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I use MyFitnessPal.com to track what I eat, and I try to eat as whole and natural food as I can. I could never afford to buy specific products for the rest of my life, so I don't see them as long term solutions.

I did do a plan where food was provided for me a few months before my wedding only because my issue was not having the time or energy left to prepare meals. I knew it was a short term solution though, and that I'd have to eventually go back to meal planning and tracking what I eat.

Different things work for different folks though!

I hate all these things, too. And i DO take protein shakes. But they are 100% whey or blends. Not overpriced powders that are "meal replacements". And I know why I take them, what they are for, and how they fit into my macro breakdown.

I hate the idea of eating/drinking "fake food" to lose weight (I'm looking at you, Nutrisystem and Medifast). What happens when you start eating again?! Oh yeah, you gain it all back. Plus, what a miserable way to eat. Five fake candy bar flavored bars a day? Fake pizza? No.

I don't think some of those things, like shakeology, are harmful in small quantities. No, i don't think a protein shake once in awhile is a big deal if you're short on time. But they have specific uses and they are not whole meal replacements. Nothing can replace the quality of nutrients in real food.

It's companies preying on people, really. People who are too overwhelmed by the process and just want to be told, "it's easy. Drink this powder. Eat one meal a day. You'll lose so much weight!"

My #1 suggestion - read 'In Defense of Food' by Michael Pollan. It completely changed the way I think about food.

@babyjmama: You could base your menu on what he'll eat, and modify your portions. Like say, he'll eat shake & bake chicken. You could find a healthier coating recipe, and then you can fill your plate out with veggies even if you don't put any on his plate. Or you could be a jerk like me, and tell him there are two things on the menu this evening: take it, or leave it

@babyjmama: I think, in terms of having a picky husband, you can find a lot of substitutions/replacements for the things he likes to eat. For example, instead of mac and cheese with pasta, you could do mac and cheese using spaghetti squash, or you could do cheesy cauliflower casserole, or still use pasta but do a butternut squash mac and cheese. I do a faux fried chicken (so kind of similar to shake and bake coating) using crushed flax cereal on chicken with a spray of olive oil and then baking it. If you start reading whole foods blogs you'll find tons of suggestions!

@babyjmama: B has started using Lose It (similar to MFP, etc) to track his calories. He's been doing that for 5 months, and with NOTHING else, has dropped 30 pounds like it was nothing. (Of course, he is a man and men are stupid and can lose weight like that... haha). It has really opened our eyes to the calories we eat. ALSO, when we know we have to log (since I'm pregnant I'm not doing it, but I do help him with his, and it is affecting me too) we make MUCH better choices. Friday night dinners we eat with his family and have pizza - usually we have 3-4+ pieces without thinking about it, but we've been consistently sticking with 2 pieces for these last few months, because now we're always conscious about what we're eating. This flows into EVERY aspect, and we're just always aware of what we're eating - we snack SO much less, and don't take work snacks for granted anymore.

It's A LOT of work and you really have to want to do it (B keeps going through spells where he wants to give up, but I have to help keep him motivated), but it's amazingly helpful!!

BUT, if food isn't your problem, and exercise is, then I got nothing for you - we still haven't figured out that problem... haha!

I'm also not a fan of all those diet plans and meal replacement stuff. I'm reading a book about eating healthy right now and one thing it mentioned is that the act of chewing sends signals to your brain about eating and works in conjunction with the digestive tract to send signals when you start to feel full- but if you're drinking your food, those signals aren't the same. I am all for green smoothies but because of that I don't make it a meal replacement.

I agree with previous posters about eating real food smartly.

@grizz: @blackbird: if you could pick 1 book I could recommend to my DH what would it be. I'd love to start eating more whole food but I have a hard time with him

@babyjmama, oh definitely! could you at least use it on your lunch break? You can get 20 min of cardio in and not break enough of a sweat to have to change. Or even just walking. Or lifting weights.

@jetsa, well, I read Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle, and it was incredibly informative. It was geared towards what I wanted to do, and I knew I was willing to work out 5-6x/week and eat carefully to get there. I did appreciate it for its layman's terms! I felt like it was a good, short, quick book and to the point. It's less geared towards a "whole foods philosophy" (although it has a great section on nutrition) and is more about the whole package of getting lean--lifting, nutrition, cardio, etc. Sort of the whole break down of how fitness competitors strip fat down and shape their muscles.

Honestly, in my house, I cook. So he eats whatever i make and he STFU about it, or i stop making food for the family

I'm kind of a sucker for certain health crazes. My friend just told me she became a distributor for Advocare, so now I'm considering doing their 24-day cleanse. I get super bored with programs and so I'm always looking to mix things up to keep on track.

Eat real food as much as possible. The rare occasion that I eat processed food, I feel totally icky.