Shop Smart

Want to lose a few pounds? Start shopping smarter. If you know which foods are healthier and how to read the food labels, you're on the way to lowering your weight. Here are a few helpful tips The Fat Fighters A diet high in fiber can take weight off quickly. Eat fruit, (don't forget berries, blueberries, full of antioxidants, raspberries, lots of fiber, strawberries, believed to be a cancer fighter, blackberries, (have anti-inflammatory properties,) elderberries, black currants, (not easy to find) ,vegetables, pasta, anything made with whole grains, beans, breads, a bran muffin. Fiber will make you feel full. It swells up in your stomach Eating oatmeal, lowers your blood sugar. And therefore, you will be less likely to get diabetes. High fiber diets absorb the fats in food before you can absorb it and gain weight. These foods have less calories, for example, An apple unsliced and peeled, has 75 calories and 3.5 grams of fiber But if you drink 8 ounces of apple juice, it has no fiber and almost 120 calories! Since you cannot only eat fiber, you should also include some healthy fats in your diet. The good fats are: Monounsaturated fat In olive oil, canola oil, avocados, almonds, peanuts and cashews Polyunsaturated fat Omega 6 is found in: corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil. Omega 3 is found in: herring, salmon, sardines, trout, bluefish, walnuts, wheat germ, canola oil. Try not to eat: Saturated fat Found in butter, chicken skin, coconut oil, fatty meats, palm oil, cottonseed oil. Always include oilve oil in your diet, it is naturally cholesterol free. Trans fat some cookies, pie crusts, snack foods, some crackers. It is believed that trans fats are worse for you than saturated fats. They can raise the bad cholesterol levels.