I dont know what is healthy food

check out the Eat-Clean Diet book by Tosca Reno and her Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook. It will honestly give you all the info you need with really simple and tasty recipes. There's so much info out there but this would be a good start. :flowerforyou:

Sorry this is so long....

Soul food can be healthy; no joke. Collard greens are so healthy and are considered a superfood, but not when you add pork. The leanest cuts of pork have about 1 gram of fat per ounce. That's a lot. So make collard greens with low fat chicken broth and then add skinless boneless chicken breast. Another great soul food is some sweet potato pie. Believe it or not that too can be made healthy with a low fat center and a whole wheat crust. Jambalaya can be healthy too; use ingredients like quinoa, brown rice, shrimp and beans. Basically when cooking any food replace the high fat crap ingredients with healthy non or low fat ingredients and you cut the calories in half or more.

If the recipe calls for this replace with that:

low or non fat chicken broth (use low sodium too) instead of butter
egg beater instead of real eggs
applesauce instead of oil in baked goods
milk, creams and cheeses all come in low or no fat varieties too
stick with lean meats, like turkey (white), chicken and ostrich - Ostrich is fantastic. Its a red meat with more protein and less fat than chicken.
avoid any white process foods
add superfoods like broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, quiona, kale into meals you already like


What you do need to be careful of is anything that says diet. Diet and low fat are totally different. For the most part diet is processed chemicals that can't be good for you. Low fat is usually natural, just with less fat. There are tons of secrets and the best book out there is called Secret of Fat Free cooking and it comes in a ton of varieties from American to Chinese to Italian. The best part about this book is it gives you great recipes but it explains why you should eat low fat and gives you tricks on how to eat what you love but make it low fat.

What you should stay away from immediately is simple processed carbs; like white sugar, white flour and white rice. That alone will help you loose weight if processed carbs is a big part of your diet. For example a natural potato has about 200 calories with hardly any fat, while processed 8 oz of pasta is 840 calories. I also suggest avoiding fake stuff, but its hard to do. I read every label on every box....takes a long time to shop, but I don't eat high fructose corn syrup, modified anything or MSG.

I think the most important thing that I have learned in all of my lifestyle change is to listen to your body. When you eat, eat slowly so you know when you are full. Don't overeat....eat until you are comfortably satisfied not stuffed. It takes 20 minutes for you body to realize its full, so eat slowly and when you think you are almost full stop, wait a few minutes and if you are still hungry go back for a small portion until you are comfortably full. Also eat for the nutritional benefit of food not just to stuff your face. Most importantly don't starve yourself or deprive yourself. If you so starve yourself you will relapse. I eat every 2 - 3 hours and make sure each meal is evenly balanced with a carb and a protein. If you eat carbs alone your glycogen will spike and you will crash. When you crash your body will send signals to eat more. This is a vicious cycle, so break it.

That 200 calorie potato is going to be processed by your body as if it were pure sugar and so would the 840 calorie pasta; that's why it is sooooo important to balance every meal- make sure to eat every carb with a lean protein. When you eat protein with carbs, like whole wheat bagel and low fat cream cheese, the protein slows the absorption of the carb and you sustain energy longer and don't spike and crash.

One last and the most important thing.....drink tons of water. I know you have heard this a ton, but the truth is your body is 70% water. If you are dehydrated you experience fatigue, which makes you crave sweets, you can get headaches and you are irritable. In addition a lot of hunger pains are actually caused from dehydration....your body is just asking for water. I try to drink 2 gallons of water a day, but that's excessive. Try to drink 1/2 ounce for every pound you weigh.

Eat what you like....if you go on a diet that restricts you from foods you love the diet won't last long. You should make a valid effort to make foods that you love, but make them healthy. I really think that book I suggested will help a ton. Another example....cottage cheese is one of the most pure form of protein but I hate it because of the consistency. So I bought a food processor and puree it and now I eat it on top of double fiber english muffins as a spread and then add a little strawberry jam. Its a low GI meal that's good for you and I really enjoy eating it and thats the most important part.

Good luck and stick with it.

Speaking of which, crazy thought, I know, but wouldn't it be great if MFP would mark with RED things which are unhealthy? I mean, I still would have a Milka or some Brie cheese every now and then, but it's best to know what's to be avoided or eaten in small quantities, and what's still OK or healthy.

Hi and Welcome!!!

As someone else mentioned, the perimeter of the grocery store where th fresh foods are at!!!


Home cooking is where its at!!