G'morning

Today is my first day of my new lifestyle plan that includes counting calories (seems to be the plan that I have the most long-term success with).

I've just cleaned out the pantry and am making my list for the grocery store. It's been so long since I've calorie counted and was wondering if there are certain foods/items/condiments that go on your list weekly that you just can't live without.

Thank you so much

Salmon, cottage cheese, fruits (berries, apples, apricots), veggies (spinach!, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli), tuna, eggs, beans, whole grain bread, oatmeal, walnuts, avocado.

Green chile. Red chile.

Ground turkey.

cottage cheese (2%), plain yogurt, fruit, salad stuff.

Not every week, but kept as staples: brown rice, canned black beans, egg beaters.

I like the Jello chocolate pudding. It is the Liv-Active (hope I spelled it right) kind found in the refridgerated dairy section. It is sugar free and only 60 calories. On the days I find myself a little behind in calories, one of those helps me bring my total up some. On the days I am veering towards being over but have a sweet-tooth, it helps keep me under.

I only have one a day, sometimes I choose it as a dessert for lunch and some days I choose it as a dessert for dinner. It kind of just depends on when my sweet tooth strikes.

Also, I LOVE the Yoplait Whips Chocolate Mousse. A little higher in cals than the pudding but it is soooo good. I hate tarty yogurt and the chocolate mousse is not tarty at all.

For starters, off the top of my head:

Eggs
Chicken breast
Salmon
Tilapia
Canned Tuna
Spices
Mustards
Vinegars
Cooking Spray
Lite Mayonaise
Fiber One Cereal
FF/SF yogurt
Canned Beans
Canned tomatoes - crushed, stewed, diced, sauce, paste
Sugar Free Maple syrup
Sugar free apricot preserves
Soy sauce
Salsa
Morning Star Farms Veggie Burgers – Chick Patties & Spicy Black Bean Burger
Popsicle Sugar Free Ices
Butternut, Spaghetti & Acorn Squash
Petite carrots, shredded carrots, carrot chips
Bananas – slice them and freeze them – DELICIOUS treat!
Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus, Zucchini, String Beans, Bell Peppers, Turnips
Red Onions, Garlic, Baby Spinach, Kirbys, Red Cabbage, Plum & Grape Tomatoes
Grapes – try them frozen.
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears, grapefruit, watermelon, cantelope, lemons
Romaine lettuce

Spinach, broccoli, asparagus, corn, watermelon, blueberries, coffee, black beans, every kind of pepper and mushroom I can get my hands on, thai chili paste, carrots, onions, garlic, cucumber, soy yogurt, and fire roasted tomatoes. Oh, and homemade hummus. And Kashi crackers. That pretty much sums up my pantry and fridge.

Thank you so much for the quick responses! There were a lot of items I didn't even think about.

If anything, it seems like I'll be eating more (volume wise) than before.

Yes, that's exactly it! I need/want/require a LOT of food. I was willing to change over my lifestyle - but I was not willing to be hungry and eat tasteless, boring foods. Which is why I turned to veggies and proteins. LOTS of volume and nutrition and filling power for waaaay less calories then that "other stuff".

Give it some time, you'll see that your eating will evolve as you discover all sorts of yummy things to make this wonderful new lifestyle work for you.

fresh blueberries, soy milk, hummus, arnold whole wheat sandwich thins, larabars, strawberries, reddi whip, kashi honey sunshine, morning star grillers prime veggie burgers, vita muffins, kashi fruit and grain bars, babybel laughing cow cheese, low sodium v-8 juice, frozen low fat nutrigrain waffles, salsa, guacamole, flat out wraps, fresh mushrooms, fat free shredded cheese

How could I have forgotten?

Canned tomatoes - crushed, stewed, diced, sauce, paste. Fantastic stuff to have on hand.

Edited to ADD: It was bothering me, I just edited this to my original list.

I see several people listed the morning star burgers and I have to ask, do you taste, well, horrible? I tried them 5+ years ago and they weren't the best. Have they changed since then?

cottage cheese - 2%
hard boiled eggs
hummus
fruit
bagged lettuce
arnolds sandwich thins
PB2
yogurt
canned green beans

EAting horrible food is not an option for me. I don't care how healthy or "diet" friendly it is. If I don't like it, I'm not eating it. Period.

So, to answer your question, no they don't taste horrible *to me*. Though I haven't eaten them in a long while. The year I was losing, I ate them almost every day for lunch.

My two favorites are the Spicy Bean Burger and the Chick Pattie Original.

You need to experiment and find foods that you love. Be creative. If we love what we're eating, it makes sense that it would be MUCH easier to stick with this lifestyle. No reason to go off plan, when on plan is so good.

Eggs, Lowfat Cheeses (feta, laughing cow, babybel), beans, ground turkey, spinach, veggies, berries, flax, high fiber cereals, hummus, High fiber bread, salsa, Ak Mak crackers, Low cal dressing, tuna, nuts, chicken breasts, SF Jello, SF pudding, limes for my water, and coffee

These are my must-have go-to foods:

Strawberries, red seedless grapes, fuji apples, bananas

Peppers, onions, squash, zucchini, fresh broccoli, frozen broccoli (we eat a LOT of broccoli)

Cheerios, yellow potatoes, frozen Cedarlane burritos, various kinds of rice, tofu

Sargento mexican shredded cheese, eggs, 1% milk, olive oil, cans of oil spray (canola, olive, and butter flavored)

NotSalt butter flavor, mexican spices, indian spices, italian spices