i cant seem to get this down right....

If it comes in a box (think mac and cheese, boxed dinners, etc) it's processed. If you look at the ingredients and can't pronounce/don't recognize them all, processed (Lunch meat, hot dogs, etc.) Eating healthy and/or clean is hard. You make a lot of food from scratch. No frozen dinners, no frozen pizza, no breaded chicken/fish. But it's SO much better for you and you will feel good knowing exactly what is going into your body!

I try to eat mostly fruit, veggies, yogurt, beans, whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal), nuts, EVOO, vinegar, eggs, air popped popcorn and tempeah (I don't eat meat).

The processed foods I eat include Kashi Go Lean Crunch and sandwhich thins. Once in a while I'll eat a LARA bar.

Someone emailed me this and I love it.............

Over time I think you will find it easier to be getting fuller with less calories.
You might need to get an easy-to-carry calorie book like Calorie King to carry with you for a month or so, or if you have a smart phone, an app that allows you to look up calories for everything you buy or eat.
Planning is essential, whether you are going to the supermarket, a restaurant, or a party.

If I understand your diary correctly there are a lot of opportunities to change things up.
Here are some idears...

Switch from high-calorie bread to bread with 40 or so calories/slice -- there are many ----brands.
Switch to low-calorie hot dog and hamburger buns.
Switch to lean beef (93+ lean) for all beef meal preps.
Find turkey substitutes for hot dogs, sausage, hamburger patties, etc.
Switch from 2 % milk to fat-free milk, or 40-calorie/cup soymilk or almondmilk. ---
Switch from full-fat cheese to low-fat or no-fat cheese
Switch from regular mayo to light mayo
Switch from 240-calorie cereal to 120-calorie cereal
Eat less starches (pastas, rice, potatoes, breads) and more fibers (green vegetables, etc)
Fill up on water.
Fill up on lower-calorie snacks. Find something with less than 80 calories that will fill you up. I eat apples and grapes a lot.
Fill up with low-calorie soups.
Fill up with low-calorie protein -- and make sure your breakfast has protein.

There are a ton of vegetables-in-a-bag ( for microwave steaming) that you can buy these days that will give you lots to eat with little calories.

Follow the rule of shopping around the edges. Notice that in a grocery store all the fresh stuff is on the edges, you only get in real trouble when you venture into the processed middle! produce section is mostly safe (no dressing or premade stuff, just fresh), meat section (same deal, fresh only) and dairy too. I avoid breads and the bakery, but otherwise, edgewise shopping works for me!!

If it comes in a box or a bag, it's (probably) processed. If it doesn't, it's not. Or, if it can go bad, it's good for you, but if it can't go bad, it's bad for you. That's the easiest way to think about it.

Took me a second to get that right, but healthy=FRESH, maybe frozen, but not canned fruits, veggies, fresh cut meats. Breads all go through a "process" which is why it is called processed I suppose, but best avoid high fructose corn syrup in them. I'll still eat bars w/ this in it but not my bread. Water is good, and a lot of it. Nuts of all kinds, natural, not the ones glazed, candied, salted, basically a lot of stuff added. Even packaged fruits have some kind of chemical added to keep it from going bad.

Best bet, learn how to cook everything that you want to eat otherwise, most people, especially me, is subject to having a diet, although semi-healthy, having a lot of processed foods.

Bump