One Bad Habit at a Time

Slackpacker

I'm learning that the key to bad habits is to tackle one at a time. In terms of my diet, I've been kicking one bad food habit at a time.

Soda - cut out the soda a long time ago. This was the easiest to give up. I still drink it once a year on my vacation/birthday. Once that six-pack is gone, it's gone until next year.

Overprocessed/Fast food - This was another easy one. Gave up the highly-processed convenience foods at the grocery store a long time ago. Might eat fast food once every two weeks.

Sugar - This one has been a little harder. Most of the time, I can keep my intake around 25g per day. But then it will creep upward and I eat a little more than I should. Now: >70% dark chocolate, half a serving through the week + fruit. Save the ice cream/pastries post-bike ride for the weekend.

Now for the latest and hardest habits: snack chips and cheese!

Cheese - I've been eating WAY too much cheese lately and I think it's wreaking havoc on my digestive system. It's just such a tasty, high-protein option! Anyway, I started cutting back on the cheese this past Saturday. Just a little bit of ricotta in my pancakes and that's it. Haven't had any yet today.

Snack chips - My cravings for snack chips can become intense. Route 11 potato chips or Annie's Cheese Puffs are my faves. In an effort to get away from the snack chips: popcorn popped in safflower oil, edamame, and sunflower seeds. May add dried banana chips and apple chips. These will increase sugar, but at least they will have other healthier benefits.

And there you have it. Slow progress is still progress.

springlering62

If you’ve got a Lidl nearby, they have some very good crispy air dried fruit without oils.

Have you considered a hot air popper? Someone here put me on to topping popcorn with 1/3 butter or margarine and 2/3 soy sauce. It’s sounds kooky but it’s absolutely addictive.

Slackpacker

A Lidl just opened recently so I'll have to check out the dried fruit. Thank you for the tip.

I do have a hot air popper but I'm not satisfied with it. Too many unpopped kernels. I use safflower oil because it helps good cholesterol and can be used in high heat. It's a very light oil; almost the consistency of water.

tomcustombuilder

Slackpacker wrote: »

I'm learning that the key to bad habits is to tackle one at a time. In terms of my diet, I've been kicking one bad food habit at a time.

. May add dried banana chips and apple chips. These will increase sugar, but at least they will have other healthier benefits.

.

those dried fruits have a TON of calories just eat the actual fruit instead.

AnnPT77

I wouldn't call cheese a high protein option, personally (though I agree it's tasty). As a vegetarian, I tend to use some rules of thumb to evaluate protein efficiency of foods, when reading labels at the store. Most full-fat cheeses are 100-120 calories per ounce or thereabouts, maybe 6-7ish grams protein. Usually 60% or more of the calories in cheese are from fats, not protein.

A lot of reduced fat cheeses, OTOH, aren't very tasty. Personally, a couple I like are Cabot Sharp Light Cheddar, a.k.a. Lite50 Sharp Cheddar (70 calories per ounce, 8g protein, "only" 53% of calories from fat); and Jarlsberg Lite (70 calories, 9g protein, 47% of calories from fat). Obviously, they don't have the same melting qualities as a full-fat cheese, but not terrible, and they do IMO have good cheese flavor. Babybel light isn't bad either (they're a snack cheese, 50 calories per individual mini-cheese, 6g protein, 53% calories from fat).

However, if you're dairy sensitive, that won't help. Some people with lower tolerance for cow dairy find goat cheese more digestible, and some of those are definitely tasty, plus may be a tiny bit more calorie-efficient for protein than cow cheese.

As another snack chip alternative, you might want to take a look at dry-roasted soybeans; or crispy chick peas, broad beans, lentils, etc. Some of those can even be made easily at home, but there are commercial varieties that are interestingly seasoned, nice and crunchy, and higher in protein than most snack chips. Different brands can vary a lot, so if you don't like the first one you try, don't write them all off.

It's pretty highly processed so probably not for you, but one thing I discovered recently is Todd's Better Snacks Egg & Lentil Crisps. I've tried other high protein chips/crisps and disliked them. (Quest protein chips were IMO vile, like salty sawdust!) But these actually looked and tasted pretty much like regular cheese puffs, and a 33g serving (a cup, they're puffy) is 135 calories with 12g protein. That's not a main-meal protein substitute by far, but it's decent for a snack food IMO.

None of the above probably contributes to forming orthorexically virtuous habits, though, eh? More like tasty habits, with benefits, maybe.

yirara

I would not really call it a bad habit, but I do love snacking. And I decided that I spent too much money on it. My solution was to buy a 5kg fruit box, and now I eat the fruit instead of whatever I'd otherwise buy from the super. The last box lasted me until.. well, I'll have another breakfast with fruit in my oats, and then it's done. Took me two weeks to eat. So I'm getting a new one tomorrow. Not sure yet what's inside, but I guess apples, oranges, pears, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, possibly plums and likely a coconut.

Rockmama1111

I think I’ve kicked the habit of needing a bedtime snack. Sometimes I still do have one, but it’s not the norm.

Slackpacker

I'm up to day 5 on the reduced cheese and the last of the snack chips are gone. My digestive system finally feels normal again. Now I need to make sure I eat enough calories - I'm at 2.5x the amount of physical activity as I was this time last year. I love a lot of the suggestions I see so I'll work some of them into my calorie intake and figure out some trail-friendly options. I bought a bag of chickpea flour and on the back is a very simple recipe for socca flatbread. It's a minimalist recipe so I can toy around with different flavors. Thanks for the cool suggestions everyone!

Slackpacker

AnnPT77 wrote: »

It's pretty highly processed so probably not for you, but one thing I discovered recently is Todd's Better Snacks Egg & Lentil Crisps. I've tried other high protein chips/crisps and disliked them. (Quest protein chips were IMO vile, like salty sawdust!) But these actually looked and tasted pretty much like regular cheese puffs, and a 33g serving (a cup, they're puffy) is 135 calories with 12g protein. That's not a main-meal protein substitute by far, but it's decent for a snack food IMO.

I agree with you on those Quest chips. I tried them a couple of times and just can't bring myself to like them.