Im new to this "make better choices thing" help ?
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As for diet soda, if you like the flavour, go for it. I personally don't like the taste so I drink Zevia every once in a while. It's made with stevia instead of aspartame, still 0 calorie.
I include Zevia in the diet soda category. I quite like the ginger ale one.0 -
If something is light and I taste it and I like it, I'll eat it but only because I like it.... Eat real food, drink beverages you like, but log you food and drink so that you stay within your calorie goals.
This. There was a discussion recently about modification vs. moderation, and I think generally people agreed that modification (or alternatives) work for some things, when you like them, but in other cases there's no choice but to just eat less. For example, the idea of fat free cheese horrifies me and I mostly just eat really good cheese less often than I used to (I used to eat a lot of it), but there are cheeses that are naturally lower calorie (like feta) that I really like, so I wouldn't consider this an inferior substitute (and it's not worse for you than other kinds of cheese).
That's the point I was trying to make when talking about lower calorie dressings too. It's not like there's high calorie dressing and then some kind of inferior fake low calorie dressing. Dressings vary a lot in how many calories they have and I find many naturally low calorie dressing options to be delicious. If that's the case for you, choose those. If not, don't eat something you dislike, just figure out how to make what you like with fewer calories or adjust to using less.
I think people can fetishize not using lower calorie options, and in many cases I like the lower calorie option just as much or more (I like 2% cottage cheese and even 0% Fage, which I also think works as well as sour cream in many uses). There's nothing wrong with these foods, just because they have less fat, although there's also nothing wrong with the full fat options if you are just aware of the calories, of course.0 -
I'm gonna agree with everybody and say that you'll have to figure out what works best for you while counting your calories.
One thing that you can find often at farmer's markets and also online, is nice thick flavored balsamics. I love them and don't use oil with them - a bit of trading fats for sugar but since I never make a salad without an avocado in it that's ok
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I'm gonna agree with everybody and say that you'll have to figure out what works best for you while counting your calories.
One thing that you can find often at farmer's markets and also online, is nice thick flavored balsamics. I love them and don't use oil with them - a bit of trading fats for sugar but since I never make a salad without an avocado in it that's ok
The problem is once you discover the wonderful world of aged balsamics, there's no going back to lesser vinegars.
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I've never found a light dressing that I liked the taste of, or a diet soda for that matter.
Having said that, either are fine, if you like them.0 -
I'm gonna agree with everybody and say that you'll have to figure out what works best for you while counting your calories.
One thing that you can find often at farmer's markets and also online, is nice thick flavored balsamics. I love them and don't use oil with them - a bit of trading fats for sugar but since I never make a salad without an avocado in it that's ok
The problem is once you discover the wonderful world of aged balsamics, there's no going back to lesser vinegars.
It's true!!0 -
It might help if we knew more about your goal....
for example: I don't eat most "light" foods, because most contain more ADDED sugar than "regular" ones (and usually lots of other stuff). And I like a diet high in fat (and lower in added sugar)
Are you just "cutting calories"?
That's a good goal.
But it would help if we knew what you were aiming for...0 -
what do you think of light dressing..any downfalls beside taste. or diet soda? Im trying to take small steps so I do not fail this time! adding more salad at lunch and using light becasue I eat alot of calories in dresssing thank you!
Keep in mind that you asked, 'what do you think....?' Because that's all you're going to get is opinions. No one who replies in this thread will have legit studies to back up their opinions / claims. What that might tell you is, that your opinion / guess is as good as theirs.
I think you're wise to take small steps, and not make many gigantic moves all at once.
If you were consuming 1,000 calories a day in Dr Pepper, then, switching to Diet Dr Pepper seems a pretty logical choice. You have to make up your own mind, if you think replacing it with 96 oz of diet soda is a sensible thing to do. You could simply try to drop your regular Dr Pepper habit down to something a bit more 'reasonable,' like 1 X 250 calorie can per day. The neat thing about the entire MFP method is that you make all the choices. Perhaps your goal is to stop drinking soda altogether. Then, you could try switching to diet, and then cutting down. What are your goals regarding your soda consumption?
No one who replies is going to be able to prove that low calorie dressings are any more 'harmful' to you than full fat, full calorie versions. If all you're after is minimal calories in everything.... go for it. Otherwise, you'll have to do a lot of research to formulate an opinion on whether or not there's any risk to basically, any food.
I look forward to the various opinions you elicit in this thread.
While I agree that it's all about choices and there is no "right" way to do this (beside achieving a sustainable deficit), I personally have a goal of not just losing weight but also gaining more nutrition from my food. Also, increasing fat in my diet and at least prioritizing less processed foods seems to have made a huge difference in my tendencies to overeat.
I find that discussing nutrition here, is another touchy subject. I agree with you. But, I think, for the most part, this OP wants to focus on weight loss first. That's just the conclusion I've drawn from her posts. With making small changes, I think that lowering calories is often the first priority. I don't claim that's the right way to do it.... that's not the way I did it.... but, I think that's how most noobs at MFP think. And further to that.... again, ONLY IMHO.... I think that many noobs at MFP try to suddenly / radically change their diets to eat 'clean,' ( not my term ), and suddenly start exercising an hour, two hours a day.....and just can't handle so much change all at once.
While I was a bit radical in my own approach to weight loss, and I did try to straighten out my nutrition as well, I just don't think it's the first priority of most noobs at MFP. It would be on my to-do list.
Good on you for bringing it up.
When you say this.... Also, increasing fat in my diet and at least prioritizing less processed foods seems to have made a huge difference in my tendencies to overeat..... that is of course your experience. Once again, her mileage may vary.0 -
You can make your own "low calorie" dressing by buying the Hidden Valley ranch dressing seasoning mix and using plain greek yogurt (I use the non fat) instead of mayonnaise. I'm not a big fan of "processed" foods especially those that are "low fat". Having said that I am addicted to sweet tea (seriously addicted, I drink about a gallon of it a day), to keep the calories from getting out of control I either use the Crystal Light mixes (which contain fake sugar) or I make my own tea and use sweet N Low to sweeten it. I stopped drinking soda completely a couple of years ago (occasionally if we go out and I can't get decent tea, i'll order a diet soda which I will rarely drink all of because I have lost the taste for soda). I'm a supporter of anything that you can do that will keep you on the road to a healthier life, is a good thing. It doesn't do much good to radically change your eating habits to be completely healthy from day one, if you can only stick to it for a week or two, and then fall back to all your bad habits. It's much better to slowly make the changes you can stick with long term.0
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for example: I don't eat most "light" foods, because most contain more ADDED sugar than "regular" ones (and usually lots of other stuff). And I like a diet high in fat (and lower in added sugar)
See, this is why I think the question was confusing. I'd consider a "light" food to include using a vinegar or dressing made of vinegar and mustard or vinegar plus just a bit of olive oil or lower fat dairy, and none of those include more "added sugar" (except that I guess the ingredients in a homemade dressing that aren't focused on fat might), like if you are bothered by balsamic vinegar or adding a bit of honey or whatever.0 -
Yup. I get it. On here, though, I often see "light" as being a "low fat" option. Like "light mayo".for example: I don't eat most "light" foods, because most contain more ADDED sugar than "regular" ones (and usually lots of other stuff). And I like a diet high in fat (and lower in added sugar)
See, this is why I think the question was confusing. I'd consider a "light" food to include using a vinegar or dressing made of vinegar and mustard or vinegar plus just a bit of olive oil or lower fat dairy, and none of those include more "added sugar" (except that I guess the ingredients in a homemade dressing that aren't focused on fat might), like if you are bothered by balsamic vinegar or adding a bit of honey or whatever.0 -
Baby steps my friend. So for a while you have light dressing and diet coke. Maybe in a month or two you start to switch to vinegar and replace some diet soda with water. I think as you see results you will be motivated to make more drastic changes. Just figure out what's a "better" choice than what you did before and stay the course! Best of luck!0
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I'm not a big fan of "processed" foods especially those that are "low fat".
So what does this mean? 0% fat dairy? I see absolutely nothing wrong with lower fat dairy, although I also see nothing wrong with full fat dairy if people prefer it. Sometimes I think there's this idea that "diet" foods are bad, by definition, that gets extended too far.
I mean, I drink diet soda, and have no shame about it, but it seems kind of unfair to lump it and Fage 0% in the same basket and suggest that eating, say, 0% fat yogurt means one is not concerned about nutrition as well as cutting calories (not saying you said this, but something I'm reading in some of the posts). I totally agree that the fat fear was over the top once upon a time and that fat can actually help someone trying to reduce calories, because of satiation, but that doesn't mean that one must only eat full fat everything. I mean, some classic "low fat" and "processed" foods are skinless boneless chicken breasts and low fat ground beef and, especially, ground turkey. Those are quite popular among many of the nutrition-conscious is my impression and while they aren't usually my favorites (I don't do ground turkey and prefer my chicken with bones and skin), I don't think they are actually counterproductive. It depends on how much you like them and where you want to save calories. I mostly think people should be aware of the tradeoffs.I'm a supporter of anything that you can do that will keep you on the road to a healthier life, is a good thing. It doesn't do much good to radically change your eating habits to be completely healthy from day one, if you can only stick to it for a week or two, and then fall back to all your bad habits. It's much better to slowly make the changes you can stick with long term.
Good advice.0 -
Bolthouse Farms Ranch is pretty fantastic as such things go. Sold in the veggie section of most grocery chains.
I just found this dressing and I am hooked. SO good! I bought the honey mustard which is just 45 calories per serving. Yay! I typically don't like the way light dressings taste so I'd rather use the full-fat stuff. Unless your salad is absolutely ginormous, two tablespoons is plenty. On the other hand, I can't live without diet soda. My opinion is that as long as you enjoy the taste, they're both fine.0 -
I eat heavy calorie "sauces" like dressings.. I just portion my meals appropriately to make room for them 0
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Personally, I found that if I eat salad (1) I want too much ranch dressing so it's not really healthy and (2) I need to focus on more protein versus more veggies to keep my energy up and not get hungry. I haven't been eating much salad at all - if I'm going for veggies, cooked/hot ones seem to make me feel more full. I'm focusing more on things like chicken breast, hardboiled egg yolks, etc.0
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Oh .. I just thought of something else I do that might help (I eat a LOT of salad).
I'm a big fan of "taco" style salads .. If you like avocado - the consistency of this will add the "creamy" factor you're looking for in a dressing. I have also put salsa on a lot of salads too (sodium's a tad higher in this so be careful). I'm actually doing the salsa trick tonight on some pasta
Best of luck!0 -
I am not a fan of "lite" or diet anything, I did however pick up a really yummy newman's own salad dressing in raspberry walnut flavor. It is really tasty. but honestly I usually just stick to a serving size of the regular stuff, it is usually plenty to cover the salad.0
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I'm not a big fan of "processed" foods especially those that are "low fat".
So what does this mean? 0% fat dairy? I see absolutely nothing wrong with lower fat dairy, although I also see nothing wrong with full fat dairy if people prefer it. Sometimes I think there's this idea that "diet" foods are bad, by definition, that gets extended too far.
I mean, I drink diet soda, and have no shame about it, but it seems kind of unfair to lump it and Fage 0% in the same basket and suggest that eating, say, 0% fat yogurt means one is not concerned about nutrition as well as cutting calories (not saying you said this, but something I'm reading in some of the posts). I totally agree that the fat fear was over the top once upon a time and that fat can actually help someone trying to reduce calories, because of satiation, but that doesn't mean that one must only eat full fat everything. I mean, some classic "low fat" and "processed" foods are skinless boneless chicken breasts and low fat ground beef and, especially, ground turkey. Those are quite popular among many of the nutrition-conscious is my impression and while they aren't usually my favorites (I don't do ground turkey and prefer my chicken with bones and skin), I don't think they are actually counterproductive. It depends on how much you like them and where you want to save calories. I mostly think people should be aware of the tradeoffs.I'm a supporter of anything that you can do that will keep you on the road to a healthier life, is a good thing. It doesn't do much good to radically change your eating habits to be completely healthy from day one, if you can only stick to it for a week or two, and then fall back to all your bad habits. It's much better to slowly make the changes you can stick with long term.
Good advice.
I guess I wasn't specific enough, what I was talking about in regards to "low fat" processed foods I wasn't talking about basic dairy (though aside from greek yogurt and cheese I don't eat dairy) or ground meat, or chicken breasts. I was specifically talking about packaged foods (such as salad dressings, breads, prepared frozen items (like lean cuisine) etc. My family is shocked that I even use salad dressing mix (only for ranch) I make a thousand island that uses greek yogurt, home made relish and ketchup (which is also homemade) (yes I am a food snob and not ashamed of it). The biggest reason is I don't do well with much sodium in my diet (and never have) and processed foods tend to have massive amounts of it, plus I have the time, and the knowledge to make almost anything myself from scratch. Obviously what works for one, doesn't work for all, and I am by no means judging anyone for the choices they make in regards to what works for their fitness goals. If one can't maintain a dramatic change, then one should take baby steps and if low fat processed foods helps them take the first steps then that is great, but they should be aware that it isn't the only option.0 -
I prefer Italian dressing and prefer the Good Seasons packets. I started making it with less oil and more vinegar. So it's my own "light" dressing.
I drink diet soda because I think regular soda tastes too sweet. I don't drink it regularly, but I sure enjoy one when I have it.
Another fairly painless swap I made was eliminating flavored creamers in my morning coffee. Holy calorie bombs. I probably drank a few hundred calories just in flavored creamer! Now I measure out a tablespoon or 2 of half and half. I'm trying to eliminate it all together and just start drinking it black.0 -
I've stumbled on Yogurt salad dressing which tastes unbelievable. I generally always look at sodium due for blood pressure reasons. Other than that, I don't look for anything "light" today than I did before I was more conscious of calorie intake.
Do you mind sharing the brand name of the dressing you are talking about? My daughter currently loves ranch and I would love to see if I can find a better option for her.
Sure - it's Wegmans.0 -
I've heard of people using Greek yogurt and seasonings to make salad dressings. Haven't tried it myself, but will soon. I'd agree that water is definitely better than soda, but it's okay to have an occasional diet soda. I'd stay away from regular soda, though. If you want to see what's in regular soda, watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZp29Qeu8_U
It will make you think twice about drinking soda!0
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