Your favourite food swap

miratps

Pretty self explanitory, what has been your favourite food swap?

Is it 'just' because of a lower calorie content? Do you genuinely love the taste/combo? If at weight loss, do you plan on doing it when you hit your goal still? If on maintenance, do you still have some food swaps that gave stuck?

Hell, it may not even be about calories but just taste, price or preference!

kommodevaran

I'm in maintenance, I love these changes, and I intend on keeping them:
I have swapped fear of food for love of food.
Diet food for normal food.
Grazing for regular meals.
Overeating for eating appropriate portions.
Readymeals for cooking at home.

(I hope this came out right and makes sense - English is not my first language )

Hungry_Shopgirl

I've switched from having sweetened, low-fat yogurt for full-fat no additives yogurt. It gives me all the calcium I need in a day and I love the smooth creaminess of it. The tart taste was hard to get used to at first but now I crave it!

PKM0515

Yasso Greek yogurt bars, Edy's Outshine bars, frozen cherries instead of ice cream or another sweet treat. I really do enjoy these, and they satisfy my sweet tooth.

miratps

kommodevaran wrote: »

I'm in maintenance, I love these changes, and I intend on keeping them:
I have swapped fear of food for love of food.
Diet food for normal food.
Grazing for regular meals.
Overeating for eating appropriate portions.
Readymeals for cooking at home.

(I hope this came out right and makes sense - English is not my first language )

Makes perfect sense In terms of the food swaps, any recommendations? How did you go from the overeating to appropriate portions without feeling hungry/thinking you needed more?

kommodevaran

miratps wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

I'm in maintenance, I love these changes, and I intend on keeping them:
I have swapped fear of food for love of food.
Diet food for normal food.
Grazing for regular meals.
Overeating for eating appropriate portions.
Readymeals for cooking at home.

(I hope this came out right and makes sense - English is not my first language )

Makes perfect sense In terms of the food swaps, any recommendations? How did you go from the overeating to appropriate portions without feeling hungry/thinking you needed more?

Thank you I had to work on my preconceptions. I grew up in the low fat era, and I couldn't understand how anyone could stay normal weight while eating fatty food. I just didn't link it to "not overeating", and especially not to "feeling of deprivation -> overeating". I have never struggled with hunger, but I'm used to eating a lot, so I often think I need more, in fact, I still do that 2 1/2 years into maintenance. I have to tell myself - after almost every meal - that this is the way it's supposed to feel, that I know I have had enough, that it's okay to feel "unusual", pay attention to how good it feels to not be stuffed, etc. It's not always easy, but I prefer this to being overweight and unhappy. I am happy even though it is challenging sometimes.

Recommendations... Well, I just buy and eat what I want, what looks good, what I like. My preferences have also changed a bit. I'm eating quite similar to how I did growing up - home cooked, cheap, simple meals, but balanced and nutritious, and allowing more fat. The biggest change is portion sizes - more appropriate for my needs, and that I can pick my favorites every day

BruinsGal_91

SaraKim17 wrote: »

Yasso Greek yogurt bars, Edy's Outshine bars, frozen cherries instead of ice cream or another sweet treat. I really do enjoy these, and they satisfy my sweet tooth.

I only discovered these last week. They're a lot easier to fit into my calorie allowance than a Magnum, and I really like the taste.

Schmitty_89

Some of my favorite swaps was instead of using Sour Cream, I use Plain Greek Yogurt in what I cook. Such as tacos, burritos, and or in homemade mac n cheese. Yum!

Instead of using mayo, I use hummus or avocado as a spread in my sandwiches.

Back in highschool I drank lots of Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper. When I graduated I swapped out for Powerade, Gatorade, and Juice, which those sports drinks have just as much sugar and more.

Over the years I have completely cut out all those drinks and only drink Water, Coconut Water, Tea, and or Unsweetened ice teas.

I feel so much better and that really helped me banish a lot of my fat. Plus I did not want to drink my calories, I wanted to save room for more yummy food

miratps

As a UK resident, I've never seen Yasso here but looks damn good!

I also use Greek yogurt, quark or cottage cheese now where I can

ZephieC

I now eat spaghetti squash in place of pasta. I love it, the extra fibre, nutrients, the low calories and the huge quantity I can have. I've had it with tomato sauce, bolognese and chicken alfredo. It is awesome
I am also a fan of plain greek yogurt in place of sour cream and homemade mayo.

ashjongfit

I LOVE PASTA, like I LOVE IT. But spag squash is actually really good, and I enjoy it to replace half or all of my pasta/ or if I want some very good bread with my squash, its less heavy than with pasta.

Avocado rather than mayo in chicken salad, it just tastes so much fresher, and I never really liked mayo.

JoRocka

Plain greek yogurt for sour cream. or mayo.

that's the only swap I consistently do.

drawaimfire

I like to do the half zoodle/half pasta or insert any type of veggie that would work, spaghetti squash etc. An excellent GF pasta is expensive and very dense calorically so that helps vs the cost with the veggie noodle to bulk it out. If I have time to make a homemade GF noodle, I am in heaven but usually still half and half it with the veggies.

That way I can pile on the sauce and meat/shrimp and not go a jot over my calorie allowance

I also love to do the zoodle/pasta combo for breakfast tossed in the grease left behind from cooking a slice of bacon and crumbling said bacon into it with a nice poached or fried egg on top and any hot sauce I can get my hands on! Sometimes I add another veggie, other times more bacon

earlnabby

miratps wrote: »

Pretty self explanitory, what has been your favourite food swap?

Is it 'just' because of a lower calorie content? Do you genuinely love the taste/combo? If at weight loss, do you plan on doing it when you hit your goal still? If on maintenance, do you still have some food swaps that gave stuck?

Hell, it may not even be about calories but just taste, price or preference!

When I make stews and soups, I started swapping turnips for potatoes. Originally it was to reduce the carbs but I found I like the flavor and, more important, when I make them in the crock pot or reheat, the turnips don't break down into mush like potatoes do.

KrisJ125

Plain yogurt for sour cream. It's great on tacos, enchiladas, etc. Also I sometimes use plain yogurt instead of milk in recipes.
Whole grain pastas instead of white pasta--the texture took a bit of getting used to, but I'm ok with it now.

miratps

KrisJ125 wrote: »

Plain yogurt for sour cream. It's great on tacos, enchiladas, etc. Also I sometimes use plain yogurt instead of milk in recipes.
Whole grain pastas instead of white pasta--the texture took a bit of getting used to, but I'm ok with it now.

The yogurt to milk swap, is that in all recipes or just for certain things? I'd have imagined it would change the texture of whatever you were making a fair bit no?

Also, whilst not as good as the US famed Halo Top, Opponent Ice Cream in the UK is pretty decent in terms of calories. A whole tub of their most calorific ice cream is 425

lexiehtown

ashjongfit wrote: »

I LOVE PASTA, like I LOVE IT. But spag squash is actually really good, and I enjoy it to replace half or all of my pasta/ or if I want some very good bread with my squash, its less heavy than with pasta.

Avocado rather than mayo in chicken salad, it just tastes so much fresher, and I never really liked mayo.

Avacado as a Mayo replacement? I'd never heard of this..Sounds delicious!

jessiferrrb

sour cream = greek yogurt
heavy cream (in quiche or savory recipes) = greek yogurt
ricotta cheese (lasagna mostly) = cottage cheese

those serve 2 functions: reducing calories and increasing protein. i also use greek yogurt based salad dressings which are creamy and low cal.

neldabg

Flavored Greek yogurt for regular yogurt. I still buy whole milk yogurt from Dannon sometimes, but I genuinely enjoy the taste of Greek yogurt, so I like to buy it to hit my protein goals. Aldi's Greek 100 is pretty good if you're looking for something tasty, cheap, and macro-friendly.

Rusty740

JoRocka wrote: »

Plain greek yogurt for sour cream. or mayo.

that's the only swap I consistently do.

Me too.

and Cottage cheese for every other food.

happysherri

Protein pancakes instead of full on regular pancakes. Not truly a swap but ground turkey and ground chicken. Until about 2 years ago I only ate ground beef. (I still eat lean ground beef too). Equal instead of white sugar - 2 equals sweeten my coffee instead of half a cup lol (exaggeration. and I don't care if the chemicals will make me grow a third eye or whatever random studies have shown) ha

All of this tastes pretty good to me

DX2JX2

Burrito bowls instead of wrapped. Surprising how much I don't miss the flour tortilla.

Also, not quite a swap but I find that if I aggressively spice/season my meats when cooking, I find a smaller portion just as satisfying as a lesser seasoned large one.

miratps

Oh yes, that's a good one. Flavourings and seasonings, absolute life savers. Also learn so much more about the variety. Being from the UK its expensive but Flavorgod seasoning, particularly chocolate has been develish. I have nearly finished off a bottle in 2 days!

JennyThompson180

Protein shake instead of my carby, unsatisfying breakfast options.
Almondmilk, unsweetened, in a very few areas instead of milk. 30 calories instead of 120 a cup. Just in my protein shake for now.
Strangely, I went for half and half as coffee creamer instead of milk. A little goes a long way. I end up with fewer calories.
Almost any veggie rather than potatoes. I have probably already eaten my lifetime allotment of potatoes.

ch10e88

I usually finish work early on a friday and I'd love nothing more than getting home eating some chocolate and watching tv- such a treat after a hard week. But now I've swapped it for a spin class. I'll nip home, get ready and then I'll burn those calories rather than consume them. I actually feel so much happier and have more energy from it

Francl27

I switched to light mayo. Good enough and I just can't justify the calories for the full fat mayo.
I ditched most salad dressings and oil. Not worth the calories for me either.
Low carb tortillas for tortillas - no brainer there. Tasty and way less calories.
I use Greek yogurt in coleslaw and on my potatoes.
Halo Top/Enlightened instead of real ice cream most of the time... it's just as satisfying to me than the common store brand stuff.