Frosted Flakes may have lots of vitamins and minerals but I'm sure it
has lots of calories as well.  You need to get less calories then you
burn daily.  Choose non sweetened cereals or old fashioned oatmeal and
add berries for sweetness.  I never add sugar to my cereal as it seems
to have quite enough carbs.

Low calorie yogurt, cottage cheese, fruit, vegetables, etc...  All
perfectly healthy snacks.

Have you tried fitday?  My husband and I have both found it great for
recent weight loss accomplishements.

KR

Kick the sugar.  Read labels.  High fructose corn syrup has to go.
"Low fat" things like muffins are usually loaded with sugar.

Lean Cuisine are great, especially the "spa" versions that use whole
grains for rice and pasta.

Also, Lean Pockets Ultra are only 200 calories and loaded with fiber.

For breakfast, fruit and/or whole grain cereal like Kashi or Grape
Nuts.  Or whole grain toast with cinnamon and Splenda.

If you eat white bread, white pasta, white rice, or sugar it will make
you hungry again in a short time.

Frosted anything is not your friend, go for an untoasted muesli or
something basic like Weetbix or whatever.
White bread has to go, find the wholegrain/wholemeal bread with the
highest dietary fiber and lowest caloric value. Olive oil is a good
option but be aware that from a pure fat point of view it isnt any
better than any other oil or spread. It does have plenty of benefits
though, I use it as a substitute for margarine by brushing it on toast,
topping it with sliced tomato and some cottage cheese for breakfast,
good stuff!
Limit dairy as much as possible and always use the lowest fat option
when it comes to milk and cheese.
Lean Cuisine's are not too bad for a quick option I guess but you
really cant beat making something yourself. It doesnt get much more
simple than grilling a skinless chicken breast and steaming some fresh
veggies. You should spent the majority of your time in the supermarket
within the fruit and veg section.

Start as many threads as you like.  This is usenet and there are some
subtle differences from web-based forums.  

Messages here are treated as individual postings, and most newsreader
software (google included) is capable of rendering them into a
thread-like format.  Usenet (nntp) has no native threading technology.
This is my understanding, but someone with more smarts on the subject
can certainly set me straight.

You may find it easier to negotiate your blog-like diet postings if
you post one subject for each of you diet entries.  It will be easier
for people to comment on them and easier to organize.  You'll find
this is the format most people use when posting blog-like entries.

Just because something has vitamins & minerals doesn't mean it's healthy.
Eating Frosted Flakes is like eating a bowl of candy with a vitamin thrown
in.  When you buy cereals, look at the top shelves, which is where they put
the healthier stuff, since it's out of most people's vision.  All of the
garbage will be at eye level and you want to avoid those.  You can always
add a little sweetener yourself.  Plain shredded wheat biscuits are
fantastic if you drizzle a little honey on them.

Low fat muffins are full of sugar, even more than regular muffins.

Olive oil is fattening but it's a good fat, much better than butter or the
fat you'll find in cookies & candy bars.  Doesn't mean you should have a cup
of the stuff every day, but for cooking it's a better choice than butter.
It's also good for salad dressing - just don't drown your greens!

Some of my typical breakfasts are:
Oatmeal, either steel cut or rolled oats (not instant) with fresh or dried
fruit & skim/soy milk.  I usually add some Equal to mine for sweetness.
Thomas' Whole Grain Light English Muffin spread with a wedge of Laughing Cow
Light cheese,  with one serving of Egg Beaters nuked in a small bowl for a
minute and a veggie sausage patty or a slice of ham if I have any.
Cold cereal: All Bran Extra Fiber (2 servings) with fresh fruit and skim or
soy milk.  Sometimes I mix one serving of All Bran with another cereal, like
one from Kashi or Special K.  Sometimes I do have my favorite junk food
cereal - Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch - and I mis that with the All Bran.
Since cold cereal doesn't fill me up I usually have 2 servings of micrwaved
Egg Beaters with a little ketchup or salsa on top.
1% cottage cheese with fresh fruit and All Bran.  Or, yogurt with fruit &
All Bran.

As for Lean Cuisine, I have to say that when I first decided to lose weight
those were a BIG help.  My freezer was always full of them.  I would steam a
bunch of broccoli or green beans to go with it, since the meal itself isn't
always very filling.  I've gotten away from them now but still have them
maybe once or twice a month.  The Healthy Choice meals were a little more
filling than Lean Cuisine.

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of starting my day with a food high
in protein.  Based on other advice here in the group, my breakfast has
become a shake consisting of:

1 serving biochem low-carb whey protein
1/2 medium banana
1/4 cup forzen strawberries
1 1/2 cup skim milk

It's sweet enough and satisfying.  Fitday says it's about 317
calories.  It gets my through till my scheduled mid-morning snack,
which can be fresh fruit or a granola bar or something like that.

Interesting you put it this way.  One of things that's helped me is
becoming more disciplined about *when* I eat.  It's forced me to put
more thought into what I'm eating I'm less likely to make bad food
choices.  The weak part of this is when I'm in a situation where I can
eat according to the schedule I've set up, but I'm finding I can
figure that out as it happens.

It sounds like you're highly bummed out about your food choices- this
is understandable but ultimately self-defeating.   I can only speak
from my own experience over the past few weeks, and I can say that
I've felt better and more empowered than I have in many years.  Food
has only as much control over you as you allow it.  You own your body,
and you only have to put into what you want it.

Lots of vegetables of many kinds.  I've been collecting recipes for about 18
months now purposely to have things that use different vegetables.  I'm up
to 250 and all excellent and they're from all over the world.

Brown rice instead of white.  Whole grain pasta if possible, or else I get a
spaghetti squash to go with my marinara, Bolognese, or eggplant ragu.

Lots of legumes, e.g. I'm finishing a chickpea stew now and next week for
lunch I'll have lamb and lentils.

Whole grain bread which means the first ingredient on the label has to be
whole wheat or some other whole grain; if it's enriched unbleached flour,
it's not whole grain.

Meats trimmed of fat; some fish; some cheese because I like it MUCH better
than milk but if it's not a hard or aged cheese it has lots of fat.

I used to eat a lot of fruit but got out of the habit so I'm working that
back in.

I start with a big vegetarian (usually) breakfast and have a middle sized
lunch with meat (usually).  As a result I'm not very hungry at night and
that's when I try to get my fruit.  I try to always have veggies in my lunch
but I eat some meat/cheese/fish every day because if I don't, my fingernails
start to crumble.

I stew things a lot or stir fry, and I try not to deep fry much at all.
Maybe a couple times of year when I can't go another day without an egg roll
I make a batch at home, usually with only veggies inside.  My crockpot is a
good friend.

No sodas; they either have too much sugar or they leach calcium from your
bones.  OK once or twice a year I can't go another day without a Coke,
usually when I've been eating chili for some reason.  I totally don't get
that but it's true.
On these hot weekends I like to have Perrier and lemon and lime juice in the
fridge and make up some fizzy lemon-lime with a spoonful of sugar and about
1/4 to 1/2 cup juice.

I have a piece of chocolate once or twice a week.

I use one teaspoon of real sugar in my coffee or tea in the morning.

I don't eat doughnuts or other sweet breads much.  Had a piece of somebody's
birthday cake last week, the first in over a year.  If I get rugelach for
the office at my kosher store, I'll usually have one -- that happens about 3
times a year.

Frosted flakes, along with other cereals that have "lots of vitamins" get
their vitamins from a spray.  They spray the otherwise virtually useless
flakes to give them some nutritional value.  If you must eat cereal, try
something like raisin bran, all bran, Smart Start, Kashi Go Lean Crunch,
etc.  Look at the nutrition label - is there at least 5g of protein and 5g
of fiber?  Forget the vitamins.  Look at calories, protein, fiber, fat
content.  Do you dislike oatmeal?  Buy some Quaker instant, make it with
nonfat milk, put a little whey protein or peanut butter in it.  It is much
healthier than frosted flakes.

It has a lot of

Again, check the label.  Look for bread with at least 3g of fiber per slice,
but even better up around 5g per slice.

Are low fat muffins healthy?

low fat does NOT equal healthy.  Low fat simply means low in fat.  They
still contain a HUGE amount of EMPTY calories.  On your tight calorie
budget, you simply cannot waste the calories on empty filler.

it is healthier than butter.

Or is it too fattening?

It still has as many calories in it as butter, so yeah, it's still
fattening.  You still have to count all the calories, and there's 120 per
tablespoon.

What about those Lean

Uh, I eat them occasionally, but IMO, they suck as far as taste.  Still the
Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice, as well as the newer South Beach Diet meals
do offer less calories and a more balanced meal.  I'm especially fond of the
SB pizzas which have a ton of fiber and protein and only 330 calories.  If
you are looking to eliminate the "thinking" aspect from your diet somewhat,
then frozen diet meals could fit the bill.  In the long run though you will
still need to learn how to eat.

You need to shop the perimeter of the store.  That's where you'll find
dairy, meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies and breads.  Avoid the highly
processed crap in the middle...

Here's a basic list of things to eat
dairy - non fat milk, nonfat yogurt, reduced fat cottage cheese, reduced fat
string cheese
meat - lean meats, chicken and turkey breast, ground turkey breast in place
of burger, lean cuts of beef.  Avoid breading or frying your meats.  Try
grilling or broiling.
fruits and veggies - fresh, any and all
breads and pasta - whole wheat high fiber.  check the label for fiber
content.  you need 25g of fiber per day.

avoid things like white breads, white pasta, white potatoes, fruit drinks,
full sugar sodas, sugary cereals, canned vegetables, processed foods like
raviolis, soups, etc.

Um, I'd tell you, but I can already tell you wouldn't eat what I do.  I eat
the way I do because I want.........really badly.............to lose weight
and be healthy.  I have reached the point that you haven't yet.  To eat
according to what my body needs, not what my tongue wants.

This is actually a fascinating question to which no one can give a
precise answer, because what constitutes "healthiness" in foods depends
on a number of factors.

For example, the Total Parenteral Nutrition intravenous feeding that
you get in hospitals when your digestive system is out of commission
must be healthy, as it meeds all your nutritional needs, yet by any
definition it is nearly all "empty calories".

Foods can basically be broken down into three types, protein, fats, and
carbohydrates--then you also have vitamins and minerals.

Although there are one or two exceptions, basically proteins and fats
come from animal products (meat, fish, and dairy) and carbohydrates
come from vegetable products (fruits, vegetables, grains, sugars,
alcoholic drinks).

There are a few exceptions. For example nuts and beans may contain some
protein, and oils from vegetable products are more like fats (e.g.
olives, peanuts), though chemically a bit different.

Each of these types of food meets certain nutritional needs and is
processed in the body in slightly different ways, and affects various
internal organs differently.

Any time your bodyis chronically short of a necessary nutrient, then
you will run into problems. For example, your blood needs iron and
salt. Generally we will get iron and salt from eating meat products. If
we cut out meat and have a diet without salt, we may need to find other
sources of these chemicals, like vitamin pills. Too much salt affects
some people who have high blood pressure adversely, but commercial salt
has iodine added to it, without which your thyroid gland may fail, so
to completely eradicate salt could adversely affect your health.

Hence (thanks for bearing with me), it is very difficult to say exactly
which food is healthy, except that what you probably need is a balanced
diet that includes various different types of nutrients.

Exactly what you should eat is impossible to say, because people's
eating habits are ingrained by the culture they grow up in. For
example, I have Mexican tenants, and their diet does not go much beyond
beer, sodas, tacos, ground meat, chillies, salad, and rice, and they
seem to be perfectly healthy.None are overweight, but that may be
because they also work in manual labor.

The other day I was getting my oil changed at Walmart and had a little
time to kill. In their book section I was looking at a book by a woman
called Joyce Meyer, who is one of these preacher/guru/lifestyle
consultant people who has got to be immensely rich by telling the rest
of us how to live.

A page caught my eye, where she extolled the virtues of eating well,
and mentioned that sometimes she gets tempted to have a hamburger "with
all the fixings", but that you just have to resist the temptation.

Now what does she mean? I agree that a hamburger from a fast food place
is a pretty unpleasant, soggy, nasty little thing, especially when
taken with limp french fries and a sweet drink. But is this what Ms.
Meyer means by a hamburger? I very much doubt that she eats in such
places. She probably has hired help to cook for her.

At the time of writing I had a hamburger five minutes ago, which I
prepared in my kitchen. A  ground beef patty was fried yesterday, then
refridgerated. To warm it up, it was placed in th microwave in a
plastic bag for 45 seconds, which helped to drain off some more of the
fat. It was then placed inside a toasted onion roll, and overlaid with
a slice of fresh tomato, a slice of fresh raw onion, some Romaine
lettuce, some fresh homemade salsa, a little garlic, and then eaten.

In truth it was nothing special, but was it any worse healthwise than
any other meal made from bread, ground meat, and salad items? I don't
think so. And does Ms. Meyer avoid any dish prepared with ground beef
on health grounds? I don't know.

Anyway, after this preamble, here are my recommendations, for what they
are worth.

1. Avoid all processed, preprepared foods. Buy basic ingredients as
fresh as possible and fix the meals yourself. If you have to take food
on the road or to work, carry it in a cooler. Also make your own drinks
and do likewise.

2. Avoid all national brand name foods, because this will be healthier
on your finances.

3. Avoid all foods that are advertised as for for dieting, low-fat, low
sugar etc. for the same reason. They are nearly always a con. Once I
stopped at a Hardee's to see what their advertised "low carb hamburger"
was all about. It was a beet patty wrapped in a lettuce leaf with no
bread. Most diet foods are also a joke.

4. Eat LESS. Eat smaller portions, don't snack between meals. Have a
good breakfast. Go to bed hungry--millions of others do--every night of
their lives.

5. Find some way to measure how much you are eating. For example buy
your week's supplies and weight it all. Weigh again at the same time
next week to see how much you have consumed. If you don't lose weight,
then reduce your intake more. If you live with a family, you may have
to separate out your food from theirs, which is a hassle, but, hey,
this is serious business.