finding healthy substitutes...

Archerychickge

Looking for healthy alternatives to common foods that people crave during their dieting journey... I'm doing pretty good so far, down 42 pounds since January 8th, 2014, just by making small changes to how I eat... But I know I could be doing more... So here's where I am....

I'm a 44 year old mother of 2.... Can't blame "baby weight" cuz they are both adopted! But between baseball, soccer, football, archery, golf, volunteering, working, etc, it's so much easier to grab convenience foods that really end up being horrible for you.

I have found that keeping that sort of food out of the house helps, but so does prepackaging your own healthy food. Brown bagging is a great way that I can keep from eating too much crap. A big yummy salad that comes in at under 200 calories is a typical lunch for me. I take 3 cups spring salad mix, 2 ounces of Virginia ham, 2 tablespoons of crumbled low fat feta cheese, 1/2 cup diced fresh tomato, and 1/2 cup diced fresh apple. Then I top it off with some dressing which is usually Newman's Own Lite Balsamic Vinagrette dressing that i've allowed the oil to rise to the top then sucked out all the olive oil out with a turkey baster... All the flavor, none of the fat! It's BIG on flavor including sweet, savory, and has a nice crunch, it also has a good amount of protien and oodles of fiber and keeps me full and satisfied for hours.

When I have a craving for something sweet, I find that a 1/2 serving of Garber's brand low fat chocolate marshmallow ice cream with 1/4 cup of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal is just the ticket and it comes in at 150 calories. Or frozen greek yogurt is also a good alternative, but I make sure it's the low fat low sugar versions.

My favorite salty food substitution is dry roasted almonds. When I crave chips or pretzels or some other crappy snack food, I reach for a serving of dry roasted almonds. They are packed with flavor, crunch, protien, and other good nutirents. Plus they help stave off cravings by making you feel full longer than a serving of junk food because of the protien content.

My best friends on my weight loss journey have been measuring cups and spoons, and my kitchen scales. They keep me honest about my portions and it gives me sense of satisfaction when I can say "Yup, I only ate 1/2 cup of..." or "Only 2 ounces of..." and I KNOW my logging is correct.

So what substitutes do you folks find that satisfy cravings? Does anyone have a good one to quell the Bacon Cheeseburger craving?