How can I eat healthy when they all try and trick me?

Check the ingredient list, every time, if it’s much more than five things I’d pass.

Got to read the packaging. That’s the only way. Also, you can get books that give you information about the percentage of protein, carbs, sugar etc. Keep one in your pocket/bag and refer to it.

I would also suggest planning your meals/snacks/drinks ahead of time too. Don’t go shopping hungry. Know what you are going to buy before you are in the store.

Keep in mind, lite often means heavy in sugar instead.

Eat before you go to the store, then avoid buying snacks and buy fruit instead. Keeping with breakfast, lunch and dinner and, if you’re hungy in between, snack with fruit or just bread or something is a great way to improve your health (plus, exercise often).

Also, there probably are sites with dietary advice for your country by organisations trying to improve public health (if you happen to be Dutch, check voedingscentrum.nl).

It all depends upon your will power. If your will power is strong then no one can stop you from eating healthy food.

That’s why they must post the ingredients.
Nobody is trying to trick you. They are trying to sell you something. They can say what they want.
Caveat Emptor applies to you, not the seller.
You can hardly go wrong with fresh veggies and fruit. Skim milk if you drink it
No more lean meat in a day than will fit in the palm of your hand.
A little peanut butter on apples or celery for snacks. Hommus on pita chips too.
Stuff like that.

This whole meal looks amazing! I love sweet potato fries! Can’t wait to give the black bean burgers a try!!

You are making a great start. One by one read the package and then remember which to avoid. Also note that calorie content number. Eating healthy does not mean you can ignore the calories.

Check out Clean Eating by Tosca Reno . She tells you what to eat and why it is good. It gives you a really good breakdown of how to change your lifestyle to eat foods that are not processed or filled with sugars.

I highly recommend her cookbooks, they are easy and delicious. It has changed not only the way I eat, but my entire physique as well.

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is one way of controling what you eat, but unless you have acres you need to rely on others at some point.

Just a thought.

Stick to fruits and vegetables, and don’t buy the prepared, packaged foods.

The best way is to eat whole foods, foods not packaged or processed. Fruits, veggies, meals made from scratch. Then you control the fat used, and everything else that goes into what you eat.

Of course it is not likely you will eat only foods made from scratch so you need to read every single label until you start getting some regular choices you know are healthy. Not sure ifit is summer where you are? I was going to suggest brothy soups generally are low fat, low cal, low cholesterol, but it might not be the season for it where you are. Oh, and legume and bean soups like minestrone and lentil, very good for fiber and low fat. Also, whole cereals, like oatmeal. Whole potatoes rather than mashed. Red tomato sauces rather than cream sauces.

Bread generally is better than crackers. Crackers have quite a bit of fat. Really good bread can usually be yummy without any butter.

Dairy is generally fatty and full of cholesterol. Limit cheese, and high fat milks. Go for skim or 1 percent if you must drink milk. Organic ultrapasterurized milk tastes creamier than regular, so you can typically reduce the percent fat and not feel cheated.

Personally I am not panicked over high fructose corn syrup, I think it is basically the same as sugar, but you don’t want an overload of sugar either.

When buying bread, look for the ones that say whole grain and note that multigrain does not mean whole grain. Whole grain breads are more filling and contain useful fiber.

Keep reading those labels ! Be wary of anything you can’t pronounce. “Natural” doesn’t mean anything . High fructose corn syrup is a chemical refined from sugary foods, It’s not sugar.
@iLove has the right direction, head away from processed foods.

Buy raw vegetables, nuts, meat, eggs, etc. Cook for yourself, or eat the raw veggies and nuts. It takes a while to get used to eating, say, raw carrots and peanuts for a snack if you are used to Wheat Things or Dooritos or such, but once you get used to it you’ll like it better.
If you don’t buy things that have packaging or ingredients then you don’t have to worry about being misled by the list of ingredients on the package.

@dabbler Sugar is refined from cane or sugar beets.

Simplify your diet.Fruit,veggies for snacks instead of processed foods.

@JLeslie Yes, but sugar exists in the same form in the original vegetable. It’s sort of distilled from beets and cane. “High fructose corn syrup” does not exist in the original vegetable, it is manufactured.

Do you know how to read the labeling?

Everyone is right- fruit and veggies! I’m trying to go vegan so I know how you feel, so much stuff has dairy in it, grr. What are your cost constraints? If you can find a farmer’s market to shop at, do it. Mandarins are especially great for snacks in winter and yeah just all fruit all the time. Otherwise try for organic supermarkets if you are willing to spend a bit more.

If you have the time and inclination make everything yourself from scratch. You will know exactly what goes in it and it will taste so much more satisfying knowing that you did that.

Actually, @Adirondackwannabe asks a good question. The labels can be tricky. It gives counts per serving, and you have to look at the top of a label to see how big the sering is. Usually much much smaller than you think. Probably you eat 2–4 servings of everything you eat at one sitting. The percentages used on labels are for shit; don’t pay attention at all. I have no idea how much you weigh, but if you are overweight you eat way more than the 2,000 calories tose percentages are based on. The only perents worth anything are the ones for vitamins and minerals and the bottom of the nutrition label.

Eating healthy requires you to understand nutrition at a deeper level.
You need to understand also how your own body metabolizes things.

Once you get those down, reading labels is important to know all that a product is comprised of.

Try to cook and make as much from the base or raw ingredients.

There is something to be said about cooking with ingredients versus cooking with pre-packaged products and why previous generations did not have the issues of today.

Farmers markets are a great place to start. Proper portion control is also key
I will look for a few links when I can to add.

If you are reading a label most likely there is a healthier choice to be made. Eat whole foods you prepare yourself.

One tip is to avoid the aisles up and down the store as much as possible. That’s where all the processed food is. Stick to the outer areas of the store where the fresh fruits and veggies, fresh meats, seafood, and dairy are.

I agree with @MissAusten. Shop the perimeter and only hit the inner food aisle that has baking supplies and spices. You won’t be tempted by the bright packaging and eye-catching graphics of prepackaged “food”.

I’d recommend focus on lean meats, veggies, fruits, and whole grains not whole wheats. Personally I add quite a bit of fiber to my diet as well

Also gelato makes a superior and healthier dessert than ice cream

Go for simple unprocessed foods.

Until you become familiar with foods on the shelves then look at the ingredients, specifically the first 3–5 listed and decide if you want to pass or not. Get to know what words are preservatives and which are additives. If they’re additives, are they anything you want to add?

Google is your friend when you want to blow some time and delve into stuff. Look up sugar free (item name), salt free (item name), gluten free (item name).

One thing we’re finding lots of fun is a metal tray that’s got small holes in it that you place over a bbq qrill. It has raised edges so we can spread out chunked vegies we’ve rolled in olive oil and spices. I’ve seen shallow big bowls like this too, kind of a wok for your bbq. We’re eating stuff we’d never have bothered with before because it’s so easy to chop, roll and scoop onto the plate alongside the main protein.

Here are my two grocery rules:

1. Shop the perimeter. All packaged and preserved food is full of crap you don’t want in your body. The meat, produce, whole juices, etc. are all lining the outer walls. No preservatives? No chemicals? Win.

2. If your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it. You shouldn’t be eating it.

How to read food labels

Also, if you have a smartphone you can download an app called Fooducate. I know it’s on iPhones anyway. You use the camera to take a pic of the bar code, and it brings up the nutritional information, grades it and explains it. So, if you’re sitting in an aisle and can’t decide if it’s healthy or not you can see for yourself.

EDIT Works on iPhones and Android – http://www.fooducate.com / http://www.fooducate.com/video.html

That is a great tip about shopping the perimeter. I have never heard that before but it is spot on. If you stay there you can’t really help but be buying natural, whole foods. Great tip. Great tip on the Fooducate too. Wonder if that works in Australia?

Great question @bwalla900, we can all learn something from this thread. Let us know how you go.

Different foods are healthy for different people. Some things aren’t healthy for anyone, of course, but it would be a mistake for some people to go vegan, for example, if vegan foods are not good for them. My answer is to do much reading, and to talk to a professional who knows about your individual needs.

I don’t know much about the labels and whats good and bad, I try but it’s alot to keep up with in my opinion
@asmonet great tip with the app, def going to check that out