Healthy substitutes for our less-than-healthy foods?...

BetterLifeJayme

Sometimes no matter how much we educate ourselves on the health risks of a poor, unhealthy diet and the foods we should avoid we still find ourselves reaching for the candy bar (or FiberOne bar ), chips, pasta, condiment after condiment, soda, and the list goes on.....

What are some good substitutes for the foods that we love that we know we shouldn't have? If you have some good recipes for these tasty alternatives PLEASE SHARE!!!

-Jayme

BetterLifeJayme

I'll go first! We have been talking quite a bit during bootcamp about the use of spaghetti squash in place of pasta. This is a great alternative to our carb-loaded italian friend! Really anyway you would normally use pasta you can use spaghetti squash instead. Paste this link in your browser for some great recipes from Ms. Martha Stewart...

http://www.marthastewart.com/275670/spaghetti-squash-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide#/155956

Let us know what you think if you make one of the dishes!

-Jayme

kakes1138

I drink 1 cup of coffee every day and I always use 2 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp of coffee creamer, I was wondering if I use honey instead of sugar as a sweetener, will it just convert to fat because it is processed honey and not raw honey. Does anyone know?

BetterLifeJayme

First I am going to give you a little breakdown then I am going to tell you a story…

1 cup of coffee with 2 tsp. of sugar and 2 tsp. of creamer equals 50 calories. That means, compared to someone who drinks black coffee, you are ingesting 18,250 more calories per year. If there are 3,500 calories in a pound you are gaining, or could lose if you cut it out, 5.22 lbs. every year!

Now let’s talk about honey! “Regular” honey has been pasteurized (heated at 70 degrees Celsius or more, followed by rapid cooling) and filtered so that it looks cleaner and smoother, more appealing on the shelf, and easier to handle and package. Pasteurization kills any yeast cell in the honey and prevents fermentation. It also slows down the speed of crystallization in liquid honey. On the downside, when honey is heated, its delicate aromas, yeast and enzymes which are responsible for activating vitamins and minerals in the body system are partially destroyed. So most of the good stuff has been taken out! It is my understanding that you need far more “regular” honey to achieve the same level of sweetness as raw honey but gram for gram they have the same amount of calories. So if you want to switch to honey in your coffee I would recommend trying to find a good raw honey that you like.

If you use 2 tsp. of raw honey (which I think you might be able to use only one and it will be sweet enough) you will be consuming 42 calories or 15,330 calories per year. But that is still 4.38 lbs!

Ultimately you need to remember that even raw honey, which contains more good-for-you stuff than white sugar or regular honey, still contains glucose and fructose and therefore I would recommend that you try to stay away from as much as possible.

Now for my story…

I little while back I was looking at the ingredients in my coffee creamer (Coffee Mate Sugar Free Hazelnut powder) and I realized that there was absolutely no redeeming quality to my creamer whatsoever! In fact I couldn’t pronounce 99% of what seemed like 50 ingredients so I figured it was probably pretty BAD for me. So the next day I drank my coffee black. And, big surprise, I hated it! I always tell my friends that are trying to lose weight that they need to set realistic goals and not push themselves too hard in the beginning! You will only get frustrated and most likely fail. Much like I had with my coffee. I went from one extreme to the other and the very next day I was back on the creamer. So I tried a different approach. For the next couple weeks I used 1 half a tablespoon instead of a whole tablespoon. I did this until my coffee tasted normal and good to me. In phase 2 I switched from my coffee creamer to a packet of Splenda. Now I did the same thing and drank my coffee that way until it tasted good and normal to me. Phase three was half a packet of Splenda. For several weeks now I have been drinking my coffee black and it tastes good and normal to me. Now granted I have to dilute it a bit with hot water but that’s ok! It just means each cup lasts longer.

My point is that you might want to try the same thing. In the beginning I was like, “don’t mess with my morning coffee!”, but when it comes to your health what you don’t know can and will kill you! Good luck, I hope this helps.

~Jayme

shaylynn46

I have always drank my coffee black. When I was around 10 and wanted to drink coffee, my parents told me if I drank it I would have to drink it black, thinking this would stop me, I was stubborn and drank it even though it was gross. Now I can't drink it any other way.....I even drink decaffeinated now.

randywoody

Jayme--wisdom on how you eliminated the creamer. Good info there ladies. And honey is another form of sugar. Same as agave nectar. Just switching sugar for sugar.

BetterLifeJayme

I would still love to hear some great examples of how you all are substituting unhealthy ingredients for healthy alternatives!

Randy mentioned mashed cauliflower in place of mashed potatoes. I have tried them before and they are awesome! They still have that mashed potato texture and color so it's almost like you are tricking your brain into thinking they are mashed potatoes:)

I don't know about you guys but I love pizza! It was a staple in my diet in college. The thicker the crust and the more cheese the better. Now I like to make little personal thin crust pizzas.

I start with eziekiel sprouted grain tortillas. They are not the easiest to find but you can usually have pretty good luck at most health food stores. I use them for the crust and put a light layer of pizza or tomato sauce over top. Then you add your veggies. I finish with a light dusting of cheese on top. Bake it in the oven at 450 degrees until the cheese starts to melt and brown slightly. They are no Cottage Inn deep dish but they are still really tasty and waaaaaaay better for you!