If I asked you to make a list of your favorite foods, how many healthy foods would make the cut? For so many people the answer is ‘none’ and that is part of the obstacle known as healthy weight loss. If you can’t find something to love about a succulent strawberry or peach or any redeeming qualities in broccoli or salmon then how can you expect to have a healthy diet with weight loss in mind?

{Herbs & spices add flavor and nutrients without adding calories or salt.}

The easy answer is that you can’t possibly. The good news however is that once you actually begin to add healthy weight loss foods to your diet, you’ll find that there is so much to love about them beyond how they help you transform your body to the body of your dreams!

Keep reading to find out which healthy weight loss foods you should add to your diet today!

Fresh Foods

One of the reasons that so many of us avoid healthy foods for weight loss is that fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables don’t taste as good when they originate at a big production farm. If you find many of your fruits and vegetables tasteless and dry, consider making the trip to a local farm in your area or find a Farmer’s Market. This will give you access to healthy weight loss foods that you might actually want to eat.

Don’t just take my word for it though, find one of these fresh food venues and you’ll be able to taste the difference for yourself. If something as small as visiting your local farmer can help you add more healthy weight loss foods to your diet, it’s worth the effort, isn’t it?

Dark Leafy Greens

Dark leafy greens are packed with nutrients that can help your body keep up healthy weight loss. But in addition to the vitamins and minerals abundant in leafy greens like kale, spinach and collard greens, these healthy weight loss foods are amazing fat burners thanks to the healthy serving of fiber in them.

To experience healthy weight loss you can do much more than chop these dark leafy greens up into a salad. Take any combination of these healthy foods like Swiss chard and mustard greens, and lightly sauté with onions and garlic. Or simmer in liquid for a few minutes for a tasty southern treat. Making sure to add healthy weight loss foods like dark leafy greens to your diet can help you burn more fat and eat fewer calories.

Herbs & Spices

An area where most of us run into trouble with our healthy weight loss is flavoring our meals. For most of us salt, too much salt, and black pepper make up the staple of our spice rack and that can lead to water retention, weight gain and high blood pressure among other things. Instead of adding salt to add flavor to your food, consider using more herbs and spices. It doesn’t matter if you use fresh or dried herbs, but there are dozens of options that can enhance the taste of any dish.

What’s more is that herbs like oregano, basil and parsley are packed with vitamins and minerals that help with healthy weight loss. Experiment with different herbs and spices until you become well versed in how to use them. Start with these popular herbs & spices for healthy weight loss:

• Basil
• Paprika
• Tarragon
• Cayenne pepper
• Parsley
• Oregano
• Nutmeg

Buckwheat Pasta

If you love pasta and can’t imagine life without it but you want to fully commit to healthy weight loss, then consider adding buckwheat pasta to your diet. Buckwheat is a high fiber food so you get the fat burning potential, but what you might not know is that unlike its brethren, buckwheat pasta actually has protein in it so you really have a fat burner in this tasty pasta alternative.

{Lose weight and get your pasta fix with buckwheat!}

What’s more is that because buckwheat pasta has fiber and protein, it is a very satiating meal to help you avoid overeating, according to the British Journal of Nutrition. What makes buckwheat pasta a healthy weight loss food is that in one healthy serving your appetite will be satisfied without going back for seconds or thirds. Toss buckwheat pasta was a delicious vegetable Bolognese and you’ll have a nutritious and satisfying meal to achieve healthy weight loss!

Berries

Berries are the perfect healthy weight loss snack because they have plenty of fiber and very few calories which means you can enjoy a delicious sweet snack and lose weight. The moment we stop thinking of snacks in terms of high calorie, salty or sugary foods is the moment we can really begin to know what healthy weight loss feels like.

Berries can include blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries; these are the most common and widely available types of berries to add to your diet. The water content found in berries and fruit in general can also lead to healthy weight loss because water is another essential element of healthy weight loss.

Enjoy ½ cup to 1 cup of berries for a snack throughout your day and enjoy your weight loss.

Avocado

It doesn’t have to be Cinco de Mayo for you to enjoy avocado nutrition facts! Instead of staying away from this healthy weight loss food because of the fat content, you should pick up a few for exactly that reason. The fat in avocado is monounsaturated fat, which is a heart healthy fat that increases feelings of satiety after a meal, which again will help you feel full on fewer calories.

This doesn’t mean that you should just start noshing away on an avocado, but it does mean that you can begin to add this healthy weight loss food to your diet in creative ways other than guacamole that include:

• Creamy avocado spread for sandwiches
• Diced avocado in fruit salad
• Avocado, tomato and red onion salad or sandwich

Try to use small portions of avocado to reap the health benefits because this healthy weight loss food does have quite a few calories. Simply learn to love avocados in moderation.

Sardines

Before you roll your eyes and stick out your tongue, it’s time to take a grown up approach to sardines. Sure you may have heard some awful things about them, but if you’ve ever had an authentic Caesar’s salad then you know just how delicious these high protein fish can be. Sardines are a healthy weight loss food because they are high in protein—22 grams per can to be exact—and they are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids, which your body uses to maintain lean muscle.

The protein in sardines means that your appetite will be satisfied for much longer, which will help you reduce the amount of calories you consume per meal and therefore per day.

There are plenty of ways to add sardines to your diet in addition to Caesar’s salad; use sardines in recipes that call for anchovies, or simply blend sardines with basil, tomatoes and red onions and spread on a piece of whole wheat bread. Experiment with this healthy weight loss food and you’ll wonder how you ever got through life without them.

Healthy weight loss can be achieved by adding any or all of these foods to your diet. However getting rid of other unhealthy foods can be slightly more difficult. Get rid of your cravings for these unhealthy foods by learning about intermittent fasting. Read our review of Eat Stop Eat to learn more.