESS CALORIES THAN SOY MILK...

AND AVOCADOS ARE PRETTY HIGH IN CALORIES

Well I have just started about a week ago. Let me add to the things posted. All are good but as a former mega eater, these things have gotten me through the hard start up period. And I am doing it all with 2000 calories or less per day.

- Bananas - stick with ones no bigger than 7-8 inches. Those go about 100 calories
- Peanut Butter - hi protein and 190 calories per serving. Never exceed the two tablespoons per meal.
- Whole Wheat, Multi Grain bread - range in calorie count from 100 - 160 but are good for the body.
- Lean Beef, filet, flat iron, flank steaks - Pork Tenderloin is low calorie count. Chicken breasts and tenderloins
- Heads of lettuce. I eat 1/2 a head every lunch and dinner. I get lots of lettuce.
- Green veggies tend to have zero calories or very few. Limit carrots, tomatoes and other sweet veggies if you are counting calories
- Eggs
- Can't believe its not butter spray
- 4C flavored juice powder mixes. These are great. 0 Calories and several flavors. Help you get through that gallon of water per day.
- Gallons, cases, or whatever of water. Drink Drink Drink. (Pee, Pee, Pee, but it works.)
- Shrimp WonTon Soup - From Costco, perfect individual sizes at 115 calories per serving. In freezer section.
- Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine, etc. At about 270 calories plus or minus 60 they have gotten much better.
- Diet Salad Dressing. Maple Grove Farms of Vermont makes beautiful diet dressings. In dressing isle of stores. from 5-40 calories per serving of two tablespoons. When I eat salad, I count of 100 calories to an otherwise zero calorie salad because I have to load up on Raspberry vinaigrette.
- Two percent or low fat free cheese sticks
- Fat Free Shredded Cheese. A nice touch for about 30 calories onto salad or veggies.
- Lots of spices and spice mixes. All for the most part free calorie count.
- Steamer Single serve frozen vegetables
- Apple slices in bags. about 30 calories per bag and make a nice mid meal snack
- Single Serve Tuna in pouches
- Light Mayo - 45 calories to tuna makes a tuna salad with low calorie count.
- Fat Free Cottage Cheese
- Boars Head Oven Rosted Turkey Breast - Chipped. Makes measuring on scale easier. 60 calories per serving
- 100 calorie snack packs, fruit packs, whatever. Everything is being packed in 100 calories packs.

There is so much more but these items have allowed me to get a very fast start on my new me.

But one thing I learned is it is also okay to eat out. Stick with lean steaks, chicken, salads, smaller portions, steamed veggies, and don't be afraid to take home a doggie bag.

I always pick up a container or bag of already cut up veggies. I find I eat more of them if they are ready for me and I know I won't cut the whole ones up!:laugh: I'm a bit lazy, I know but I actually eat a LOT more veggies now!

100 % fruit frozen bars (next to the ice cream) I can have a bar after dinner (instead of ice cream) when I get a sweet tooth. About 90 cals, 20 g of sugar. Can't count it as a fruit but not as bad as other treats!

:drinker:

I tip I have recently learned is to shop the perimeter of the store as that is where all the healthy stuff is. The aisles have all the processed and "bad" stuff. We only shop in the produce, meat & dairy, and bread sections. The only aisle I've gone down is the one with cleaning and bathroom paper!

Fresh veggies - in season (green onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli & hot house tomatoes are staples) - I am lucky to live in a part of the country where fresh vegetables are always available & don't like the taste of frozen, but when pressed for time, I do get pre-cut varieties
Avocados - always, despite the short growing season
Fresh fruit - in season
Frozen blueberries
Baby lettuce mix, baby arugula, baby spinach, braising greens (all prewashed - I am too lazy to wash and spin my own and even though I like salads a lot, don't make them if I have to clean greens)
Fish fillets, pork tenderloin (easy rub - curry sauce and mustard mixed with a bit of olive oil), chicken breast and whole chickens (in freezer - easy to roast), low-sodium lean deli meats
Tofu - silken for smoothies, soft or medium for cooking (hard to find but it has a better texture than the firm kind and also takes to marinades better)
If you have a Trader Joe's - bison burgers (very lean) and salmon burgers
Whole wheat pitas, corn tortillas, whole grain angel hair pasta, soba noodles, whole grains - the smaller ones like teff cook faster
Instant oatmeal
Non-fat cultured cottage cheese
Sardines and tuna canned in olive oil
Garlic, herbs, spices
Non-fat plain greek yogurt - very creamy and not as tart - add real vanilla extract, lemon juice or fruit + stevia to sweeten for a healthy alternative to ice cream
Trader Joe's dark chocolate wedges - one wedge has 35 calories - makes portion control easy
rye crisps
Low sodium v8
Mineral water
Herbal, green and oolong teas
Soup stock
Low-sodium bean soups (fast healthy lunch - can easily up the veggie content with baby spinach)
Goat and sheep cheese (can't eat cow's milk products unless cultured or reduced lactose, but while goat and sheep cheese don't come in "low-fat" versions, they are naturally lower in fat that cow's milk cheese)
Someone else mentioned cheerios - I go for the plain but agree - fast and nice way to get some sweetness without the sugar
Plain instant oatmeal - the organic brands, if available, are much lower in sodium - fast treat: plain unsweetened oatmeal, one small wedge dark chocolate & berries with a little stevia (plant-based no-cal sweetener that doesn't raise blood sugar so is actually pretty good for you)
Hummus
Salsa - not for chips but to flavor cottage cheese, grilled fish (add a bit of tropical fruit) and eggs
Eggs - don't be afraid of the yokes - they have a lot of nutrients
Olive oil, walnut oil, cold-press unrefined coconut oil for sauteing at higher temps
Almond butter (higher in calcium than peanut butter)
Nuts

Other snacks I like - apple wedges with peanut butter, pear with cheese, baby carrots + red pepper slices + raw sugar snap peas with hummus, hard boiled egg, whole grain crackers with hummus or cheese, in a pinch a higher protein granola bar

Good luck! You got a lot of responses!