When you’re at the grocery store, there’s isle upon isle of packaged foods. We know to avoid many of them, but there are some that aren’t so bad for you after all.  These foods can be incorporated into your day for a balanced, well-rounded diet. Women’s Health sent out a nutritionist and weight-loss expert shopping to find the packaged foods that are actually on the healthy side. Here’s some of what she came up with (find the whole list here):

Breads, Pasta and Rice

• Thomas’ 100% Whole Wheat Mini Bagels
• Kashi Heart to Heart breakfast cereal
• Barbara’s Bakery Cinnamon Puffins for snacking
• Quaker Nutrition for Women oatmeal
• Bare Naked All Naturals Granola
• Prepperidge Farm 100% Whole Beat Natural Whole Grain Bread
• Barilla Plus Pasta

Dairy, Soy and Eggs

• Stonyfield Farm Fat Free Peach Yogurt
• Kraft 2% Milk White American Singles
• Sargento Light String Cheese Snacks
• Kraft Light n’ Lively Lowfat Cottage Cheese with Calcium

Meat and Fish

• Oscar Meyer Oven Roasted Turkey Breast Natural
• Healthy Choice Thin Sliced Honey Ham
• Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna in Water
• Oscar Mayer Louis Rich Turkey Bacon

Freezer Foods

• Lean Cuisine Spa Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce
• Birds Eye Steamfresh Fresh Frozen Vegetables
• Boca All American Classic Meatless Burgers
• Gardenburger Portabella Frozen Veggie Burger

Soups

• Amy’s Organic Lentil Vegetables Soup Light in Sodium
• Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
• Imagine Organic Creamy Broccoli Soup in a box

Snacks

• PriaGrain Eswsentials Energy Bar
• Fiber One Oats & Chocolate Chewy Bars
• Nature Valley Roasted Almond Granola Bars

Desserts

• Skinny Cow Ice Cream Cones
• Weight Watchers Smart Ones Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundaes
• Edy’s/Dreyers Loaded Frozen Dairy Desserts
• FrozFruit SuperFruit Pomegranate Cherry

Drinks

• Tropicana Light n’ Healthy Orange Juice
• Minute Maid Light Raspberry Passion

Dressings and Condiments

• Peanut Butter & Co. Crunch Time All Natural Peanut Butter
• Philadelphis Light Strawberry Cream Cheese
• Smucker’s Low Sugar Red Raspberry Preserves
• Salpica Rustic Tomato Salsa
• Heinz Organic Tomato Ketchup

When you think of fruit and salad, you automatically think that they are healthy for you, don’t you? I automatically think that those are two things that are good for me, and provide me with a lot of nutrients. While it’s true that those are both foods that are in fact good for you and offer a lot of health benefits, you need to consider how it’s prepared. There are certain foods that we automatically associate with health, yet not all of them are actually good for us! Today we’re going to take a look at some of those foods.

It’s Good for you, but…

1. Breakfast - is good for you, but… just because you eat breakfast doesn’t mean that it’s good for you. Cereals or yogurt that are loaded with sugar must be avoided!
2. Salad - is good for you, but… not if it’s loaded with cheese, croutons, bacon, and creamy dressings.
3. Non-fried snacks - could be good for you, but.. snacks like pretzels and baked chips are processed foods that go right through you and don’t provide much in terms of nutrients.
4. Fruit - is good for you, but… not dried fruit! Dried fruit is loaded with sugar. Stick with fresh fruits!

The one thing on that list that I always have a hard time with is cheese and creamy dressings on my salads.  I LOVE cheese, and I love ranch dressing so it’s hard for me to turn those things down. And of course when I have a salad with cheese and ranch dressing, I always end up feeling guilty, so I don’t end up enjoying it any ways. A good alternative for creamy dressings that I’ve been trying to have more often is simply a drizzle of good olive oil and vinegar.

Anytime there’s a food that you automatically label as a healthy food, stop to consider how you eat it and how it’s prepared! If you can say “It’s good for me” without any “but,” it’s probably a good choice.

It’s SO easy these days to snack on foods that aren’t so figure-friendly. Afterall, these unhealthy foods are just about everywhere – vending machines, the break-room at work, the convenience store at the gas station, and maybe even your own pantry. And when you get hungry, it’s easy to turn to those things unless you plan ahead and have some healthier snacks on hand.

If you’ve got the munchies, choose a low calorie option to help keep you on track to losing weight or maintaining your weight. With so many low calorie options available, there should be no excuse to dip your hand into the chip bag, or get a scoop of your favorite ice cream.

Low Calorie Snacks

Besides the obvious fruits and vegetables that make great snacks (celery, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli all have just about no calories), here are some of my favorite low calorie snacks that I turn to when I want something more than the fruits and veggies:

• Hershey’s Kisses – if you snack on three kisses, you’re still under 100 calories and it’ll satisfy your craving for chocolate!
• Graham Crackers – who doesn’t love graham crackers? You can eat two crackers for under 100 calories.
• Pudding – make your own or get the Jell-O fat free pudding cups. My favorite is the devil’s food flavor and it comes in at 100 calories.
• Popcorn – not the stuff loaded in butter! If you get air-popped popcorn without the butter, you’ll be able to eat three cups and fill up on fiber for only 100 calories.
• Crackers – spread four crackers with a low-fat peanut butter and you’ll have another tasty snack high in protein for under 100 calories!

Happy snacking!

I am one of those that tends to be an emotional eater. This emotional eating comes from any variety of emotions; happy, sad, anxious, bored, lonely, etc. And usually, the foods that I eat are considered comfort foods that aren’t so healthy. There’s definitely a connection between mood and food. For example, when you’re down and depressed, food can be a way to distract yourself from thinking about your problems. Another connection comes from certain foods like chocolate, which release small amounts of mood and satisfaction elevating opiates.

The Mayo Clinic has put together a very helpful list of ways that you can regain control of your eating habits so that you’re able to stop your emotional eating. They’re all easier said than done, but with work and effort, would be possible.

1. Learn to recognize true hunger: Is your stomach rumblin’ and grumblin’? If not, you’re probably really not hungry.
2. Know your triggers: The important thing here is to recognize you eating patterns so that you can avoid negative ones.
3. Look elsewhere for comfort: Instead of eating those comfort foods, take a walk, listen to music, exercise, call a friend.
4. Don’t keep unhealthy food around: Simply put… keep the junk at the store! This is much easier said than done. But, it’s true. If unhealthy foods are around, you’ll likely go for them when you’re stressed.
5. Snack healthy: Find healthy snack options that also satisfy you so that you won’t be craving potato chips and ice cream. One of my favorite snacks is veggies and dip with a fat-free dip, or apples with a little bit of low-fat peanut-putter for some protein.
6. Eat a balanced diet: This is important. If you’re eating a balanced diet and getting enough calories, chances are that you’ll feel fuller for a longer period of time.
7. Exercise regularly and get adequate rest: I think getting adequate rest is something that a lot of us have a hard time with. We have to be doing 50 different things in 50 different places which makes it difficult to adequate time for rest.

Like I said, all of those things are so much easier said than done. It might be best to focus on just one or two of those components instead of trying to do them all at once. One of the things that I have learned to do best is to recognize true hunger. When I stopped to think about what I was eating and when, there were many times throughout my week that I ate simply because I was bored. Emotional eating can really take you off track when you’re trying to lose weight, but using the suggestions above will help you to meet your weight loss goals, and change your lifestyle.

Source: Mayo Clinic [Via Yahoo Health!]