Small changes that make a diffrence......imput needed. =)

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Replies

  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I switched from ice cream to low fat frozen yogurt that's in pre-measured portions. Instead of chips with sandwiches, I now eat baby carrots or celery. I'm also a big fan of the laughing cow light cheese wedges and crackers :)

    Swapped morning bagel with whole wheat bagel thins (100 calories vs 200+ calories). Swapped normal bread with sandwich thins. Those sandwich thins also make really good individual pizzas :)

    Gave up sodas for icy cold water. Replaced table salt with Morton's lite salt mixture. Replaced most of my cookie recipes with non fat yogurt instead of milk. Makes the cookies much more gooey.
  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
    I've used hummus or avacadi instead of mayo too.

    Some other subs for SALAD DRESSING, since those can be high cal - hot pepper relish, just some feta or bleu cheese crumbles (adds richness without oil or egg-based stuff)...

    for SOUPS if I'm starving and want to keep the calories low I literally water it down. If it's a canned soup there's so much sodium in it anyways I really can't tell, so long as it's hot! So my portion feels larger but it's really not. I've also added V8 juice to tomato-based soups before too.

    for munchy-style snacks instead of reaching for chips or something I'll eat dry cereal, bigger-sized ones like miniwheats.
  • StaciO
    StaciO Posts: 998
    Oh man, I just bought a different whole grain pasta than I usuallly get and I am going to have to remember to check it when I get home.

    I use laughing cow, avocado or just skip the mayo on sandwiches now.
  • sassylilmama
    sassylilmama Posts: 1,493 Member
    bumping
  • pinksherbert
    pinksherbert Posts: 38 Member
    ooooh I love this thread - and there are some great tips here, so thanks! Here are my thoughts:

    - low fat yoghurts - really fill you up and work well with breakfast or as a pudding for lunch
    - Bircher muesli - I measure out the measly portion that the packet reccommends, add my soy milk and grate half an apple (for sweetness) - all the night before and leave in the fridge to soak - the muesli doubles in size and therefore looks more satisfying. Add a splash more milk in the morning and eat!
    - Soup - have a small bowl before going out to dinner so that I am not starving and go crazy for everything (or even just the bread bowl) when I get to the restaurant
    - Keep slim-a-soups in my drawer at work in case I am starving
    - skimmed milk lattes as a snack or afternoon filler
    - I have found that I dont feel satisfied unless I have 3 things for lunch - any less and I feel like I am depriving myself. Luckliy my stupid brain is satisfied even if the 3rd item is a bottle of sparkling water or a diet coke! somtimes its an apple or a biscuit tho
    - zero % fat greek yoghurt with a portion of low fat hot chocolate powder mixed in - mmm, rich gooey chocolately dessert! (or a teaspoon of cocoa powder and a bit of sweetener does the job just as well)
    - teaspoon of cocoa powder in my morning porridge/oatmeal with a bit of sweetener - makes it feel a bit naughty!
    - potato salad made with extra light Philadelphia with garlic & herbs (also good for my friend who is allergic to eggs)
    - a spray bottle for oilve oil - the oil/fat happy boyf can't go too wrong with that!
    - eat (something) before I go into town at lunchtime - then I don't start drooling at any food I see and start telling myself I can restrain myself if I buy a box of cereal bars for my desk drawer (when if I did, I would blatantly eat the whole box in one sitting!)

    HTH x
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    One thing I just learned yesterday - don't just check the calorie content for restaurant food, also check the protein. I went to Applebee's and had their grilled shrimp and island rice dish. It was very good and only 370 cal for the whole meal but I was hungry two hours later. Obviously not nearly enough protein for this girl...

    Other tips:
    Ronzini Smart Taste pasta. For egg noodles, either that brand or yolk free kind
    100 calorie popcorn is my savior on the weekends
    Turkey pepperoni, smoked sausage and hot dogs. I don't like ground turkey but get 90% lean hamburg and drain it after browning.
    Double veggies in casseroles. For meat and potatoe plating, fill 1/3 to 1/2 of plate with veggie side. And no adding butter or salt!
    For sandwiches, I use those Arnold multi-grain sandwich thins and don't add any miracle whip anymore, just yellow mustard. I depend on pepper jack cheese for that extra zing instead.
  • NeuroticVirgo
    NeuroticVirgo Posts: 3,671 Member
    I cook! :laugh:

    I grew up with a single mom, so we didn't have very many home cooked meals, and that kind of continued with me. I always ate out, or pre-packaged microwavable foods...Now I'm cooking meals almost everyday.
  • inktink
    inktink Posts: 135 Member
    Hot sauce, peppers, cucumbers/pickles are great flavorful foods that are very low/no calories.

    I love love love cucumbers! I get a pint of fat free sour cream, mix in some hidden value ranch mix and dip, it's so good and pretty low cal. The crunchiness of the cucumbers reminds me of chips and the dip is just salty enough to satisfy the cravings.
  • mandycox1301
    mandycox1301 Posts: 90
    Oh oh oh!! I just thought of another. I use to LIVE on Taco bell bean burritos....extra cheese please. UNTIL I calulated the amount of calories.......437 JUST for 1!!!!And I use to have 2!!!!! Not included the extra cheese. So I made up my own recipie


    Refried beans
    lite sour cream
    tortilla (cant think of the name but if anyone wants it just message me, It only has like 70 cal (maybe) and .7 fat)
    taco sauce
    lite colby and jack cheese



    And I can have 2 for 201 calories!!! I havent had one from taco bell in 5 months!!!
  • innerfashionista
    innerfashionista Posts: 451 Member
    bumping - love this!
  • Rworthy
    Rworthy Posts: 271 Member
    Eat brown rice and brown rice pasta instead of the evil white kind!

    Boil-in-bag brown rice is pretty good if you take it out of the bag and cook in a rice cooker (follow instructions)

    Tinkyada gluten free brown rice pasta is amazing! You won't notice it's brown rice flour instead of white flour. The noodles hold up and aren't mushy. I cook mine all the way - past al dente - just taste until it's no longer chewy.
  • RENAEJAE
    RENAEJAE Posts: 1,135 Member
    Joseph's WW low carb pita bread
    Egg Beater Whites - make great omelets with fresh mushrooms/peppers
    Berries - any food with color is supposed to have loads of health benefits
    Turkey Cutlets with sauteed onions on top
    Fish at least 2x's/week
    Steam Fresh Veggies and Rice
    Water & Green Tea only
    (ok - occassionally I might sneak in a pomegranite vodka & sprite zero beverage)

    For Snacks I always choose fruit / berries or nuts (walnuts are the best for you).

    Thanks for all the ideas!
  • Tangerine302
    Tangerine302 Posts: 1,509 Member
    Try to eat only the portion size listed.
    Pretty much gave up juice and drink mostly just water.
    Drink water after eating to get fuller so sweets don't sound good.
    Buy the right foods to begin with. Helps to make better decisions at home.

    We do eat out sometimes on the weekends. Eating out is not your friend! You can eat all day at home or eat one meal out and have all your calories for the day very quickly. :(
  • Calidaho
    Calidaho Posts: 110 Member
    Wow! Two would be so filling for so few calories!! (to your burrito recipe, that is. Forgot to quote.)
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
    - Measure EVERYTHING. (And yes, my roommates make fun of me for this when I'm measuring out my cheerios and milk, but I don't give a crap. Their metabolisms will catch up with them one day and they will FINALLY understand that you can't just eat whatever you want and stay skinny forever!)
    - Eat fresh fruits and veggies. I was raised on canned vegetables and canned fruits because I was a picky eater and my parents gave up trying to feed me "real" food...but no more. Even a year and a half ago I wouldn't touch fresh vegetables, but now I devour them: lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, green beans...and no, I don't always like them. I don't know if I'll EVER love them. But I can eat them, and that's an improvement! And as for fruit...wow, it just tastes so much better fresh. (:
    - Grapefruit! My morning grapefruit half is one of my favorite foods of my day. A lot of people hate grapefruit (my roommates included) but I actually love how bitter it is. I squeeze that grapefruit half for everything it's worth, including the juice.
    - No pork or red meat. I was vegetarian for about a year, during my freshman year of college, and since then pork and red meat has really wrecked havoc on my digestive system every time I eat it. Now it's all about chicken and turkey and tuna--and soon I hope I'll eat other kinds of fish, too, when I'm back home for the summer and someone ELSE is paying for my groceries! I'll probably have the occasional burger from In-n-Out, but beyond that, days of bacon and sausage and ham and steak are behind me.
    - Malt-o-Meal and Oatmeal. Low-calorie, high-nutrition breakfasts that everyone should have a few times a week.
    - Healthy snacks, like Cliff Bars and whole fruits and popcorn and nuts and oh my. (:
    - Water water water water WATER! I have a "Klean Kanteen", which holds a little more than three cups of water, so throughout the day, I do this: fill it up in the morning before my classes and work, and drink through the day, emptying the bottle by the time I get to the gym. Work out, and fill it up again at the gym, drinking most of it during my walk home. When I've finished this bottle, I fill it up again at home and drink it for the rest of the night.
    - And speaking of hydration--no soda. Ever. Period. (Except for the VERY rare Rum and Coke...VERY very rare!) And limited alcohol. (Hard to do in a college environment, but I'm managing!)
    - I still drink juice and sometimes Odwallas. Sparingly, and I choose Nantucket Nectars--a really pure brand--and only drink one serving size, not the whole bottle. When I say sparingly, I mean once or twice a week.
    - Milk! I still usually have one cup of skim milk per day. I grew up on 2% milk--drinking it 2-3 times per day--but I'm sort of done growing and all. Haha. I still love milk and couldn't give it up. (Besides, there's protein in it!)
    - Don't trust the scale. Weigh only once per week. Seeing 1-2 pounds over a longer period of time is better than anxiously watching all the little fluctuations.
    - Take measurements. When I plateaued last week I checked my waist/hip measurements for the first time since starting on MFP, and was pleased to find that despite my stall in weight loss, I had lost a few inches.
    - Get a pair of pants you want to fit into and try them on every week! I bought a pair of size 9 jeans last weekend thinking it would be another few weeks before they fit--but guess what? I'm actually wearing them today! I don't feel as comfortable in the size 9 shorts I bought, so those are my new "test pants". :D
    - Be patient. Plateaus are normal. This is the long haul. You know that this time, the weight will stay off forever because you're taking it off the right way.
    - Shock your body. Don't do the same workout two days in a row. You'll get complacent, it'll get easy, and the weight loss will drop off. Change things up. When you're not huffing and puffing as hard as you were, you need to step it up.
    - "Don't hide yourself in regret. Just love yourself and you're set. I'm on the right track, baby--I was born this way." I don't profess myself to be a great Gaga lover, but I love the message of this bit of her music, and I think it's a good thing to always keep in mind.
  • kristy_estes21
    kristy_estes21 Posts: 434 Member
    - Measure EVERYTHING. (And yes, my roommates make fun of me for this when I'm measuring out my cheerios and milk, but I don't give a crap. Their metabolisms will catch up with them one day and they will FINALLY understand that you can't just eat whatever you want and stay skinny forever!)
    - Eat fresh fruits and veggies. I was raised on canned vegetables and canned fruits because I was a picky eater and my parents gave up trying to feed me "real" food...but no more. Even a year and a half ago I wouldn't touch fresh vegetables, but now I devour them: lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, green beans...and no, I don't always like them. I don't know if I'll EVER love them. But I can eat them, and that's an improvement! And as for fruit...wow, it just tastes so much better fresh. (:
    - Grapefruit! My morning grapefruit half is one of my favorite foods of my day. A lot of people hate grapefruit (my roommates included) but I actually love how bitter it is. I squeeze that grapefruit half for everything it's worth, including the juice.
    - No pork or red meat. I was vegetarian for about a year, during my freshman year of college, and since then pork and red meat has really wrecked havoc on my digestive system every time I eat it. Now it's all about chicken and turkey and tuna--and soon I hope I'll eat other kinds of fish, too, when I'm back home for the summer and someone ELSE is paying for my groceries! I'll probably have the occasional burger from In-n-Out, but beyond that, days of bacon and sausage and ham and steak are behind me.
    - Malt-o-Meal and Oatmeal. Low-calorie, high-nutrition breakfasts that everyone should have a few times a week.
    - Healthy snacks, like Cliff Bars and whole fruits and popcorn and nuts and oh my. (:
    - Water water water water WATER! I have a "Klean Kanteen", which holds a little more than three cups of water, so throughout the day, I do this: fill it up in the morning before my classes and work, and drink through the day, emptying the bottle by the time I get to the gym. Work out, and fill it up again at the gym, drinking most of it during my walk home. When I've finished this bottle, I fill it up again at home and drink it for the rest of the night.
    - And speaking of hydration--no soda. Ever. Period. (Except for the VERY rare Rum and Coke...VERY very rare!) And limited alcohol. (Hard to do in a college environment, but I'm managing!)
    - I still drink juice and sometimes Odwallas. Sparingly, and I choose Nantucket Nectars--a really pure brand--and only drink one serving size, not the whole bottle. When I say sparingly, I mean once or twice a week.
    - Milk! I still usually have one cup of skim milk per day. I grew up on 2% milk--drinking it 2-3 times per day--but I'm sort of done growing and all. Haha. I still love milk and couldn't give it up. (Besides, there's protein in it!)
    - Don't trust the scale. Weigh only once per week. Seeing 1-2 pounds over a longer period of time is better than anxiously watching all the little fluctuations.
    - Take measurements. When I plateaued last week I checked my waist/hip measurements for the first time since starting on MFP, and was pleased to find that despite my stall in weight loss, I had lost a few inches.
    - Get a pair of pants you want to fit into and try them on every week! I bought a pair of size 9 jeans last weekend thinking it would be another few weeks before they fit--but guess what? I'm actually wearing them today! I don't feel as comfortable in the size 9 shorts I bought, so those are my new "test pants". :D
    - Be patient. Plateaus are normal. This is the long haul. You know that this time, the weight will stay off forever because you're taking it off the right way.
    - Shock your body. Don't do the same workout two days in a row. You'll get complacent, it'll get easy, and the weight loss will drop off. Change things up. When you're not huffing and puffing as hard as you were, you need to step it up.
    - "Don't hide yourself in regret. Just love yourself and you're set. I'm on the right track, baby--I was born this way." I don't profess myself to be a great Gaga lover, but I love the message of this bit of her music, and I think it's a good thing to always keep in mind.

    You ARE on the right track baby!! Man, you have your nutrition in order!!! I do a lot of the same stuff you do. I got a lot of flack for a long time for measuring out my portions. I was even accused of having an eating disorder by some girls I used to work with. All because I work out and eat healthy. They said that as they chowed down on their burgers. :) Anyhow, great work! Keep it up!
  • mandycox1301
    mandycox1301 Posts: 90
    Wow! Two would be so filling for so few calories!! (to your burrito recipe, that is. Forgot to quote.)


    Yes they are. Now they are about a soft taco size instead of burrito but its still filling!!
  • tippietoes
    tippietoes Posts: 46
    Even more yummy and higher protein.. use soy beans instead of peas
    [/quote]


    Great idea- thanks for sharing!
  • pinksherbert
    pinksherbert Posts: 38 Member
    Has anyone else got any more tips? I love this thread... x
  • LilLolo22
    LilLolo22 Posts: 229 Member
    BUMP!!
  • x_sotonguetied
    x_sotonguetied Posts: 97
    i've been using salsa on salads instead of dressing!

    and i don't know if this is weird, but i also like cottage cheese on my wraps in place of mayo or dressing.

    hummus is good on wraps, too

    :)
  • joannbuist23
    joannbuist23 Posts: 127 Member
    bump
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