A nutrition guide that is simple to understand and implement is your easiest bet to decide between baked potato chips, pita chips, or just baking your own potato chips at home! There are so many different weight loss meal plans, from the Paleo diet to the South Beach diet, how can you choose one that’s right for you?

What’s helped me is following simple guidelines about nutrition. Nutrient Dense Foods Nutrient dense foods are foods that are high in nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients. These foods are also low in calories.

I first learned about nutrient dense foods from Whole Foods Market. They have a scoring index called ANDI that they use to rank foods in nutrient density. ANDI stands for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index. You can learn more about it on Whole Foods Market’s website.

What’s great about nutrient dense foods is that they supply the nutrition your body needs at a very low calorie cost. And, if you’re wanting to lose pregnancy weight, but not by eating pretzels and water for lunch, here’s the healthiest way to go about doing it.

ANDI Scores

Start with eating foods with the highest ANDI score. Foods like collard greens, kale, watercress, and bok choy. Make the base of your meal with these kinds of foods. It could be a quick stir fry or even a salad.

Then, add whatever you like to your meal. Bean sprouts, red bell peppers, carrots, and cauliflower are a few options to choose. What’s also great about nutrient dense foods is that you can eat as much as you want, and know that you are not wrecking your weight loss goals.

These foods are naturally low in calories. One cup of kale contains 34 calories while a cup of white rice has 242 calories! You’d have to eat 7 cups of kale to get the same amount of calories!

Fat Loss Tips

A really great fat loss tip is to substitute your starches for vegetables. So, instead of eating your stir fry with white rice, try eating a side salad? You get more nutrients from the salad, without adding any inches to your waist line.

Another fat loss tip is to stick with more plant based foods. These foods are pure, all natural, and if you can, buy them organic. You don’t consume any pesticides, chemicals, artificial flavors, saturated fat, or any preservatives that can be found in packaged foods.

Eating directly from the source helps keep your waist small. Plant based foods include fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds. Having these kinds of foods as the foundation for your meals helps you conquer any weight loss struggles you may have had in the past.

A last fat loss tip to live by is to make your plate colorful. You eat with your eyes too. If the food looks good, it’ll taste good as well. And, when you have a variety of healthy foods to eat, you ensure that you are giving your body the nutrients it needs, and this helps to make you full.

So, stick with foods that are high in nutrients, low in calories. This generally means shopping in your produce section more so than the middle aisles of your grocery stores. Fresh, wholesome, natural food is the best nutrition guide to help you shed those after pregnancy pounds.