Hello and thank you for your question. From my experience, I found that removing all empty-calorie foods from my diet allowed me to lose weight very quickly. These foods include sugar, bread, pasta, rice, and anything fried.

The weight-loss foods that I would recommend are:
- Fruits, vegetables, and/or beans with every meal. Be careful with refried beans because they are sometimes prepared with ingredients that add empty calories, therefore I’d recommend whole beans only. Also, when eating salads, I recommend to only add balsamic vinegar (other dressings, including straight olive oil, have a lot of calories).
- Egg Whites -- you can purchase the carton bottle that already has the yolks removed (or purchased regular eggs and remove the yolks yourself). Prepare with a minimum of olive oil (just enough to grease the pan).
- Grilled, broiled, steamed meat or fish. (never fried)
- Water, Water, Water. You can also drink unsweetened coffee, tea, or diet sodas, basically anything without calories.

If you only eat the items above, you’re on your way to losing a lot of weight! There are so many different types of fruits and vegetables (and different ways to eat them) that you can put together a plan that still has a lot of diversity and excitement.

You asked about snacks. I usually recommend the small carrot packs that you can buy at grocery stores. They are sweet and perfect for snacking. You can also purchase protein bars. I eat a lot of those especially when I’m exercising a lot. Try to find the ones with the most protein and the least calories (i.e.: 10-20 grams or protein for 150-280 calories). Feel free to always have a bar in your pocket and munch on it all day long.

Please be aware that weight loss takes time. You need to have a caloric deficit of 3500 calories to burn a single pound of fat, and it’s not recommended to burn more than two pounds of fat per week. You can use the calorie counter on this website to track what you eat and see the resulting caloric deficit.

If you ever start losing motivation or discipline (which I believe is the greatest cause of weight gain), I recommend that find someone on this website that is also looking for an activity partner (click on search on the left). You can also find one of the various excellent personal trainers from the Directory page. They are all very good and will help you lose weight. Also, once you’ve committed to your trainer that you’ll be meeting them on a particular day for a workout session, you become committed and accountable. It’s also a great way to get started, learn from them, then go on your own when you feel comfortable.

I hope this helped. Good luck with your journey to weight loss and health!
Pascal