There are lots of foods that can help you lose weight. Just know that you have to switch to those foods. You can't expect to add raw carrots to your fried food and sodas, and lose weight.

No, you don't have to exist on raw carrots and celery. They are great weight loss foods, though - as are all the others listed below. If you can get at least 75% fruit and vegetables at each meal, with the balance being the lowest fat and sugar you can get, you will start losing weight on the very first day.

But here's an easy way to do it: Gradually substitute a weight loss food for a food that puts on weight. Eat more of the substitute weight loss food and less of the fattening.

Give yourself a time limit - perhaps two weeks. After that you will be easily be able to choose the foods that cause weight loss, and you won't believe just how fast the pounds come off.

So here are the main foods you need to eat, the foods that make you lose weight:

1.Anything fresh, especially:
- Raw vegetables
Celery, carrots, caulflower, broccoli, tomatos, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, baby spinach
- Fresh fruit
Apples, pears, melons, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, plums, peaches, apricots
- Green vegetables
Lettuce of all varieties, spinach, brussel sprouts, zucchini, peas, string beans
- Any green, red and orange vegetables, raw or steamed
- Sprouted seeds and grains

2.Anything with a lot of fiber, such as:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Beans of all kinds
- Whole grains
Buckwheat, spelt, brown rice, wheat, corn, rolled oats, quinoa

3.Water
- Yes, just water. You can add a little lemon or lime juice for a refreshing taste
- Drinking plenty of water increases your metabolism, and burns fat

And here are some substitutes for the major foods we tend to eat every day:

Bread - a heavy whole grain bread. The best, healthiest bread is made only of sprouted grains.

Soda - water or freshly made juice. Remember that diet soda still causes fat to be stored. There's no easy way around it - and kind of soda puts on weight. The best thing to do is get to love a healthy drink - try a little lemon or lime juice in your water.

Burger patty - a skinless chicken breast, or any kind of beans. Buy the beans canned and rinse them well under running water.

French fries - baked potato. You can make oven-baked fries, too.

Chocolate - Substitute with a little candy, crystallized ginger or fruit, sweet grapes, or sugar-free (and sugar-substitute-free) jam on a rye cracker. Or, if you have a lot of self-control, eat one small square of chocolate, letting it melt in your mouth and last for several minutes.