grocery shopping

You pick out what kind of food you want and put it in your cart. Then you pay for it (usually with money, they dont like when you try to give them doll hairs). Hope I helped

FIll your cart up with healthy foods. Mostly produce, I agree! If you think you can put just a few bad items in there and stay away form them once you get them home- you are setting yourself up for a rough time. Make a list of meals you love and see if you can make them healthier. Keep lots of quick and easy to eat fruits and veggies on hand. When I am about to have a melt down it helps me to fill up on these safe alternatives. Then once the hunger is at bay I can reassess wether or not I really want the unhealthy food I was just about to cave into.
Also, I don't think anything with artificial sugar is worthy of being called "good" for you but if you are not used to drinking water I think instant sugar free drink mixes help. I am down to using those only a few times a week.

Good luck!

Hope I wasn't too harsh. Porridge and tea have antioxidants which are really good for you.
The other biggie is to read the labels. You may be surprised at what is in some foods.
Eat natural
Also if calories bug you don't forget the other end of the equation - If you don't have enough calories in your day for dinner try to find a way to burn some more.
Look up your fave foods in the database and see if they fit in your day. Even some produce is very high calorie

Quick oats sachets, almond milk, digestive yoghurt, apples, fresh vegetables but no potato, pumpkin, peas or corn, chicken breast or tenderloins, meat once a week (150g only), snack on trail mix which is sunflower, pepitas seeds with raisins and raw nuts, sesame seed bars. Always read the labels on the back and limit sodium content.

I am also on a budget! and watching cals, I make a meal plan for the week and write up a shopping list from that. I try to stay away from packaged foods ( like hamburger helper, canned soups, sweetened cereals etc...) I buy dry beans and cook overnight in the crock pot to use in meals through out the week, ( super cheap) I make a huge pot of brown rice and pack into smaller containers for later meals. chop or slice veggies and bag up for cooking and snacking. I also buy old fashioned oats and have that for breakfast most days ( change fruit and spices to make it different everyday) I buy a bag of popcorn and pop myself ( I have an air popper but I have also put a tablespoon or two into a paper lunch bag fold and staple the top and stick in the microwave ( no, the staple does not cause any problems) I have also bought a large package of chicken breasts and cooked the all of them at once to use through out the week- slice some, cube some, leave some whole if you need any help or want some tips please just let me know and I can tell you what works for me! good luck

I totally agree with trudelife!

I have a hard time making the "switch" between yummy snack foods and time-intensive, laborious, and less sugary foods, so a few of my favorite mixes are

-- Nonfat vanilla yogurt with strawberries and a little bit of oatmeal. Make it the night before and it's a wonderfully filling mix for breakfast! (Also could try greek yogurt, but I'm not really a fan of the texture yet)

-- Quinoa and apple, eaten hot like oatmeal (another great cook days before and eat without prep) http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeid=249901

-- Strawberry, protein powder and yogurt and milk smoothies (also try almond milk!)

-- Granny smith apples with almond butter

-- Almonds (cocoadusted ones like Emerald when feeling extra sweet) and dried crasins

-- Carrot chips ( I swear they're more fun to eat than baby carrots or stalks)

-- Fill a jar with 1 tbs the light dressing of your choice ( I love kraft zesty italian), 1 stick low-fat mozza string cheese (WW makes great ones) , tomatoes, and raw baby spinach in a glass jar. Serve the next day! Keep it in that order so it doesn't get soggy, and its perfect for the next day (do you notice a trend??). Also, when I'm feeling extra crunchy I'll add just a few sesame stick things (I buy them in bulk at Earth Fare or whole foods... they look like mini brown potato chips, and can be addictive like croutons).

I hope this helps!!