Eat this, not that.

Jessicalg1981
Jessicalg1981 Posts: 51 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What are your favorite substitutions for things to cut calories/carbs/fat etc? I know people use greek yogurt in place of sour cream a lot, and I've recently tried mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. What are some of your fav substitutes?
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Replies

  • loubylou1969
    loubylou1969 Posts: 57 Member
    Butternut squash cut into wedges sprayed with 1 cal oil, sprinkle with chilli flakes put into a hot oven.

    Replaces wedges or oven chips and tasty!
  • Jessicalg1981
    Jessicalg1981 Posts: 51 Member
    bump
  • Eskimopie
    Eskimopie Posts: 235 Member
    What are your favorite substitutions for things to cut calories/carbs/fat etc? I know people use greek yogurt in place of sour cream a lot, and I've recently tried mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. What are some of your fav substitutes?

    another sub i do is greek yogurt for cream cheese! sprinkle with a touch of salt and pepper and it tastes really good to me.
  • Jessicalg1981
    Jessicalg1981 Posts: 51 Member
    good ideas! You spread the yogurt on a bagel or toast? I never would have thought of that.
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    Greek yoghurt for pretty much anything creamy- cream, salad dressing, mayo etc
    EVOO or coconut oil in place of butter
    Applesauce or peanut butter in place of oil in baking
    Stevia or agave for sugar
    Sweet potato for regular potato
    Crushed while grain cereal for breading
    Almond milk for regular milk
  • JessyJ03
    JessyJ03 Posts: 627 Member
    Regular Hamburger instead of Cheeseburger... :laugh:
  • Jessicalg1981
    Jessicalg1981 Posts: 51 Member
    Regular Hamburger instead of Cheeseburger... :laugh:

    lol. If only... :happy:
  • MystikPixie
    MystikPixie Posts: 342 Member
    The same with the greek yogurt, I use it in place or mayo or sour cream(most of the time). I recently started doing sliced cucumbers instead of chips. One I figure out how to make a cucumber taste exactly like a Nacho Cheese Dorito I'm gonna be set for life!
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
    good ideas! You spread the yogurt on a bagel or toast? I never would have thought of that.

    My sister has done that.
  • TitchyBozo
    TitchyBozo Posts: 5
    Almond milk instead of normal milk
    Greek yoghurt
    Courgette ribbons instead of pasta
    Cauliflower instead of rice
    Protein Icecream instead of chocolate icecream from the shop!
    Almond butter instead of peanut butter (but not convinced yet)
    Coconut flour/oil/etc
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    i use an avocado and some 2% cottage cheese* as "dressing" in my salads.




    *2% because i prefer the flavor, not for any reduced calories option
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Ground turkey in place of ground beef. I use it for chili and tacos.
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    Regular Hamburger instead of Cheeseburger... :laugh:

    :laugh:
  • jonward85
    jonward85 Posts: 534 Member
    Greek yoghurt for pretty much anything creamy- cream, salad dressing, mayo etc
    EVOO or coconut oil in place of butter
    Applesauce or peanut butter in place of oil in baking
    Stevia or agave for sugar
    Sweet potato for regular potato
    Crushed while grain cereal for breading
    Almond milk for regular milk

    Applesause or peanutbutter in place of oil? How does this work? I am very intrigued by this.
  • PicklePlum
    PicklePlum Posts: 192 Member
    Regular Hamburger instead of Cheeseburger... :laugh:

    I'd go topless on the burger...toss out the top half of the bun :bigsmile:

    My biggest replacement would be balsamic/pepper/lemon juice blend in place of Honey mustard dressing for salads.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    You can also use greek yogurt to replace the oil in recipes. You would have to double check but I believe it's a 1 to 3/4 ratio so if it calls for 1 cup of oil you replace it with 3/4 cup of yogurt. I've done it a few times and can't taste much of a difference but changes the calorie count nicely!
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    I think it's perfectly reasonable to just more moderately consume what you'd be wanting, but I definitely feel you on the "replace this with that."

    I've replaced grits with simmered millet (more protein). I use Greek yogurt in everything because it doesn't give me explosive diarrhea. Red meat generally gives me a crippling stomachache, but venison does not... so, venison for beef.
  • skinnybitchbarbie27
    skinnybitchbarbie27 Posts: 306 Member
    I love potatoes. Words can't explain how much I love a baked potato (out of the oven) with the works. I have found that cottage cheese makes an amazing topper instead of the butter and sour cream. It is still yummie but I only use a quarter a cup of cottage cheese so it makes less calories.
  • OnMyWay2STay
    OnMyWay2STay Posts: 144 Member
    I admit, I love Burger King. A Whopper Junior w/o mayo is 260 calories instead of 340. A whopper w/o mayo is 470 instead of 630.
  • Katy_G2013
    Katy_G2013 Posts: 70 Member
    bump for later
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    Ground turkey in place of ground beef. I use it for chili and tacos.

    If weight loss or eating less fat is on your mind, the turkey meat is definitely the way to go. But if you're trying to get more calcium, protein, or potassium in your diet, you'll want to choose the regular ground beef.

    Surprisingly the turkey burger is higher in sodium and cholesterol, so if that's an issue, there's another reason to go for the beef. Whatever patty you decide to place in your bun, make sure you go for extra lean, and go easy on the condiments and side dishes since those can tack on tons of calories.
  • 135OHK
    135OHK Posts: 33 Member
    Instead of syrup on whole grain waffles, try low-fat cottage cheese and fresh fruit....tastes like dessert for breakfast (or anytime)
  • mnstrpc
    mnstrpc Posts: 109
    Butternut squash pureed makes an AWESOME pasta sauce.

    I used this recipe, but you could leave out the cheese (although the amount here is minimal) and sausage if you want to make it even lower fat, and it would still taste yummy. It tastes just like a cream sauce without being a cream sauce. :)

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/11/pasta-with-butternut-sauce-spicy.html
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
    Rice cakes instead of chips
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Rice cakes instead of chips

    Ditto! They don't leave that greasy taste in my mouth, either.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
    Oh, on the waffle front ... I'vedone a mix of mashed bananas, some pumpkin puree, a little bit of vanilla protein powder and a small little bit of real maple syrup and it's delicious!! Unfortunately it seems I've done this on non-tracking days so I really don't know how it adds up in calories versus regular old syrup.
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    I sometimes just queeze a lot of fresh lemon juice on top of a salad instead of dressing. It tastes so fresh to me.
  • FunnyGirl613
    FunnyGirl613 Posts: 151 Member
    What would you replace pasta with? We are a big pasta family and since the 6 weeks that I started, I have made pasta exactly once and wound up giving it away so I wouldn't eat any.

    I've tried the following starch replacements, but none compare to a big ol' bowl of pasta with feta cheese, tomatoes, basil and broccoli...

    - quinoa
    - kashi 7 grain pilaf
    - teff
    - wheat berries
    - sweet potato

    I can't use the rice or quinoa pastas - for my blood sugar they're just as bad as the regular pasta... Ideas?
  • Erica262
    Erica262 Posts: 226 Member
    Kale chips instead of regular chips! So good!! They're super light and delicious and easy to make. Here's a recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-kale-chips/ I also add just a dash of cayenne pepper.
  • TitchyBozo
    TitchyBozo Posts: 5
    What would you replace pasta with? We are a big pasta family and since the 6 weeks that I started, I have made pasta exactly once and wound up giving it away so I wouldn't eat any.

    I've tried the following starch replacements, but none compare to a big ol' bowl of pasta with feta cheese, tomatoes, basil and broccoli...

    - quinoa
    - kashi 7 grain pilaf
    - teff
    - wheat berries
    - sweet potato

    I can't use the rice or quinoa pastas - for my blood sugar they're just as bad as the regular pasta... Ideas?

    Try zucchini/courgette sliced thinly - (you can buy a pasta slicer for this). Dry fry them with garlic etc and it's a really good alternative.

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