For those counting calories...
 

What does your grocery list look like? What kinds of foods do you eat for your meals and snacks?

I do WW Points, but it really is the same premise as calorie counting. Every week I buy the following (of course I buy other stuff too, but these are my staples):

Diet Cranberry Juice
All Bran Bars
Yogurt smoothies
Yogurt
String Cheese
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Bottled Water
Coke Zero
South Beach Diet Chicken Salad Kits (for lunch at work)
Fruits and Veggies
Weight Watchers Ice cream bars
Quaker Mini Delights Rice Cake snacks

Hope that this gives you some ideas! Good Luck!

I was actually quite happy with the contents of my grocery cart this past weekend. It looked like someone who ate pretty well.

Chicken breast
ground turkey
All types of canned beans
fresh fruit, berries and veggies (for salads, snacks) when I can...frozen otherwise
hummus (Garlic Lovers by Joseph's - YUM)
Whole Wheat Flax seed tortillas
single serve Orville Reddenbacher popcorn (Kettle Corn)
Diet Coke
Kashi Go Lean Crunch
Fiber One
Feta cheese
tabouli
Skinny Cow Low Fat Fudge Bars
low fat shredded cheese
salsa

I count calorie and my weekly grocery list (ommitting "normal" foods for my family) goes like this:

Skim Milk
Eggs
High Fiber Cereal
Cottage Cheese (light)
Yogurt (Light-average 100 cal per servings)
Cheese (not processed, Cheddar, Mozzerella, etc.)
Tuna
Chicken Breast
Canned Chicken (quick salads, etc.)
Tortillas
Mushrooms
Dried Beans/Peas
Turkey Ham
Deli Turkey/Chicken (I watch the sodium)
Turkey Meatballs
Chicken Broth

I like to shop at Aldi's because it's cheap and they also carry a Lite n Fit brand that offers some great low cal options.

I try to get a nice balance between foods that can be thrown together quickly (like yogurt, cottage cheese, and turkey meatballs) and foods that take a bit more time (cooking the chicken breast for various meals & the beans that require slower cooking).

I also try to look for things that can be cooked for one meal then the leftovers used in something else. Ex, I make Turkey Ham for the whole family slicing it off and heating up in a dry skillet. I then take the leftovers and add them to my pea soup.

I live alone (most of the time) and during the school year my job keeps me ridiculously busy. So while I'm counting calories, I do go for a lot of prepared or pre-packaged foods.

My staples are instant oatmeal, frozen berries, all-fruit spread, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, egg beaters, canola oil spread, no-sugar-added applesauce, sugar free yogurt and sugar free pudding, mixed frozen vegetables of various sorts.

When I eat out, what I order depends on the rest of my day. Occasionally I treat myself to a hamburger. They can fit into my calorie count. I usually opt for cottage cheese to go with it, though, or side salad or soup (not fries).

Breakfast is either egg beaters and toast (sometimes with vegetarian sausage and/or fruit) or cheerios and berries or oatmeal with peanut butter and all-fruit spread.

Lunch varies: I go for Subway a lot, sticking to the 6 low-fat subs and not adding anything like mayo; I may bring a pbj on whole wheat or left overs from dinner the night before. I also keep Glucerna meal bars (designed for diabetics) in the office, and I'll usually bring a sugar-free yogurt and a piece of whatever fruit looked good at farmer's market that week.

Dinner is frequently brown rice with mixed veggies, sometimes in low-fat cheese sauce. I sometimes supplement these with a veggie burger (I go for the spicy ones). I'm not a vegetarian, but they sure do save calories over a burger, and they taste good and give me protein, and they're quick and easy to make. Pasta in small quantities with homemade sauce (less fat when I make it myself) and often with lots of veggies.

When I'm ambitious I try to make interesting salads (romaine lettuce with walnuts and blue cheese; aspargus and sweet peppers in vinaigrette; broccoli slaw; grated carrots with toasted sesame seeds and rice vinegar). I also do simple soups but try to make them yummy--I do a vegetable soup that has sliced garlic. Hardly any calories, lots of taste, and it'll clear your sinuses out for sure.

I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe’s, which I don’t think you have up in Canada. I supplement this with small trips to a farmer’s market for fruits and veggies, plus Costco and the regular grocery store for certain items.

From Trader Joe’s:
Kashi GoLean cereal
Luna Bars
Fresh veggies/fruit
Salad dressings
Tofu
Tuna
Frozen uncooked shrimp
Frozen veggies
Frozen fruit (especially strawberries)
Eggs
Reduced cal bread
Whole wheat hamburger buns
Pirate Booty or other low cal crunchy thing
Yogurt
Ham/turkey/other sandwich meat
Salsa

From Costco I get:
Boca burgers
Laughing cow cheese
Chicken breasts
Kashi GoLean Bars
Interesting fruit (persimmons, Asian pears and figs are favorites)

Regular Grocery store:
Reduced fat (2%) American cheese slices
Pickles
Cottage cheese cups
Thomas 100 calorie multigrain English muffins
The occasional diet ice cream novelty – WW bars, Skinny Cow, etc.

Yesterday for example I had a cup of Kashi GoLean w/1/2 cup skim milk plus two figs for breakfast. For lunch I had two Boca burgers topped with a mixture of cottage cheese and salsa (really weird I know, but I love it) plus a salad and a pear. Snack after the gym was a Luna bar. Dinner was a can of tuna made with Cilantro salad dressing (50 cal/2 Tbsp) on reduced calorie bread (5 slices @ 40 cal/slice), with baby carrots and a serving of Pirate Booty. I usually have some dessert type thing after that like a bowl of frozen strawberries or grapes, or perhaps a yogurt, but I didn’t last night. I know people say you should snack, but it doesn’t work very well for me, except for the one in between gym and dinner. I find if I eat in the afternoon before going to the gym that I am really tired.

I'm nursing a 4.5-month-old and working out pretty heavily, so I'm trying to be as healthy as possible.

Skim Milk
Fiber one
Bananas
Apples
Frozen blueberries (for my protein milk shake)
lean cuisines
All bran crackers
Fiber one bars
Yoplait sugar free fat free yogurts (100 cals)
gorton's fish fillets (only 100 calories!)
frozen chicken breasts
Head of romaine lettuce
whole wheat pasta
low cal vegetable primavera spaghetti sauce
ground turkey
deli sliced turkey
mozzarella
low-cal high-fiber whole grain bread
cans of green beans and asparagus
stalk of broccoli
jar of protein shake mix
vitamins (very important if you're cutting calories!)
Hershey's or Dove Dark chocolate (I eat 1-2 pcs every evening ~100cals)
Bottle of Merlot or Cab Sav red wine-- one glass is 100-120 cal
Laughing cow light cheese wedges
Wild and brown (sometimes basmati) rice
potatoes
organic all-natural peanut butter
bag of onions (put this with everything!)
zucchinis
tomatoes
garlic
in-season fruits and veggies
Occasional frozen pizza for a "cheat day" or for my hubby when I'm not home.

As you can see, I don't consider myself on a "diet." We add LOTS of spices to our veggies, and I eat my favorite foods, just small portions and in little spurts throughout the day. I'm eating about 1800 cals.

Hope this helps-- Everyone else's lists helped me, too! I'm thoroughly enjoying this website!

Oops! Sorry-- am I allowed to post in this forum? I just was so excited to see people counting calories, I posted.
Blessings to you all!

My staples:

From Costco:
-Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenders (Usually frozen...they go straight from freezer to grill or oven, its a huge timesaver)
-Chicken Breast Sausages (110 cals each, sooo tasty)
-Pork Tenderloin
-Brother's All Natural Fruit Crisps (crunchy snack - they are freeze dried apples and pears, and so great for the crunch factor)
-Reduced Sodium Organic Chicken Broth
-Mega-packs of veggies (we eat a LOT of veggies in my house...I usually buy the tub-o-mixed greens, a bag of broccoli, and the 6 pack of red bell peppers, in addition to anything else that looks good.
-Mega-packs of berries - I eat whatever I can in the first few days, then freeze the rest. The berries are so cheap at costco!
-Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges - so much cheaper at Costco!

Grocery Store:
-100 cal multigrain Thomas's English Muffins
-Egg Beaters
-More fruits and veggies that I need in smaller quantities - zucchini, carrot, cucumber, peaches, apples, bananas, green beans, etc.
-Tortilla Factory low carb whole wheat tortillas (50 calories and full of fiber)
-Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt
-Protein powder (Designer Whey or Spiru-tein are my preferred brands)
-Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and/or 8th Continent Lt. Vanilla Soy milk
-Brown and Wild Rice Blends (Lundgren Farms is the brand I use - its the most flavorful rice I've ever had)
-Whole wheat couscous
-Salad Spritzer dressing
-Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese
-Sahara Whole Wheat Pita Pockets (combine with the cheese, pizza sauce, some chicken breast or sausage, and loads of veggies for pita pizzas, or stuff with any number of things for delicious sandwiches)
-Canned black beans
-Dried small white beans (I use these for my "go-to" lunch if I have nothing else planned - bean soup).
-Canned Olives
-Fat Free Sour Cream
-Oats
-Eggs


Kitchen Staples:
-Well stocked spice rack (most commonly used in my kitchen - an all-purpose seasoning blend with 14 herbs/spices and no salt from TJs, cumin, chili powder, italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, dried thyme, and salt/pepper...but I have nearly every spice under the sun).
-Basic baking ingredients (whole wheat flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, etc) - important for making dessert (and I don't -do- skipping dessert, lol)
-Assorted vinegars, sauces, marinades, dressings, etc - dijon mustard is essential, as are various vinegars...I use these to make salad dressings and quick marinades for meats and veggies. One quick favorite - marinate zucchini in a mix of 3 cloves garlic, cracked, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, a pinch of italian seasoning, and 1/4 cup chicken stock, plus some cracked pepper. Let sit 30 minutes, then grill.

This week's list is pretty short, as for fruits + veggies I have loads of stuff in season at home.

smuckers natural peanut butter
cottage cheese
bananas
shredded wheat n bran
soymilk
raw almonds
eggs

I usually keep Stonyfield Farm organic nonfat vanilla around too, and a few kinds of full-fat cheese.

Cupboard is stocked with beans, tuna, whole wheat pastas, O.R. organic microwave popcorn, quinoa, couscous, protein powder.

Grains in the freezer are brown rice, whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, barley flour, rolled oats, steel cut oats, ground flaxseed, wheat germ. Other freezer stuff is Morningstar Farms, esp. chick patties and fake sausages; homemade black bean veggie burgers, frozen fruits and veggies, sometimes wild salmon. I make my own protein bars and keep them in there for snacks, too.

I also have a homemade bisquik-type baking mix I put in the freezer. Made with whole wheat pastry flour and I know what's in it...so now I can make all those recipes that call for "1 cup of bisquik"!

Can't agree with Mandalinn more on having a good selection of vinegars and spices, basically "stuff to make other stuff with." Small jars of lemon and lime juice get used a lot too. Bouillon in a jar. Soy sauce. Things like that.

Things I don't live without:

Eggo Plus Blueberry Waffles
Kashi Go Lean Cereal
Skim Milk (I buy micro filtered)
Chicken Burgers (Healthy Menu - 160 cal)
Whole Wheat D'Italiano Hamburger Buns
Light Swiss Cheese slices
Shaved fat-free turkey breast
romaine and spinach
small bananas
Jell-o No Sugar Added Chocolate Puddings (and also strawberry jell-o cups - 5 cal each!)
Low Fat, Low Sodium Margarine
Crystal Light Singles
Lean, skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Kraft Creamy Caesar Dressing (Low-Cal, but not Fat Free - that has MORE sodium!)

These are my staples. If I only had this stuff in the house, I know I'd be able to eat well :)

Heather :D

I buy as much organic (clean) food as possible. I shop at Aldi, Trader Joe's, BJs, Sams Club, Target, local farmer's market and grocery store.

Here are the standards that I buy most weeks:

Skim milk
Kashi TLC Granola Bars
Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal
Fiber One bars
Bananas
Apples
Pineapple
Blueberries
Grapes
Dannon Activia yogurt
Frozen entrees (Lean Cuisine, Amy's, Cedarlane - to take to work for lunch)
Terra exotic chips
Flat Out light wraps
Fresh fish (salmon, tilapia, mahi mahi)
Lump crab meat
Chicken breasts (boneless skinless - fresh - no hormones)
Lean ground beef
Chicken sausage
Sushi (spicy crab rolls)
Onions (red and yellow)
Spaghetti squash
Mushrooms
Bell peppers (all colors)
Broccoli florettes
Asparagus
Corn
Green beans
Red Potatoes
Mixed salad greens (baby spinach, romaine)
Peanut butter
String cheese
Mandarin fruit cups
Hershey's (60% or higher cacao) dark chocolate
Wine (red, white - whatever we want to go with dinner)
Diet Pepsi (I just can't give the stuff up)

These are the things that I keep on hand but only use rarely:

Whole wheat pasta
Basmati rice
Udon noodles
Multigrain pancake/waffle mix
Walnuts
Goji berries

These are the staples that we use often but don't have to buy weekly:

Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
Spaghetti sauce

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Good luck on your journey. There's a ton of great information on this website and everyone is really helpful.

I'm probably not the best to take advice from. I don't usually eat nearly enough and I'm an uninspired chef. Every Week I buy the same thing

1 bag of chicken breasts (pilgrims pride eatwell stayhealthy)
1 bag of potatos (small baked potato wih dinner)
2 bags of broccoli
2 cans of green beans
2 cans of peas
6 bowls of healthy choice chicken and rice soup
1 carton fat free lactose free milk
1 box carnation instant breakfast

That's it. My meals go as follows

Breakfast - Carnation instant breakfast
Lunch - Healthy choice soup
Dinner - Baked chicken breast, small baked potato plain, and vegetables.

If I get really inspired, I'll add a prebagged salad for dinner with Newmans own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing.

I hate cooking and the lack of variety doesn't really bug me. I have a major soda addiction :)

Everyone is welcome to post here! It's always nice to hear new ideas!

My grocery shopping is currently a disaster because I'm trying to cater to two very stubborn people, but here's an example of what I'd regularly buy when it was just me and DH - Our calorie range was 1800-2000 for the most part.

Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
Red, Green, Orange Bell Peppers
Onions & Green Onions
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Whole Grain Bread
Ground Turkey
Bananas / Grapes and an assortment of other fruits in season
Carrots/Celery (snacks & meals)
Frozen veggies
Varied salad fixin's (romaine lettuce, baby spinach, radishes, etc)
90% Lean ground beef occasionally
Whole Wheat pastas
Stewed tomatoes (most often the reduced sodium)
Roma Tomatoes
Cucumber
Low fat versions of cheese (provolone, swiss, American, cheddar, etc)
String cheese
Very thinly sliced deli meats for sandwiches
Eggs
Baby red potatoes
Imitation bacon bits

I also had on hand EVOO, varied spices, salsa, garlic, ranch dressing, and some ready-made pasta sauce.

A typical day's menu was something like this:

B - Breakfast burrito (2 scrambled eggs, 1/8c shredded cheese, 1/8c salsa, 1tbsp "bacon" bits) & a banana (~450cal)
S1 - Carrots & Celery sticks w/ full fat Ranch dressing (~200cal)
L - Sandwich (deli ham or turkey, provolone, 1tbsp mayo on 2 slices whole grain bread), apple (~500cal)
S2 - String cheese (~80cal)
D - Chicken breast in stewed tomatoes and onions, garlic roasted baby potatoes, green beans (~700cal)

Breakfasts
Oatmeal
Oatmeal, Cottage cheese, egg whites (protein pancakes)
sugar free syrup
frozen berries
turkey bacon

Lunches and Dinners
Homemade soups
Veggie burger
Whole wheat light buns
Frozen cauliflower
Laughing cow cheese wedges
Chicken breast
Ground white meat turkey
Tilapia
Salmon
Pork Loin
Any other meat that is on sale that looks good
Lettuce
Tomato
Zucchini
Spaghetti squash
Parmesan Cheese
Onion
Peppers
Mushrooms
Sweet potatos
Any other green vegetables or fruit that I like that is on sale (I tend to avoid starchy veggies)
Nature's Own Double Fiber Bread
Skim milk
Frozen green beans
Frozen brussel sprouts

Snacks
Plain non-fat yogurt
Fiber One
Splenda
Sugar Free Jello
Blue Bunny Sugar Free Fudgesicles (35 calories and they fix my sweet tooth and my chocolate tooth)