Everywhere I go in the store, everything just looks like junk and unhealthy. I want to go and eat the right foods, but I only see the processed foods and artificial stuff. What can be considered healthy?
Go with fruits and veggies, and try to stay away from things that are pre-shredded. Try to get as close to natural/organic as possible.
Frozen and canned fruit and vegetables are almost always just as good as (or better than) fresh, too. Not to mention usually significantly cheaper and easier to deal with and keep for extended periods.
^This. Also, organic doesn't always mean healthier. In terms of nutritional content, there is little difference. Overall, the more food that you make and prepare from basic ingredients (i.e. the more steps in the foodmaking process you control), the better. Also, make sure that you limit excessive meat and try to cut out fats/sugary foods as much as possible.
Start by taking small steps: - whole-wheat bread products (easy!) - cut out packaged snacks or deep-fried things like French fries - buy low-fat ground beef and skinless chicken (wait for them to go on sale and buy extra to freeze if it's too expensive for you) - more fruits and veggies (best is fresh, but frozen is okay. Canned is high in salt and low in vitamins, not tasty, expensive, and contains BPA from the can lining, so avoid as much as possible) - 2% milk instead of whole - go for whole wheat cereal with no more than 10g of sugar for a 55g serving (Sally's Cereal makes a Mini Wheats type of cereal that fits the bill, tastes great, and is cheap). Oatmeal is best if you like it. Start by making easy, boring, but healthy meals. Eggs, toast, and a bunch of fruit. Hamburger patty (homemade!), rice, salad. Chicken leg, mashed potatoes, salad. Spaghetti (jarred sauce is often high sodium, but okay otherwise) with extra-lean ground beef. Slowly, as you get more confident, dig around allrecipes.com for new recipes. You'll get the hang of it if you persist.
