little changes that could make a HUGE diff?

lmk224

What a brilliant tip, gotta try that!

lmk224

(This)

Spicy tex-mex chicken soup. I sometimes add a small minute rice to a serving. It's filling and has good healthy calories.

My big batch has about 5 servings.. I can have for lunch or dinner.

helenb5615

Swapping semi-skimmed milk for soya milk has really worked for me

MerryKhaos

WHEAT INSTEAD OF WHITE! (this could make all the difference)

Read your labels. Go for the highest fiber & highest protein. (it's ok if it means a little more fat)

Whole foods are better. Anything pre-processed will be harder for your body to deal with.

Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I HIGHLY recommend Chobani

Find a farmer's market. They tend to be organic, without the all the price difference (especially fruits and veggies)

Incorporate a cup of tea a day into your diet.... Detox teas, Mint teas, and White teas are great cleansers (check out Yogi Teas, they're my favorite)

Use more leafy greens! They too are cleansers.

Ok... I think that's enough lol

MerryKhaos

YES!! HYDRATION HYDRATION HYDRATION!!!


Get a Nalgene (or something like it) that holds 1000ml of water. That way it's easy to see your goal! Drink a MINIMUM of 2 a day. (more if you are working out that day)

dieseljay74

Ground turkey instead of ground beef
mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes...tastes almost the same!

HeatherrSue

Instead of using sour cream for anything, use greek yogurt, taste the same and is way better for you!

kaytedawg05

GREEK yogurt... Not all are created equal.. yoplait has high protein, but just as many carbs as the rest... so look closely.

a small apple by itself when first wake up... enzymes get the metabolism going.... follow w a small protein meal about 30 min later. (like a greek yogurt)

Black coffee... its an acquired taste but once you get it down you can actually taste the difference in brands. Gevalia yum.

keeping up with supplements... I had a hysterectomy young so I need my calcium. The theory out there is... you crave certain things cuz ur body is tryin to tell you that you need something... idk if that's true... i could binge either way

Low carb/ 35 calorie whole wheat bread... This is a must if you like sandwiches!


GET PLENTY OF SLEEP, on a regular schedule.

Soy or Almond milk.

Swim.... amazing cardiovascular and strength building at the same time. busts through calories like no body's business.

ladybg81

- More chicken and turkey and less red meat
- Big salads with dinner
- Low cal salad dressing
- More veggies and less starches (potatoes, pasta, rice)
- Splenda and lemon in my nightly iced tea
- Baking instead of deep frying
- Less butter
- Not eating bread with dinner every night
- Low cal dessert items
- Drinking more water
- Eating a small, decent breakfast (I'm not much of a breakfast person)
- Smaller portions
- Eating out less

Loubell83

Water, water and more water! I only drink diet coke if I am having a small vodka at the weekend. Apart from that it is water all the way. Changing this made a huge difference to me. Someone once told me that sometimes hunger pangs really means you are thirsty (do not know if this is true, but think I read it on here somewhere) so by drinking water you can tell if its hunger or thirst.

I also believe a filling breakfast is a must to set me up for the day!

beckyjmax

What helped me most was fixing either veggies or fruits for snacks. If I wouldn't eat those, then I guess I really didn't want to eat that badly. Remembering that every time I wanted to eat wasn't a time to "treat" myself. I took frozen strawberries and put into the Snow cone maker I got at Walmart then added Splenda. Made myself a cold treat to eat instead of ice cream.

dieseljay74

Forgot one...spaghetti squash is just like noodles when you scrape it out with a fork...tastes awesome too!

RBXChas

i was thinking of switching to soy dairy products.... hhmmm
whats better skimmed milk or like the low low soy stuff?!

Ive recently started bagging all food in my house in portion controlled bags (really anal but i live alone so by god it helps!) all my meat, pasta, rice, cous cous its all bagged in sensible portions and it makes things quicket and easier

also started having soup for lunch instead of sandwiches, all my pasta, bread etc is now brown, chocolate swapped for fruit.

also cottage cheese? AMAZING! a cheese fix with less fat

Be careful with soy milk. Some of them have a LOT of sugar, especially flavors like chocolate soy milk. Here in the US, I used to like a brand called Soy Slender because it was fairly low in calories and had very little sugar. Eventually I started having stomach cramping issues and narrowed it down to the soy milk. I was so disappointed and had to give away what I had left So for me it's easier to stick to skim (cow's) milk because I know that there is no added sugar to it. If you can't do skim milk, you can do 1%. 2% and up is typically not recommended.

As for my coffee (not sure if you're a coffee drinker), I still do half and half and Splenda but only do 1 Tbsp of half and half instead of 2. It's only about 18 calories, which is worth it to me considering I only have one cup in the morning. If I do drink tea, I either go without milk or do skim milk (no half and half in my tea). I live in the southern US where sweet tea is a staple, and while I used to do half sweet + half unsweetened (regular sweet is usually WAY too sweet for me), I go unsweetened with a little Splenda and enjoy the flavor of the tea itself and the lemon

sitstaygimmeeakiss

The menu diary here is the best thing ever. I look at each day's menu & ask myself how I could have saved some calories, fat & carbs, & I make substitutions. Instead of eating another huge bagel (white bread) & flavored creamer in my coffee, like I had yesterday, today I had Cheerios (love them - and oats are good for me) w/nonfat milk & fat free creamer. That's 165 cal instead of 380 cal!

Instead of sugar: Truvia. I love using the sweet/savory/spicy/sour balance that is in Vietnamese cooking, so I will use it in 'stir fries' (now I use a bit of water instead of oil to cook the veggies) along other seasonings.

Instead of mayo: nonfat yogurt mixed w/dry salad dressing. Right now I just bought Ranch flavoring. I add my own touches, too - like lemon or lime juice - oh, and Sirarcha!! Sirarcha makes almost everything taste better.

Parchment paper & nonstick aluminum foil instead of using oil.

julia23

Have a look on your food diary and think what you could do to substitute, the ways you cook food instead of fry grill or fry with a low calorie oil spray. Spenlda etc !


Whoops realized the post above hadn't beaten me to it!

Djbass728

THIS IS A GREAT THREAD - I HAVE PICKED UP LOTS OF TIPS - THANKS FOR THE ORIGINAL POST!!!!!!!!!!!

nibbynoo

you are welcome!

im getting loads of tips to! lets keep this one going guys!

heres another, i've started using soy to flavour things as i think my sodium levels are holding me back. i do love my salt a lot!

also do you guys know you can make your own healthier crisps???
slice potatos really thin using a mandolin/ cheese grater or even by a knife if you have patience!
now you know those egg slicers?? detatch the metal bit so its just the plastic and stand your spud slices up in there, microwave dor 30 seconds at a time so they dont burn then allow to cool/crisp up. works a treat, the thinner the slices the quicker and crispier they are

CherryteaMT

A "big" little change I made when I lost all of my weight was to stop picking, like a pretzel here, a bite of the kids' sandwich there, etc.. Once I stopped doing that and actually recorded every thing I ate the weight dropped off. There is a huge discrepancy with what you think you're eating and what you actually are when you write it down!

Another one is to measure everything! Sometimes eyeballing is completely off!

ITA...after i stopped cleaning the kids plates i started to drop...i just give them a little less food cuz i'm eating a little less food...

sitstaygimmeeakiss

Thanks, bellinachuchina, for the tip about Cocopops! I did a search & they look awesome - only 16 calories each?! Now I need to find a local store that carries them here in the Boston area. Their website is useless so I'm giving them a call.

I already switched plates a few months ago. Went to Ikea during their great after Christmas sale & bought all white place settings - that's another thing - having matching dinner sets (@$5 for ea place setting - I bought 4, in case of breakage) & really nice (also matching) silverware. It just looks so much better & puts me in a good frame of mind.

Yeah, I'm probably anal. But I don't care - it helps me, lol.

nibbynoo

its not anal at all! i started eating up the table as i take my time more and dont veg! i want to cook a better meal if its a little occassion and me time!

Barneystinson

One more...

Unsweetened almond milk in place of milk. It doesn't contain soy, dairy, and it's much lower in sugar than regular milk or flavored/sweetened almond or soya milks.

Almond milk rocks.

Djbass728

bump

ilsie99

Forgot one...spaghetti squash is just like noodles when you scrape it out with a fork...tastes awesome too!

Nice tip. I think Richard Blaise did this on top chef- half of the judges thought it was pasta.

bellinachuchina

Thanks, bellinachuchina, for the tip about Cocopops! I did a search & they look awesome - only 16 calories each?! Now I need to find a local store that carries them here in the Boston area. Their website is useless so I'm giving them a call.

I already switched plates a few months ago. Went to Ikea during their great after Christmas sale & bought all white place settings - that's another thing - having matching dinner sets (@$5 for ea place setting - I bought 4, in case of breakage) & really nice (also matching) silverware. It just looks so much better & puts me in a good frame of mind.

Yeah, I'm probably anal. But I don't care - it helps me, lol.

Do you have any Wegman's near you? I'm in upstate N.Y., so that's where I get mine from! They are great, they *almost* replace bread for me in all forms...except pasta of course

Grokette

Spending more than half my day standing / stretching / moving at work instead of sitting. I have a workstation that I converted into a standing station. 'Tis great.

ALWAYS taking the stairs over the elevator.

Parking far away in the parking lot and walking. Also saves my car from getting whacked by others' car doors! Bonus!

Walking for groceries instead of driving (I live about .2 miles from the grocer :happy: )

Putting coconut milk instead of cream in my coffee every morning.

Your company allowed you to change your work environment? Mine would not allow me to,........

Barneystinson

Spending more than half my day standing / stretching / moving at work instead of sitting. I have a workstation that I converted into a standing station. 'Tis great.

ALWAYS taking the stairs over the elevator.

Parking far away in the parking lot and walking. Also saves my car from getting whacked by others' car doors! Bonus!

Walking for groceries instead of driving (I live about .2 miles from the grocer :happy: )

Putting coconut milk instead of cream in my coffee every morning.

Your company allowed you to change your work environment? Mine would not allow me to,........

Luckily I didn't have to change much - I use a laptop connected to a desktop monitor. So all I had to do was purchase a wireless keyboard / mouse combo and a stand for the laptop. So the setup is:

Laptop on a raised stand on my desktop, connected to docking unit (standing station)
Monitor sitting on desktop with wireless keyboard next to it (sitting station)

I move the wireless mouse between the two stations. It works really well, minimal investment required -$37 total for the laptop stand and the wireless combo.

If you use a laptop at work it's totally doable!

bmontgomery87

Swapping fizzy juice for water

just died laughing at the term fizzy juice.

but some things that made a huge difference for me were
1. cutting alcohol
2. adding strength training if you aren't already doing so.
3. avoiding soda.

mrnls

bump.bump.bump.

HoLLyZ82

Regular eggs to Egg Whites
Ground Beef to extra LEAN Ground Turkey
Soda to Water or unsweetened iced tea
MillerLite to Bud Select 55 Cal
White to Wheat
Doritos to Baked lays Tuscan Parmesan
no added salts in cooking
fat free cheeses/cottage cheese/ sour cream
Lucky charms (haha) and fruity pebbles to berry kix/blueberry special k/ and sugar free maple brown oatmeal
fries to sweet potatoes
NO fast food burgers
stay as far away from the fried food goodness as you can and soak up the veggies
GOOD LUCK

Grokette

Spending more than half my day standing / stretching / moving at work instead of sitting. I have a workstation that I converted into a standing station. 'Tis great.

ALWAYS taking the stairs over the elevator.

Parking far away in the parking lot and walking. Also saves my car from getting whacked by others' car doors! Bonus!

Walking for groceries instead of driving (I live about .2 miles from the grocer :happy: )

Putting coconut milk instead of cream in my coffee every morning.

Your company allowed you to change your work environment? Mine would not allow me to,........

Luckily I didn't have to change much - I use a laptop connected to a desktop monitor. So all I had to do was purchase a wireless keyboard / mouse combo and a stand for the laptop. So the setup is:

Laptop on a raised stand on my desktop, connected to docking unit (standing station)
Monitor sitting on desktop with wireless keyboard next to it (sitting station)

I move the wireless mouse between the two stations. It works really well, minimal investment required -$37 total for the laptop stand and the wireless combo.

If you use a laptop at work it's totally doable!

It would be doable if there weren't a "Corporate Standard"...........I don't mind the investment.

They made me trade my exercise ball chair back to a regular chair because it did not fit the corporate standards.

I had this: