Do go crasy over it. Not only will you get board but you might feel deprived. You don't want that. Thats what I like about how I learned. We added a few healthy things a week until it became a habbit. We did start with a healthy kitchen and threw out or give away the bad stuff. Thats helps.

It is OK to have some of your favorite foods now and then. Sometimes I don't want whole wheat pasta and have regular. It not going to kill me and it is still low GI. You can find the good in many things people call bad. As far as weight loss goes it comes down to calories in the end. If it helps you stay within your calorie goals then have something you like or your gonna get bored and quit. My husband likes his ice cream. When we leave the gym we sometimes stop and have a scoop. It is in my calorie limit so who cares. I have over a 100 pounds to lose I can't afford to get board. I can't quit. I just had sushi with white rice. Did you know cold rice and cold potatoes are a resistant starch? I do use sauces, herbs and healthy oils on my food. Every week I buy something special to add to my food. Sometimes it a special vinegar or oil that I have been wanting. White truffel oil, walnut oil, raspberry or white blasamic vinegar. They add lots of interest to my food. I use alot of roasted tomatoes with fresh basil, garlic, maybe onion. You can add this to sandwiches, pasta, or more veggies like zucchini and eggplant. Mushrooms make great sauces. Miso also makes great flavor veggies. Yams, broclie, a pot of southern greens and red peppers are stapes in my house.

I get alot of ideas just from on line recipes and the thousands of cookbooks I have. If your looking for healthy veggie recipes you might pick up a few vegetarian cookbooks for ideas. I bought mine on Ebay used cheap.

I thought this list of top antioxidate foods might help. http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20040617/antioxidants-found-unexpected-foods

It does take the investment of time...research and planning, ARGH!

Try this...or may I suggest this...

Decide whether or not you want just low glycemic foods...foods that are not too high in carbs, or, just fruits and veggies you like.

Caloriesperhour.com has a list on the left of this page that shows Low Fat Diet, Low Carb Diet, etc. for you to compare and contrast. Then choose. Once you choose that will drive your menu choices.

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_diet.php

To help you create your "menu" there is a free download of a template that is perfect for carrying with you to the grocery store or to a restaurant...once you have done the research and planning to fill it in. It is amazing how helpful this template is in your weight loss effort!

Personal Choice Menu template:
http://www.dailyfooddiary.net/page/page/3917387.htm

And here is a great link to recipes...this is the fun part! LOL
http://www.bhg.com/recipes/healthy-eating/healthy-recipes/

It all depends on your diet plan. I do a low carb diet plan. So I eat as much of a variety of veggies that I can, you want those with the least amount of sugar, that is why they say color is an indicator. Carrots and Tomatoes are high in sugar. So, I limit my intake of those, everything else is all mine. I do put seasoning on them if I cook them, some I eat raw, why can't you season them? I also use dressing, but I watch the calorie intake.

You just have to know what plan works best for you. You don't have to be superwoman, but you have to be disciplined. So just eat lean meats and ALL veggies in small portions, find a calorie intake that works for you and let that be your guide. That way you can eat without worrying about can I put this on it or use this, if it is within your calorie bracket, then it'll work. That should be the focus, calorie intake, not eating "perfectly."

As far as fruits and veggies go...I eat what I like. We eat a lot of fresh spinach...you can put that in anything...I especially like to put it in chicken and pasta dishes...along with some asparagus and grape tomatoes. Heck, you can really knock out the fruit and veg thing rather quickly when you think about it. I tend to stay away from corn and peas too much. I love corn on the cob on the grill...but I usually will have another veg with it and count the corn as my starch. Same with peas...we usually have a romain lettuce or spinach salad on the nights we have peas. I tend to do a lot of green beans and broccoli...cauliflower and broccoli mix is fabulous. I save carrots as my snacks at work...hubby hates carrots! Don't get nutty over it. Just some plain old common sense really prevails in this department. Most servings are 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw. So, it's not too hard to incorporate into your diet. I tend to feel like there is too much "research" involved with nutrition sometimes, especially when something like veggies should be so simple. The bottom line is balance. Each meal throughout your day should contain a protein and a carb component. Add your veggies wherever you want and enjoy eating! It seems we tend to become overwhelmed and fall off of the wagon if you will, when we do too much research and over think it too much. We spend so much energy and time researching what to eat when, that when we're done, the chips on top of the fridge look so good!!! Just kidding...but you see my point. It's all about balance, like I mentioned earlier...and finding what works for you and what you can live with.

Be well:)

I totally understand, when I went to print the one for breastfeeding it was so annoying. This color and that color....I just try and eat as many fruits and veggies as I can and watch for lean meats and whole wheat carbs and lots of water and watch my fat and sugar...I plan meals very well but there is no way I could plan based on colors and food groups. I get stressed about cooking veggies and seasoning as well. Why cant it be good enough to make a huge salad and use some ranch dressing...but no its veggies without dressing and certain vitamins and loss if nutrients...we can do this. Lets just make GOOD CHOICES and do our best:)

I LOVE EATING VEGGIES AND FRUIT,,WAY LESS STARCH,,AND BREADS,,,

I don't plan my meals; I can't be bothered. I just eat clean whenever I eat.

Just make good changes in your style of eating. Remember, if you have children, it is pretty much your duty to be as good a health model you can be to them. That means teaching them a healthy way to eat and demonstrating the importance of regular exercise. If you don't do it, how can you expect them to do it?

OK what's wrong with whole wheat bread? At least it has flavor and it sticks to your ribs and gets you metabolism up. Can you say the same thing about mushy loaves of white bread? Nope.

OK what's wrong with brown rice? It tastes delicious. Actually, I have not eaten any rice for several months because I replaced rice with quinoa because it's full of protein and has no starch. I love it and use it instead of rice.

OK pasta is a very small part of my diet because most of the pastas are so full of starch and my body just feels bloated when I eat starchy stuff. I have some quinoa pasta and some organic rye and kamut pasta in case I want some. Actually, I have been eating spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti; you steam that up and it shreds just like spaghetti, hence the name. Pour some spaghetti sauce on it and you have an awesome meal.

I eat porridge for breakfast on days that I am working out at the gym, and the other days, I have an egg white omelette with veggies like chives and peppers.

I eat mostly chicken or fish and salads. I am not a big meat eater.
Usually with my quinoa, I'll steam up a bunch of veggies and I could care less what colors they are; they are healthy and that's good enough for me. My favorites are brussel sprouts, broccoli, yellow and green beans, red cabbage, and spaghetti squash.

if you want to get the kids involved, have some fun. Let them pick 3 veggies from a big list for the meals. That way they feel very useful and will eat better because they picked the foods.

Problems happen when you use packaged food items instead of cooking from scratch. Too often, people pour on sauces and then can't even taste the food under the sauce. And those sauces - they are full of salts and sugars and items that are not food and nobody can even pronounce them!

the KISS method can be applied to all aspects of life.
Keep It Simple Stupid.

Pick a couple veggies, pick your protein source like maybe chicken, maybe even put a bit of brow rice or pasta on the plate and you have a meal. Forget about the crazy color thing.

I was at my produce store yesterday. They always give out recipes. One the magazine they give you there is a website called Fruits and Veggies More Matters. They have video's and recipes. Under the recipe search you can search by color if you wish. http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/

Whole Foods Market also has tasty recipes with calorie count and nutritional information. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/index.php

Thanks for that link!
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/

Another good idea here was the spinach in everything...I am growing a lot of spinach.

I cannot eat lettuce...makes me very, very ill with acid...so, I have not been able to eat salads for nine years... :(

Sam thing with fresh basil leaves or cilantro.

So, I am thinking that I know I can eat cooked spinach, but, I am going to try to make a pesto sauce with spinach and use some other herbs...dried basil is ok for some reson...add some garlic and a little parmesean...viola! Can't do it today...smoking some pork for my son before his ship leaves next week...he misses bar b que from home the most...other than his momma, of course...LOL