First of all check out the following quality weight loss resources:

Variety is key, but practice makes perfect. So, practice the tips offered in these links, and fitting food guide foods into your daily diet will be as easy as "low-fat" pie.

Choose meat alternatives more often as they provide generous amounts of protein with less saturated fat:

1. Eggs

Nutrients You Can Count On: protein, vitamin D, vitamin A, B vitamins e.g. riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B12

Contrary to popular belief, brown-shelled eggs are not more nutritious than white-shelled eggs. The colour of the egg shell depends on the breed of chicken and has nothing to do with the nutritional value.

Safe Handling and Storage. Eggs along with meat, fish, poultry, and dairy products are perishable. Keep your eggs as fresh as possible by storing them in the refrigerator in their original carton. The carton protects the eggs from absorbing the flavour and odour of other foods near by. It also helps to maintain their natural moisture content. When preparing egg dishes, practice safe food handling techniques. Use only clean, uncracked eggs and always wash hands with hot soapy water. Keep all work areas clean and wash utensils used with raw egg mixtures before re-using. Raw eggs or under cooked eggs are a potential source of bacteria especially if the shell is cracked or damaged. Raw eggs are usually not recommended for the very young, the very old or people with compromised immune systems because of this concern. Safe food handling lowers this food safety concern.

Cooking Methods. It is recommended that all eggs be thoroughly cooked before eating in order to reduce the risk of food-borne illness. Eggs are a very versatile food and can be enjoyed in many forms such as hard boiled, poached, micro waved, lightly fried into an omelette and as one of the ingredients of numerous foods

The following is an example of how eggs may be used: Place eggs in a pot and add enough cold water to cover eggs with at least 3 cm (1 inch) of water. Slowly bring water to a boil, then remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 20 minutes. Eggs should be cooled under cold running water immediately after cooking; this is important to stop the cooking and to prevent the formation of a gray-coloured ring around the yolk. Unpeeled hard-cooked eggs can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Serving Ideas. Hard-cook eggs for pickling, for use in macaroni, potato, or egg salad, for slicing in salads, or for devilled eggs. Eggs are a traditional breakfast favourite, but can also be enjoyed at lunch or dinner for a quick meal. Try an omelette with fresh vegetables or eggs served on whole wheat toast with steamed asparagus or spinach and topped with cream sauce.

Serving Size: 1 serving of eggs = 1 - 2 eggs

2. Legumes:

It's recommended that adults should eat at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits daily. It recommends at least six servings of grain products, such as breads, cereals, pasta, and rice, with an emphasis on whole grains.(What to count as a serving...) Children should also be encouraged to eat plenty of these foods.

Vegetables, fruits, and grain products are important parts of the varied diet discussed in the first guideline. They are emphasized in this guideline especially for their complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and other food components linked to good health. These foods are generally low in fats. By choosing the suggested amounts of them, you are likely to increase carbohydrates and decrease fats in your diet, as health authorities suggest. You will also get more dietary fiber.

Complex carbohydrates, such as starches, are in breads, cereals, pasta, rice, dry beans and peas, and other vegetables, such as potatoes and corn. Dietary fiber -- a part of plant foods -- is in whole-grain breads and cereals, dry beans and peas, vegetables, and fruits. It is best to eat a variety of these fiber-rich foods because they differ in the kinds of fiber they contain. Eating foods with fiber is important for proper bowel function and can reduce symptoms of chronic constipation, diverticular disease, and hemorrhoids. Populations like ours with diets low in dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates and high in fat, especially saturated fat, tend to have more heart disease, obesity, and some cancers. Just how dietary fiber is involved is not yet clear.

Some of the benefit from a higher fiber diet may be from the food that provides the fiber, not from fiber alone. For this reason, it's best to get fiber from foods rather than from supplements. In addition, excessive use of fiber supplements is associated with greater risk for intestinal problems and lower absorption of some minerals,

Actions to get you started and keep you going:

• Buy many kinds of fruits and vegetables when you shop, so you have plenty of choices, and you don't run out. Buy frozen, dried, and canned as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.
• First, use the fruits and vegetables that go bad easily (peaches, asparagus). Save hardier varieties (apples, acorn squash) or frozen and canned types for later in the week.
• Use the salad bar to buy cut-up fruits/vegetables if you're in a hurry.
• Keep a fruit bowl, small packs of applesauce, raisins or other dried fruit on the kitchen counter, table, or in the office.
• Pack a piece of fruit or some cut-up vegetables in your briefcase or backpack; carry moist towlettes for easy cleanup.
• Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables on the top shelf of the refrigerator.
• Add fruit to breakfast by drinking 6 oz of 100 percent fruit juice or by having fruit on cereal.
• Add fruits and vegetables to lunch by having them in soup, salad, or cut-up raw.
• Add fruits and vegetables to dinner by microwaving or steaming vegetables and having a special fruit desert.
• Increase portions when you serve vegetables and fruits. Season them the low-fat way with herbs, spices, and lemon juice. If sauce is used, choose a nonfat or low-fat sauce.
• Choose fruit for dessert. For a special dessert, try a fruit parfait with low-fat yogurt or sherbet topped with berries.
• Add extra varieties of vegetables when you prepare soups, sauces, and casseroles (for example, grate carrot and zucchini into spaghetti sauce.

3. Soy /Tofu:

When most people hear the word tofu, they crinkle their noses as if they've just come downwind of decaying produce. Although tofu's image is as of one of the most unappetizing food items, it also has a trendy notoriety that one might associate with the purple-spike-haired 60s throwback who eschews the "flesh of animals" for more soulful fare. Therefore, in the interests of remaking this miracle food's image, we will henceforth use the more politically correct term, soy food.

A trendy, overpriced, and unpalatable ingredient in tasteless health foods is anything but soy reality. Let's start with trendy. Archaeologists tell us that this soy food - okay tofu- is a time-honored food which Asians throughout history have been subsisting on, and look at the results of its ability to maintain and reproduce their population. The next groundless and character-defaming tag is that it is overpriced. One of the best tofu products available today checks out for a mere $1.49 at the local grocery store and maybe a few dimes more at a smaller health food store. Consider what you get, and maybe more to the point what you don't get, for that dollar and a half.

In a culinary word or two, tofu takes on the flavors of the ingredients surrounding it. Some see this as a flaw, citing its lack of individual flavor. However, the smart weekend chef, aka the "smart shopper", views this unique trait as an attribute which lends itself to a potentially artful explosion of taste, if handled with savvy and respectful admiration. One of the best uses of tofu is in fusion cooking, which for the less avant-garde cooks, suggests the melding of different seasonings that reflect various ethnic cuisines.

And in that spirit we offer a magnificent testimony to tofu, its Asian roots, and a touch of the latest nutritional darling for its purported help in fighting heart disease, Mediterranean fare, in less time than it takes to find the Cuisinart and plug it in.

A soy recipe: Chocolate Chip Soy Cookies

Ingredients: 4 packets Revival Plain Soy, ½ cup plus 1 tbsp. flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar, 12 ounces chocolate chips, ¼ tsp. salt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350°. In medium bowl, combine Revival Plain Soy, flour, baking soda, and salt then mix. In large bowl beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time until blended. In two batches, gradually beat in Revival Plain Soy protein mixture.Stir in chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased baking sheets.Bake 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned on top. Cool 2 minutes on sheets before removing to cool on wire racks.

4. Nuts & Seeds:

Pecans: Pecans are long-lasting and, when stored properly, hold their freshness for up to two years. Shelled or unshelled, if kept in an airtight container, refrigerated pecans will last for up to nine months and frozen pecans will last up to two years. Frozen pecans do not have to be thawed to use. Pecans can be re-frozen several times without losing quality.

Pistachio Nuts: Pistachios were introduced to the U.S. in the late 1890's. Today, 98 percent of the world supply of pistachios is consumed in the United States.

Areca Nuts: The areca nut (erroneously referred to as the betel nut) is chewed by over 200 million people worldwidea tenth of the world's population. It is chewed either alone or as part of a quid known as "pan." This habit is practised commonly in central, southern, and southeast Asia and is now also emerging in Western countries.

Flax Seed: Flax is a blue flowering crop grown on the Prairies of Canada for its oil-rich seeds. The seeds of flax are tiny, smooth and flat, and range in colour from light to reddish brown. They serve a variety of purposes, including baking and other food uses. Because of its link to good health, flaxseed is fast becoming a new food in many diets. Bakers and commercial food companies use flaxseed as a unique ingredient in everything from yeast breads, to bagels and cookie mixes. Not only do muffins and breads baked with flax taste great, but studies also find that these foods provide health benefits. Omega-3 enriched eggs from hens fed rations containing flaxseed are also very popular. These eggs contain eight to 10 times more omega-3 fatty acids than regular eggs. Two of the enriched eggs supply more than half Health Canada’s recommended daily intake of omega- 3s for adult men and women.

Peanut Butter: Nutrients You Can Count On are protein, B vitamins e.g. folic acid, niacin. A traditional favourite for sandwiches, alone or accompanied by jam, jelly, honey, or banana. Peanut butter is also enjoyed in baked treats such as cookies, squares, and muffins and in candy treats. Try using peanut butter as a substitute for Tahini (sesame paste) in hummus. 1 serving of peanut butter = 30 mL (2 tablespoons)

5. The Other Foods Group:

The nutritional contribution of these foods vary. Many are higher in fat, sugar and/or sodium, so choose chese foods less often, and eat them in smaller portions when you do indulge:

• foods that are mostly fats/oils = butter; margarine; cooking oils, shortening..
• foods that are mostly sugar = jams, honey, syrups, candy, sherbet, popsicles..
• high-fat and/or high-salt snack foods = chips, pretzels, cheese puffs..
• beverages = water, coffee, tea, alcohol, soft drinks, fruit-flavoured drinks..
• herbs/spices/condiments = ketchup, steak sauces, horseradish, soya sauce..