looking for positive guidance with food diary

You're off to a great start! Maybe if you let us know what your goals were, we'd be able to critique better.

It looks like you're staying under your calorie goals and exercising often.

You do seem to eat a lot of processed foods. My guess is you eat less of it than you used to, but there's still a lot of it there. My guess is, if you looked, that your fiber is low and your sodium is high.

Everyone here is proud of what you're doing for yourself. But I suggest, in the most helpful and supportive way, to take some of the money you're spending on prepackaged, processed food, and move more towards buying whole foods that you made yourself in your own kitchen using things like fresh vegetables (and moving away from the canned ones) and whole grains and lean meats. Shopping at Aldis _can_ make this a little more difficult, but you can do it! (I LOVE Aldis.)

Are you lactose intolerant? I don't see a lot of milk or cottage cheese in there. Especially after working out, milk can be very healthy. On Tuesday, did you really eat 34 pickles? I'm not trying to be critical, but if you're having cravings, you _might_ not be eating enough on average. That's why I point it out.

its hard to shop with our budget.

I hear you. I've spent lots of time with NO budget for food. My best advice is to consider things as "best bang for my buck." If some snack foods have 100 calories, but cost $1 per serving, it is not your best bang for you buck. If an apple costs $.50 and has 50 calories, you might say, "well, really it's the 'same' cost as the junk food." But it isn't. The apple is the "better" buy since it has more nutrients that you're lacking.

MY SUGGESTION if you're REALLY trying to eat healthy and REALLY can't afford better food is to focus on making the following items from Aldi's your diet staples. They are ALWAYS cheap and ALWAYS a good buy for your food budget dollar and can all be part of an overall balanced diet where cost is a major concern:

bananas, granny smith apples, rice, whole wheat spaghetti, the 32 oz tubs of plain yogurt, 100% whole grain wheat bread, old fashioned oats, peanut butter, cans of beans, bags of pinto beans, frozen ground turkey (cook it, then rinse it in a collander before using it in casseroles and stews and such), trisket-like crackers, onions, potatoes, celery, carrots, chunks of hard cheese (not the shredded or sliced ones), eggs, milk, canned tuna in water, cottage cheese, light fruit cocktail, their "select" or whatever it's called tomato sauce, canned diced tomatoes (rinse before use if they have a lot of salt). If you can afford them, their frozen berries.

As other things go on sale (particularly meat and berries), buy them in bulk and freeze them.

If you can, go to a different store once a month and buy higher quality pantry staples, like lentils and brown rice.