I went shopping tonight at wally world, and got a lot of the things I saw people mention on the posts/boards...and in the Dr. Oz book. Nuts, V-8 Juice, Lots of Fresh Veggies, Fresh Fruit, Multi Vitamins, and what not. I was wondering if there was anything else that would be good? I need something with a lot of protein because I have started back on my vegetarian eating. Tofu, Morningstar farms brand. So, any suggestions would be great!

Oh, and I ate the tofu with some boiled squash and a piece of whole wheat bread for dinner..and it was SO delicious. Pete's tofu or something like that. From wally world. It's already seasoned, and ready to cook. Amazing! Also, I am satisfied!

I am not a vegetarian, but I really love red pepper, zucchini and onion cubed up and sauteed in a pan with a very small amount of olive oil. I don't any salt or seasonings and it tastes soo good.
I try to fill my plate with 1/2 veggies, 1/4 carbs (like potatoes) and 1/4 of some kind of protein.
As a healthy shopping trip tip, I have always been told to avoid the center aisles of the store. Stick to the outside where all of the fresh, unprocessed stuff is.
good luck

Oh wow. We have two near where I live. I'm sorry you don't have one near you. I can't even remember when it was just a regular wally world. lol.

Black beans. I was looking at some of those this evening. They didn't look all that great to me. lol. But, yanno what they say..don't knock something until you try it. I guess the next time I am out there I will pick up a can. and some of the other ingredients you listed to mix that together for dinner one night. Morningstar Farms has some amazing veggie chicken strips that I could use in place of regular chicken for that recipe.

I drink soy milk, well I really only use it in cereal, that's just about it. I am lactose intolerant, so...that's just about my only choice is soy dairy. Do you think vanilla soy milk would be good in place of orange juice in a smoothie? Never tried it before. My roomate is the one that makes the smoothies. I've never tried any other type of smoothie except for frozen strawberries, or mixed fruit, orange juice + ice. The smoothie maker that I have, I just got for Christmas so I haven't really tried many different recipes yet. A few came with it, but I didn't really take a close look at them.

Wow, I never knew that. I will try to steer clear from the center aisles from now on. I think the only thing that I really go into that area for is a few cans of beans and seasoning (garlic, ground red pepper).

Never had that before, but I will have to try it. It sounds delicious!

Hi - I'm brand new to this site (trying to get motivated). I'm not vegetarian, but don't each much meat. I had a boca burger (original/vegan kind) tonight on a low carb wheat tortilla. The tortillas are in the refrigerator section at wally world (my town of gloucester's claim to fame is we have the biggest walmart on the east coast - woohoo!). I also ate a spinach/toful egg roll from trader joe's and a salad. A hodge podge dinner, but I think pretty healthy nonetheless.

All the foods mentioned sound like really good suggestions. I might also suggest buying some avocado (not cheap, but you can get 4 servings out of one - good on or with different things). Also, as a vegetarian, do you eat eggs? Great source of protein and if you eliminate all or some yolks very lowfat and cheap. Quinoa and kefir are both healthy and nutritious, and I just bought some when I was at trader joe's.

Do any of you do fitday? I'm giving it a try since I read a lot about it on here. I think I need that accountability for myself. I did weight watchers for a while about a year ago, so I'm a little confused about points vs. calories...On fitday, how do I know where I want to be each day calorie wise? I mean, I know with WWs how many points to have to lose, but I really don't know how many calories -- if anyone could advise me on that, I would appreciate it! Thanks!

I really don't like boca burgers myself, but morningstar farms I think has a burger called black something burger, and I have had one before...and it was delicious! I think they are on the veggie burgers at burger king. That sounds delicious, a spinach tofu egg roll. Never heard of trader joe's though. So, guess I won't be able to have one. lol.

Yes, I eat eggs. I try to eat only organic eggs though. In my opinion they taste A LOT better. heh.

What is Quinoa and kefir, btw?

Also, I would help ya out on the last part, but I have no idea what fitday is. So, heh. Sorry.

Jill,
Thanks a lot for the explanation on using fitday and calories. I think I will experiment with calories amounts and set goals for myself and not worry about points. I think it would just get too complicated if I tried to do both. I also like your method of entering what you PLAN to eat and then adjusting. I think that would be very helpful for me to try too.

Ok... quinoa (pronounced keen-wa). It's a little grain and you boil it, kinda tastes like a combo of rice and pasta. Really a good little grain. Looks similar to couscous. It's tauted as having more protein than most grains, and it's very versatile. I buy it at Trader Joe's - a great little grocery store chain of healthy and very reasonably priced foods. I know there is one in NOVA somewhere. We got one about a year ago in Newport News - love it!! But you can buy quinoa at Ukrops, Farm Fresh, probably not Food Lion, but lots of stores do sell it.

Kefir is a very thick yogurt type drink. You can get plain or flavored, like strawberry. It is not overly sweet and even a little bitter maybe. My mom has my niece and nephew hooked on it - they get it for dessert and love it. It is supposed to have all kinds of nutritional benefits, including lots of the friendly bacteria for gastrointestinal well being. My husband doesn't care for it, but I put it in smoothies for him, which he does like.

I also really like the idea of a big crockpot of something healthy. We have a crockpot and never use it. I should try that white chicken chile this weekend before going back to work. I actually think I'll search on line to see if I can find a recipe for it... otherwise, I may wing it.

Ok... I know this is long, but I will add one more thing... my smoothie recipe. I make these several times a week for my husband, who is type 1 diabetic. When we get busy with work and overwhelmed, our eating goes down the tubes, but this is a healthy thing I do make for him that he loves.

I throw in the blender

-about 1 cup frozen berries - usually either blue or strawberries
-1/2-1 whole frozen banana - if I have any. I peel them when they get overly ripe and brown, put them in ziplocks, and freeze for smoothies.
-fat free soymilk - vanilla flavor is extra good
-about 1/2 c. yogurt or kefir - whatever I have. I buy plain fat free yogurt healthy and you can't tell it's tasteless in a smoothie. Or fat free vanilla, but that has more carbs/sugar
-probably would be sweet enough for some, but I usually add a little splenda too.

Blend till smooth. This makes one large smoothie for him and a mini for me.

Thanks to both of you for chatting...sorry I got long winded, but I feel more motivated already. I'll let you know if I find a good healthy recipe for white chicken chile ... or else I'll just wing it!
Angie

I just found out today that we have two healthy food stores where I live so I am going to check it out sometime soon. I listen to a radio station called WNRN, and they talk about this food place up in Charlottesville all the time, and I would go there..but it's about an hour and 20 minutes away.

What kinds of things are you talking about? Like bread, and what not?

lmao. That's how people are here, and probably a lot of other places. I took my Granny to wally world for the first time earlier this year, and she said where is it. I said Wards RD, Just right up the street..and on the way there she was saying this is too long of a drive. We should have just went to Food Lion. LOL. It was only a 10 min drive, but...yanno. heh.