Food shocks and finding their just as tasty lower alternative

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kimandgarybolton
kimandgarybolton Posts: 30 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone
Have you ever been proper shocked by a food! Hubby has joined here so I can help him. We've just calculated that his little Aldi titan choc bar in his lunchbox is the equivalent of 7 cadbury chocolate fingers!!7!! so now he's taking 2 of these fingers for lunch and saved 120 calories!
Are there any big food swaps that you've made?
Thanks
Kim
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Replies

  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    Hmmm I think I have changed a lot of things over the past few years so it can be hard to think of individual swaps. In general I'm just eating healthier foods, smaller portions, less cheese and different condiments and so on.

    But a few surprises I've had with indulgences aka "treats"...

    Good surprises:
    Snickers ice cream bars have just a few more calories than Snickers chocolate bars and feel about 10X more indulgent to me
    Cadbury creme eggs (USA) have 150 calories and totally worth it

    Bad surprises:
    Malts and milkshakes...holy cow. Up to 1,000 calories sometimes. Insane.
    most any frozen pie...not that good and usually around 300-500 cal/slice! No way.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    i pretty much gave up pasta- and I have really enjoyed spaghetti squash- I don't it's a replacement- bu tit's pretty damn good- so I'm happy.

    Also- no sugar added turkey hill as a way to cute calories.

    and lettuce wrapped tuna wraps- also tasty.
  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
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    I used to work in an ice cream shop and when I was just beginning to look at clean eating, I calculated the calories in a shake we served - I daily was giving kids shakes with WELL over 2000 calories! Now instead of ice cream I blend up a frozen banana with a splash of almond milk and some cocoa powder and it actually does taste just like soft serve. (No seriously it does.)

    I think one of my biggest food swaps as to make cauliflower-based alfredo (again, it really does taste JUST like the real thing, same texture and everything) - fewer than 50c in a half-cup serving.
  • Th3Ph03n1x
    Th3Ph03n1x Posts: 275 Member
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    I'm going to have to try that one... too bad we ran out of bananas today.
  • quilt938
    quilt938 Posts: 57 Member
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    what's cauliflower alfredo? gonna have to search for that recipe...

    I remember being shocked a few years ago with wendy's frosties and dairy queen/dq soft serve ice cream..hoo boy.
  • Charlottesometimes23
    Charlottesometimes23 Posts: 687 Member
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    I do lots of food swaps to save calories.

    A few of the things I do are to use lactose free skim milk and yogurts because they are naturally sweet (the glucose has been release by the lactase enzyme)

    Swap regular noodles and pasta for virtually calorie free shirataki noodles, which I hide in the sauce

    Swap regular sugar for sugar/stevia blend

    Swap regular bread for high protein bread (same cals but controls my appetite better)

    Swap home made bechamel sauce for packet sauce....much less cals but it still tastes nice in lasagnes etc

    Swap out some of the mince for grated veges when I'm making pasta sauce

    Swap mashed potato for mashed cauliflower, which I prefer

    Swap 50% of rice in rice dishes for shirataki rice
  • missbutterfly92
    missbutterfly92 Posts: 31 Member
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    I have swapped whole fat milk for almond milk.
    Fruits instead of crisp (unless they are light crackers, like Kellogs do low fat light crisp crackers. Quite nice actually!)
    Honey or sweetener instead of sugar
    Brown bread/pita instead of white
    Napolina grated cheese instead of mature cheddar
    Freshly roasted chicken bits instead of cheese/ham/crisp sandwiches (my fav) :neutral_face:
    I have cut down on my portion sizes as well IF I have anything with too much carbs. I do not like brown rice and have tried cauliflower and cousin cous substitute but didn't like any of it so if I have rice I will half my usual portion and top it with curry lentil (healthy, no cream, just spices and spinach)
    Sweet potato instead of sugar and butter when I bake
    So many more... A lot of commitments!
  • Metazoick
    Metazoick Posts: 96 Member
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    In Asda (supermarket) they have packs of cookies in the bakery section - every so often if I was hungry and in store I'd grab their pack of 5 cookies and have them that day, figuring it wasn't that big a deal if I didn't eat a ton of other stuff that day too.
    - Those five cookies have nearly 1300 calories between them :s

    On the other side of the sweet scale I've found that if I use a scoop of white choc protein powder (I don't get much meat due to the not so cruel stuff being so damned expensive so I supplement) and a teaspoon of hot chocolate powder I can make a super delicious and sweet cup of hot chocolate which comes in at 20g protein and only 5g of sugar, and at 130ish calories (including milk) it helps top up my food that day pretty nicely.
  • vicpoole188
    vicpoole188 Posts: 31
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    Yep! Magnum ice cream on a stick 1595kjs.
    They aren't that big and I was gobsmacked when I looked it up - I could've had a roast dinner for that!!
    Magnums are going to be a very rare treat!
  • Pootler74
    Pootler74 Posts: 223 Member
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    Swapping any kind of dessert for a Wall's Mini Milk. Just 30 calories for a lovely little ice cream lolly. I have a terrible horrible sweet tooth, but one or two of these is enough to satisfy me. I'm sure they're just a UK thing though.
  • spamarie
    spamarie Posts: 2,825 Member
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    Anything involving mashed potato is now 50/50 potatoes and swede (rutabaga). It's lovely on top of fish pie and gets some extra veg in there. Plus my brain kids itself that the bright yellow bits in the mash mean it will taste cheesy. Ridiculous but true.

    Cheese is a bit of a shocker. Even the low fat stuff is still hardly low calorie. So I've just had to learn to measure it as I always underestimate the weight by eye and 30g isn't much!
  • swbenbow
    swbenbow Posts: 87 Member
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    One thing we have done is move from white to brown or wholemeal. This is for bread, rice, and pasta. Wholemeal is virtually the same calories (maybe just a tad less) but if feels like there is more to chew/munch (makes you feel like you have had more), it makes you feel fuller for longer, and provides more fibre for your body to aid digestion.

    It took me a few years to get used to wholemeal bread (rather than white) but I now really enjoy the taste.

    Moving from Full Fat to Semi skimmed milk was also great - again, a bit weird at first but now I don't like the taste of full fat milk on my breakfast!
  • swbenbow
    swbenbow Posts: 87 Member
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    spamarie wrote: »
    Anything involving mashed potato is now 50/50 potatoes and swede (rutabaga).

    That sounds like a good swap. Strangely enough we have swede mash on the menu tonight (for the first time I can ever remember) so if it is good then it could be a pretty permanent swap! :smile:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    French fries. I just make my own, baked in the oven with a teaspoon of olive oil, and frankly it's even better and half the calories.

    Milkshakes, using protein powder, cocoa powder, some stevia, ice cubes, and ricotta makes a pretty delicious one for much less calories as well (although nothing ever comes close to the real thing). Adding pudding mix makes it a bit thicker as well.
  • TingoAcias
    TingoAcias Posts: 39
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    Beanitos Nacho cheese are a fairly reasonable substitute for Doritos. I believe the calorie count is the same, but the Beanitos are high in fiber, have twice the protein, and have no sugar or cholesterol.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    When I was first starting out I was genuinely shocked by how calorieiffic rice is. I had always taken rice to be a kind of a filler, something to fill in the empty corners around the tastier main ingredients. I never gave it much conscious thought.

    Now I just eat less of it.
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
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    JoRocka wrote: »
    i pretty much gave up pasta- and I have really enjoyed spaghetti squash- I don't it's a replacement- bu tit's pretty damn good- so I'm happy.

    Also- no sugar added turkey hill as a way to cute calories.

    and lettuce wrapped tuna wraps- also tasty.

    Agree on the spaghetti squash. I sometimes throw some chicken on it & salad dressing.
  • samantha1242
    samantha1242 Posts: 816 Member
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    I remember the first time I decided to weigh my cheese.. I was so shocked.. 30 grams of cheese did not look like what I thought 30 grams of cheese looked like. I did not find an alternative because I love cheese, but I learned my lesson and weight it each time now.
  • PaulaPalooza
    PaulaPalooza Posts: 137 Member
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    astridtheviking wrote: »

    I think one of my biggest food swaps as to make cauliflower-based alfredo (again, it really does taste JUST like the real thing, same texture and everything) - fewer than 50c in a half-cup serving.

    Can you message me this recipe???

  • oncem0re
    oncem0re Posts: 213 Member
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    I'm a food enthusiast so I try to swap a lot of my good ole recipes.

    Spaghetti Meat Sauce >>> 97% Lean & Turkey Meat Sauce w/ more fresh veggies
    White Bread >>> Whole Wheat Bread
    Eggs >>> Mostly Egg White instead of full less cholesterol
    Sugar >>> Honey or No Sugar at all (we don't use alternatives sugar)
    Salt >>> Mrs. Dash, Paprika, More Black Pepper
    Ribeye Steak >>> Top Sirloin Steak
    White Rice >>> Quinoa/Brown Rice/Cauliflower Rice
    Vitamin D Milk >>> 1% Milk
    Sour Cream >>> Greek No Fat Yogurt + some Mustard
    Peanut Butter >>> PB2 (80% Less Fat)
    Pancakes >>> Banana Oat Pancake
    Pasta >>> whole wheat pasta
    Mashed Potatoes >>> Mashed Sweet Potatoes or if has to be potato then I cut out the butter, milk and sourcream and just potato with pepper.
    Whole Milk Cheese >>> 2% Cheese (I will not buy anything FAT FREE) in real moderation cutting it down to 70-95% off.

    Few others I can't think I'll probably remember more of it later.

    We eat a lot of FISH, Seafood too more than Pork. I still stick with my chicken.

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