If you are trying to lose weight, try MyPlate!
MyPlate, (www.choosemyplate.gov) replaced the food guide pyramid as a guide for all people to use to plan their meals. MyPlate says that we should be using a 9" plate. Half of the plate should be a combination of fruits and vegetables, 1/4 should be grains, preferably whole grains, and about 1/4 should be some type of lean protein. Dairy on the side is actually a call for calcium-rich foods in the diet. You don't have to drink milk.
While this may seem elementary, this is how I plan all of my meals. If you really try to stick with it, it can be fairly difficult to implement, but also very effective. One of my clients, who I worked with for just over 4 years lost 90 lbs and kept it off! The very first thing he did was to make half of his plate fruits and vegetables. As an added challenge, try eating them first.
Ask yourself how many of your meals look like this. See what you can add to make your meals more complete. For more tips like this, subscribe to my mailing list here.