There are foods that can boost your weight loss program and are super for you. Include them in your diet as often as possible — try to add at least two or three each day to your daily menu.

Here are 10 “superfoods” to help you lose weight and feel great:

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In order to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit. There are several ways to do this, but one quick way is to substitute healthy low calorie or low fat foods for the high calorie or high fat foods that you eat.

Here are 5 tasty substitutes for more common high calorie or high fat foods:

1) Soda pop has no redeeming qualities other than it tastes good. It’s high in sugar, containing about 3 tablespoons per 12 ounce can, and often contains sodium and caffeine. Switching to diet soda made with an artificial sweetener is better than downing all the sugar. Better yet is to drink water instead. If the flavor of water gets boring, jazz it up by adding a squeeze of lemon, lime or orange juice. Try sparkling water as a change of pace. Add a slice of fresh fruit, like peach, or watermelon and mash it against the side of the glass to release flavors. Do this with fresh mint and lime and you have yourself a nonalcoholic mojito.

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Fruits and vegetables are an important part of any balanced diet. But nutrition experts also recommend eating a certain number of servings of meat and dairy products each day. It’s not surprising that many people who are considering becoming vegetarians hesitate because they fear that they will not get adequate nutrition.

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No, not into the cookie jar but when you’re cooking. Plan your low calorie low fat menus so you double what you cook and use the extra food for a brand new dish! Here are some ideas to get you started.

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Don’t you just love watching the chefs on the Food Channel preparing a dish? They make it look so easy, and you just feel like jumping up and running in to the kitchen to prepare the recipe for yourself. Yet, you know that even if you did want to try, the ingredients in your own cupboards are sadly lacking. The most obvious items that are missing are the fresh herbs. You may consider growing your own herb garden in the summer, but why not consider growing one in the winter as well? Let me show you how you can grow your own herbs indoors!

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Why is it that something as simple as the common cold can lay even the strongest of bodies out for the count? We’ve all had one, and no matter what you do to avoid it and fight it, eventually it will win. The winter months keep us closed up indoors and expose us to more germs, which is why we tend to see more colds in the winter. (Contrary to what our Grandmothers have always told us about getting our colds from being outside in the winter!) Even though there’s no cure for a common cold, there are ways you can try to prevent it, and lessen the severity of it if you do.

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Recommended by physicians for the last 25 years, Medifast has become a popular diet plan today. It is a portion-controlled, low-fat program designed for those who wish to lose weight faster than other plans available today. Medifast is different than other diet plans in that the meals come in packets which, when mixed with water, create a calorie deficit conducive to losing weight more rapidly.

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There has been much controversy over the use of artificial sweeteners. Saccharin, for example, was once nearly banned, but got by with a warning label on products that contained it. It has since been declared safe by the government. Aspartame has also undergone scrutiny, and is believed to be responsible for a number of troublesome side effects.

With all of the bad press and uncertainty surrounding artificial sweeteners, it is understandable that people might be hesitant to use them. Even if we do use them ourselves, it has been recommended that we do not allow our children to consume them.

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