7 Surprising Weight Loss Foods For Your Healthy Grocery List
Last Updated on 01/01/2022 by Nicky
Are you making a weight loss plan for next year?
Researching different diets and meal plans to see which one you want to try? I feel you.
I’m doing the same although I know it’s a danger to say I’m going on a diet.
I’m just going to continue to make a series of dietary lifestyle changes until I reach my goal weight.
What’s amazing though is that there are definitely some surprisingly healthy and delicious foods that you can put on your grocery list ( and actually eat, even) and still lose weight.
After a 60 plus pound weight loss, I can say that I’ve never given up my favorite foods in order to lose weight.
The following foods are some of the foods that I ate as I lost weight and it has not caused me to gain my weight back.
Of course, you have to listen to your own body and see which foods work for you in your own weight loss journey.
Try these foods out and if you find your gaining or not losing weight then definitely remove them from your diet.
Ok now let’s get into it!
Free Printables To Help You Lose Weight
But before we start… if you’re trying to plan out your meals and make a healthy grocery list then perhaps my free printable grocery list can be of service.
Sign up below to gain access to it.
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Oh yeah, and this post contains affiliate links to great products that will help you in your health journey. I will get a commission if you decide to buy from these links but I’m only recommending products that I feel confident about.
My food philosophy
Before we get to the surprising healthy foods it would be helpful for y’all to know what my food philosophy is so to speak.
Although I will keep it real with you I have not followed it very well in the past few weeks *cough months* this is in my heart what I believe and do try to follow.
I believe in eating food. Ummm okay, girl, you’re nuts… we all eat food I hear you saying.
What I mean by this is: I prefer to eat food with real ingredients and not food products with scary mad scientists sounding ingredients.
This is not real food ya’ll…just sayin’…yes, I’m being a food snob.
I don’t do artificial sweeteners (fake sugars as I call them) and I try to stay away from preservatives.
I like to read the ingredients on food labels before I even look at the nutrition facts.
My preference (although my wallet would beg to differ… more on that later) would be to only buy food either in their natural state or if it’s packaged, buy foods made with whole or real food ingredients.
Some people call this eating clean or eating real food or whole food. I just call it eating food vs eating food products.
Although there is controversy over all of the food that I’m going to mention, my own personal philosophy on food is to try to get it as close to how God created it… with as little fillers, preservatives, flavorings, and processing as possible.
And for some sad reason, the fewer the ingredients a packaged food has the more expensive it is.
You can combat these higher prices by using apps like Ibotta (sign up free by clicking here), which saves you money on groceries.
But even still, it costs more on the front end to buy healthy food but hopefully, you will make up the difference in healthcare costs later on in life.
Ok so now let’s really get into these foods, shall we? Oh and let me please say that any of these foods should be eaten in moderation.
We can’t eat these foods with abandon and lose weight.
You would eat them (or not eat them) according to your weight loss meal plan’s guidelines.
For instance, if you only eat a certain amount of calories per day then you would eat these foods in according to your calorie restrictions.
For example, if you eat 1500 calories a day then you would make butter or whole milk fit into that caloric allotment. Another important thing to note, these foods may or may not help you lose weight.
What I mean by making your weight loss journey easier is that you can eat these foods because they are healthy and because they are delicious won’t feel so deprived that you give up on your diet 2 days in.
Make sense?
7 surprising foods to put on your grocery list to make weight loss easier
1. Butter
Are you old enough to remember when margarine was considered to be a healthier option than butter?
I am and I remember even as a young girl thinking “that doesn’t really make sense because what is margarine anyway?
At least I know where butter comes from.” There’s still some controversy on whether or not butter is healthier than margarine (not in my mind but I digress).
However, it used to be said that you shouldn’t even touch butter or you would surely die (perhaps a bit hyperbolic).
This is of course nonsense.
Butter can be a part of a healthy weight loss plan and is far more delicious than margarine.
2. Chicken thighs
If you’ve ever read any articles on weight loss then you know that many nutritionists recommended only eating chicken breasts or white meat.
And this is fine if you like white meat but some of us ahem me, think white meat is dry and bland.
Fortunately, you don’t have to give the juicy succulence that is dark meat in order to lose weight. In fact, dark meat has nutrients like iron and healthy monosaturated fats that are good for your heart.
Related: Chicken breasts vs thighs
3.Whole milk
Whole milk is typically a no-no on any diet but it doesn’t have to be.
Whole milk is actually heart-healthy.
Not only that but the fat in the whole milk makes it more satisfying and satiating than skim and therefore you can drink less of it and not feel deprived.
Plus it just tastes better.
Related: Full Fat Paradox
4.Chocolate
If you thought that you’d have to give up chocolate in order to fit into those jeans, it’s time to celebrate!
You can totally have chocolate.
Please have chocolate. Some forms of chocolate have health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and eating it may make you feel fuller longer.
Plus that little indulgence every now and then will help you not only stick to your diet (lifestyle change) but also maintaining your weight loss.
Related: Chocolate for weight loss too good to be true
5. Steak
Aww steak so good and yet so bad for you, right?
Ummm, not so fast there. Steak is delicious and because it’s so full of protein it helps you stay full longer… which of course means you eat less.
Steak also has iron and zinc so that’s definitely a win.
If you can find grass-fed then that’s even healthier for you as grass-fed beef is said to have fewer calories than grain-fed beef and more omega 3s.
Related: Is steak good for losing weight
I know for me one of the biggest issues with eating a steak is all of the accouterments.
I want the loaded baked potato, the rolls, the salad with the creamy dressing. These extras are where you can go off course really fast.
If you have steak perhaps have a small baked potato (or half of a large baked potato) with small amounts of the loaded (the butter, sour cream, etc) one small roll or none at all, you get the picture.
Once you cut back in other ways, you can eat steak and lose weight no problem.
Related: Benefits of grass-fed beef
6. Peanut butter
Ooey, gooey, creamy, and sticky.
Peanut butter is bomb. But is it bomb for your diet or a calorie bomb? I say it’s bomb for your diet.
Peanut is creamy and satisfying while being packed with nutrients. It’s got potassium and monosaturated fats.
PB’s fiber and protein content help you stay full which means you are less likely to binge eat.
PB for the win!
Related: Health benefits of peanut butter
7. Full fat cheese
If loving cheese is wrong I truly don’t care. Fortunately, loving cheese and I mean full-fat cheese couldn’t be more right.
Cheese has vitamins A, B-12, calcium and protein.
Cheese has the uncanny ability to make anything taste better.
If you struggle with eating vegetables, try sprinkling them with a little Parmesan or cheddar to make them more palatable.
And grass-fed cheese is high in omega 3s which a brilliant for your heart.
Related:
https://www.healthline.com/health/is-cheese-bad-for-you#healthbenefits
https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/a22229914/benefits-of-full-fat-dairy/
Are you excited to incorporate these foods into your diet?
Are you struggling to stick to a diet that’s full of low fat, low taste chemically-laden foods that leave you hangry?
Try adding these foods to your diet in moderation and see what happens.
You might find that you’re finally able to stick to a diet because you don’t feel deprived.
