What are some of your favorite foods to help you lose weight? I am looking for ideas.......

Keep in mind I can't have MSG, peanut butter, organge juice, bananas, frozen meals, artifical sweetners, along with a few other things b/c of headaches...... I am having the hardest time finding things......

So any suggestions?????

Real live food! Things as natural as you can find them. Proteins and things that grow. The food lists at bodyforlife.com are very good.

Sounds like you'd benefit from the whole foods forum! The focus tends to be on non-processed foods.

I tend to do a lot of vegetables (steamed, roasted, or salads), lean meats (shrimp, chicken, salmon), fruits, whole grains (bulgur, wild rice, sweet potatoes). I usually do dairy about once a day, if I remember.

Yup, ditto the whole foods.

A specifics that I like are Jicama which is a root veggie that tastes like a cross between an apple and a potato. Crunchy and slightly sweet it's great for snacking.

The other thing i've started to do was to make my own yogurt cheese. I had to give up regular cheese because of the salt and fat. I buy a brand of non-fat Greek yogurt called Fage, which is thicker and less tart than the others. I let that drain in a double layer of cheese cloth, lining a mesh strainer for a couple of days. It has the consitancy and flavor of cream cheese. I can then add anything I want to that for sandwiches or spreads. I love sundried tomatoes and kalmata olives or herbs like dill and chive.

I also recommend a couple of 100% flourless, sugarless and salt free bread products. Ezekiel 4:9 and Manna both use only whole sprouted grains. Ezekiel does use yeast and salt in some products but has no salt in the low sodium version. They also offer pasta. Manna is a dense, cake like bread that adds nothing but the grain. My favorite is the rye bread.

My sweetner of choice is Stevia Plus. Nothing artifical, it is a plant like mint but much sweeter than sugar. It is sold in health food stores or online as a food supplement and not a sweetner. It has no effect on blood sugar. My ex was diabetic and could use it with no problem.

If you need an extra protein source I love using whey protein isolate by Now foods. It's 100% pure with no additives of any kind. No flavor so you can use it in anything, sauces, smoothies etc. One serving is 120 calories, no fat and offers 25g of protein.

Hope that helps!

I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. Every day I have a salad that consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries or raspberries, fresh basil, sea salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar.

I also almost always have a nice big green salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sea salt, pepper, and low cal dressing) with my dinner.

In addition to the salad, here are some of my staples for lunch:

• Brown rice with butternut squash, cooked turkey (from a can), laughing cow cheese, sea salt and pepper. Also maybe roasted califlower or another veggie thrown in.
• Brown rice with eggplant, tomatoes, and onions stewed in African spices.
• Brown rice with cream of mushroom soup and chicken (from a can).
• Tuna with hummus, cucumbers, and tomatoes in a whole-wheat pita.
• Fat-free multi-grain bread with lean lunch meat, reduced fat cheese, grilled onions, basil, and mustard.
• Tuna with mango, grilled onion, cilantro, and cumin on a whole wheat pita or in a whole wheat tortilla.
• Brown rice with pre-packaged Indian meals.
• Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, turkey sausage, onions, and fresh basil.

For dinner, I eat:

• A lot of chicken (I swear, I must have at least 200 different chicken recipes).
• Pork tenderloin (so easy, I buy the pre-marinated Hormel tenderloins, which are super lean. Just open the package and throw them in the oven).
• Various casseroles that call for lean ground beef, lean ground turkey, or chicken.
• Soups and stews with lean meats and extra veggies.
• Chili made with lean ground beef or ground turkey.
• Meatloaf made with lean ground beef, pork, or turkey (or a combination of these meats).

I also always have either a salad or a veggie with dinner. If the meat is particularly lean, I might also have starch--usually either brown rice, polenta, or potato.

For snacks, I eat:

• Fresh fruit, whatever is in season at the farmers market. In the spring it was cherries and apricots, over the summer it was peaches, nectarines, pluots, and raspberries. In the winter it will probably be apples.
• Non-fat yogurt.
• Fiber cake things that I get from Trader Joe's.
• Whole grain English muffins with non-fat cream cheese.
• Popcorn.
• Nuts (usually cinnamon almonds from Trader Joe's).

I have a Kashi TLC bar almost everyday for breakfast. For dinner, I often have couscous, grilled chicken tenders, and cooked frozen mixed vegetables all mixed together with a couple of shots of lemon juice.

I like hummus, stuffed into pitas with lots of veggies, or maybe on pita chips. Or soup, now that it's winter, a small bowl of low-fat chili or whatever. Sometimes I'll snack on cheese, or some deli meat, or shrimp with cocktail sauce. Fruit's always good. And I like the "processed" yogurts (like Yoplait Light, the creamy ones) that might not do so well for you if you don't deal with processed foods well. Oh, soy chips, that's another good snack for me, as it has protein. And soy. Sometimes lowfat chocolate milk.

I love egg beater omelettes at breakfast (or egg white, for the less lazy) with all sorts of toppings. Just plain with salsa is good, or different type of cheese. Feta is my current favorite. Oatmeal, mmm -- again, I go with processed, but you could get some good old steel cut and sweeten it with fruit or brown sugar or whatever if you wanted. Oh, and another favorite, breakfast potatoes. I usually get them frozen so they keep, but you could just hack up a potato and sautee it, I reckon. I toss in diced green and red peppers, and diced onion. Homemade smoothies are another breakfast favorite, or cereal (raisin bran for the most part). Or Kashi waffles, on rare occasion, homemade pancakes, either one of them with Aunt Jemina light syrup (for some reason, I can't do generic, gotta be that brand).

I like sauteeing different types of veggies in just olive oil with some good (and that's the trick, getting really good) balsamic vinegar. I do asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini squash, onion, bell pepper, all sorts of things. Ooh, and I did a really good cold salad with sliced cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, chopped fresh basil, and olive oil.

Let's see, more side dishes, I LOVE Alexia brand of potatoes. I'm actually able to eat just 3 ounces of them in a serving because they're really tasty, it seems like 'fancy food' to me. And, being lazy, I like having all sorts of frozen veggies on hand, when I don't have fresh (though I'm making more use of fresh). And (guilty secret) I like the 'just for one' sized veggie trays, as reheated frozen vegetables are unappealing to me.

Oh, and I found a neat bread lately at Whole Foods, Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain. The words 'sprouted grain' scared me, but it's just a whole wheat bread that's real whole wheat. It's expensive, but I don't eat much bread. Sometimes I make my own but I never eat more than a slice or two before it goes bad, I suppose I could freeze it, which is what I do with the Ezekiel bread. I use their buns too. It's not really low-calorie per se, but very healthy. I'll sometimes do organic PB&J sandwiches on them.

For frozen food in a hurry, I like Amy's brand the best, lots of organic stuff there. I can read the label and understand it! Cedarlane (I think it is) is good. And Kashi. Boca burgers, and Morningstar Breakfast patties, and some other vegetarian stuff I like. There are selected 'mainstream' frozen meals I'll eat, though they're pretty processed. But, South Beach pizza is great! I sometimes get bigger 'healthy' frozen pizzas at Wholefood's if I'm in a non-binging mood and can tolerate leftovers.

For fast food, I love McD's fruit and yogurt parfait! And their premium grilled chicken sandwich, and my weakness is their fries. And at Wendy's their salads, though they're high-calorie. And their chili, potatoes, grilled chicken sandwich, or mandarin oranges. Hrm, at BK I sometimes will get the veggie burger, or the Angus burger, but I don't really like the fries there (thankfully). Subway is good too, their low fat subs. I especially like the chicken teriyaki (no cheese) or turkey (with cheese). For breakfast, if it's not the fruit-and-yogurt parfait, I'll go with a bagel and sour cream, though that's a splurge.

I have a few 'fast foods' I make at home. Stir fries are big with me, using frozen veggies. Or fajitas -- again, with a pepper stir fry mix. Angel hair pasta with chicken breast or shrimp and marinara sauce, and some (preferably fresh grated) parmesan or romano cheese. Fish is another quickie, I get it at Wholefoods already marinaded and just pop it in the oven or grill.

For sweets, I love chocolate! Godiva dark is my favorite. I have to buy in small quantities, but if I'm in the right mood I can have just a piece and stop, and a good brand of chocolate is just soooo good even in small quantities. And Edy's Light double-churned ice cream. Edy's whole fruit bars. Skinny Cow ice cream. Kozy Snack 'no sugar added' pudding. And fruit! I do strawberries, kiwi, or watermelon fairly often, especially if I have Chinese food. Oh, and Smart Ones cookie dough dessert, that's tasty too, not too high calorie. Or Pria 110 calorie peanut butter crunch bar.

Hrm. I think I just listed at least half the foods I eat routinely...