Favorite Brands and Food Stuffs

• Krusteaz Brand Fat-Free Muffin Mix
• T. Marzetti's Fat Free Ranch Dip
• MorningStar Farms Veggie Patties (Chipotle black bean, and garden veggie flavors)
• Gardenburger brand Sundried Tomato Basil patties.
  
• Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
• Cabot reduced fat cheddar wedges, or Sargento reduced fat colby jack wedges.
• Caffeine-free Diet Coke (can't have too much caffeine during the day!)
• Yoplait Whips (Chocolate Mousse flavor - put them in the freezer and they're so good!)
• Nature's Own whole wheat light bread
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray
• Smuckers Sugar Free Blackberry Jam
• Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt
• Sam's Club Members Mark Spinach and Asiago Cheese Chicken Sausage
• Sabra Roasted Garlic Hummus
• Fiber One Chocolate and Oats granola bars.
  
• Splenda (I mean, this kind of goes without saying, but for the sake of thoroughness, I added it.)
• International Delight fat-free french vanilla coffee creamer
  

Good resources to help you stay healthy

Good Healthy Cooking Sites:

Cooking Light
My absolute favorite. You have to get a subscription today. If you're anything like me, you'll buy it just wanting some new ideas for healthy food, and it will slowly turn you into a foodie and wannabe gourmet. I'm addicted. But seriously, it just makes you feel like you're not dieting, but instead just cooking. And it gives you great tips for stripping fat and calories for tons of great recipes.

Dieting Resources:

Weight Watchers
I swear by it. Not because I stay within my "points range" every day, but because it just helps you know what you're really eating. Perspective is everything in understanding what you really need to eat in any given day and this just seems like the most holistic way to do that, since it takes into consideration, fat, fiber and calories.

South Beach Diet
I've never personally tried South Beach, but after a bad experience with Atkins in high school, it seems like it is just the more sensible alternative. The bottom line to any diet: carbs aren't the devil, but you should probably just stop eating so much of them if you're trying to lose weight. No matter what program you're on. Period.

Exercising Resources:

Fit Sugar
I love the Sugar Network, and Fit Sugar is a great blog to give you ideas for being all-around healthy, not just tips for burning calories and building biceps.

Denise Austin
She's fabulous, and even though it's all a little corny, somehow she convinces me to keep going in her work out videos. I'm convinced she's a genius because in her videos - just when you get realyl tired of doing a certain exercise, she'll switch it up for you. She keeps you on your toes without making you feel like you can't get the hang of the motions. Her Yoga video is better than any other I've bought, and this work out DVD of hers was also an old stand-by for many years.

The Firm
A little more on the "no frills" workout side than ol' Denise, and I'm really liking the one DVD I have so far: The Firm Bootcamp: Maximum Calorie Burn. I'm not going to lie though, this video pretty much kicks my tail compared to the "high intensity" setting on the Personal Training DVD by Denise that I link to above. Don't let the Southern accent fool you with Allison in this video, she's serious, but go for it if you're looking to kick it into high gear. I'm looking forward to trying a few other videos too.

A little about me....

I've been watching my weight since I was in high school, and after several years of trying to find "what works" for me, I'm starting to discover some good tips and ideas for staying on track. I've done the crash dieting, which inevitably leads to toal burn out, and now I'm just happy cooking light, and finding tricks for keeping myself from overloading on the delicious stuff that temps us every day.

So here is my humble blog, where I just want to share some tips, snack ideas, good recipes, and general thoughts on eating healthy and feeling good about yourself. Most of the recipes will be to the credit of people far more talented and creative than me, with some suggestions and tweaks here or there.

Oh yeah, please don't judge my photography... I'm no artist when it comes to the camera, that is for sure. And I have bad lighting in my apartment!

Feel free to contact me if you at healthiefoodie@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you!