With over 47 thousand foods cramming grocery store shelves, it can be hard to find waist-friendly and taste bud friendly options.
Wouldn't it be great if someone did the work for you?
Clean out your cupboards, here's a list of slimming and satisfying foods to feast on.
For most of us, it's a weekly tradition: racing up and down the grocery aisles in search of the healthiest, tastiest food.
Erin Hobday of SELF magazine says "what you stock your kitchen with is ultimately what's going to help you achieve body and diet success."
But it's tough to know what to toss in your cart!
SELF magazine thought so too. So, it teamed up with registered dietitian Willow Jarosh to design nutritional criteria for dozens of favorite foods. "We looked at calories, the total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, protein, sodium, added sugar. We also looked at the food ingredients," she said.
Then, readers crunched, munched and sipped on everything from juice and snacks to desserts and frozen meals and dished on the tasty results.
Jarosh explained,"We sorted through hundreds of foods, so we tasted over 400 products and we ended up with 54 winners."
If you're looking to kick-start your morning, there's the winning cereal, which scored for its taste and fiber fix.
And SELF’S best waffle is low fat and packed with whole grains.
Readers really loved them. They thought that they were toasty and crisp on the outside, but warm and soft on the inside.
Wash it all down with some o-j. Testers loved this calcium loaded version.
To start a sandwich for lunch, the winning bread was declared soft and chewy. But that's not all…
"This bread met our whole grain and fiber requirements. It has a whole grain as the first ingredient."
If you're into grilled cheese, readers say this low fat choice made the grade for its sharp and creamy taste. Or, scoop up the preferred peanut butter.
According to tester, Marissa Roberto "Since the peanut butter is natural it tasted like it was a little less salt in it. It wasn't as heavy."
For dinner, dress your greens with the winning salad dressing. SELF says its low fat and flavor-full. Or, dine on a frozen favorite: choose a meat, veggie or seafood meal.
Willow Jarosh, "what we looked for in frozen meals was to make sure that they had enough calories without going overboard on things like saturated fat and sodium."
Need something at the end of the day? For the salty crowd, there's the readers' pick for potato chips. Got a sweet tooth? This candy-style granola bar was picked because it has less sugar than some other varieties.
Rebecca collins, tester: "the chocolate was really fudgy and wonderful and the granola was tasty, but it was also really filling as well."
Self says these foods are nutritious and delicious. Now, it's time to fill your fridge!
The magazine also lists winners for things like ice cream, pasta, coffee and lunch meat.
