What Are Your Food Alternatives

Instead of eating the entire 3 item combo panda express meal I either split it with my wife or save the rest for another meal. Versions of that for everything else I eat basically.

I don't substitute anything. I just have the high calorie stuff less often and don't have seconds.

And I make a point of only having the"treat" foods I really love. If someone is handing round mediocre chocolates, I can happily decline. Before, I'd have taken a few and probably eaten them all, even if I didn't enjoy them.

Not a big fan of chips anyway. When I want something salty, I'll have popcorn. A microwave popper is great, you can add just a bit of oil (helps salt stick).

Dark chocolate is a great substitute. More chocolate, less sugar. It gives me more chocolatey goodness for fewer calories.

I don't do bacon....always gives me heartburn.

NicoleMichael62 wrote: »

Tomk652015 wrote: »

maybe turkey bacon...but all things are in play within your calorie goal.

I refuse!!! I have a feeling it just wouldn't taste as good. Hahaha.

i eat turkey bacon almost every day. I agree it doesn't taste exactly like bacon, but it does taste pretty good. Jennie-O and Oscar Mayer brands are the best. I also have been eating egg whites instead of regular eggs to bring down my cholesterol levels.

However, if there's something that I really want to eat, I'll eat it. Just fit it in to my daily calories and I'm set. I don't deprive myself.

808Trish808 wrote: »

NicoleMichael62 wrote: »

Tomk652015 wrote: »

maybe turkey bacon...but all things are in play within your calorie goal.

I refuse!!! I have a feeling it just wouldn't taste as good. Hahaha.

i eat turkey bacon almost every day. I agree it doesn't taste exactly like bacon, but it does taste pretty good. Jennie-O and Oscar Mayer brands are the best. I also have been eating egg whites instead of regular eggs to bring down my cholesterol levels.

No it doesn't.

NicoleMichael62 wrote: »

Do you guys have any go to alternatives for the not so healthy food you love?

Instead of potato chips what do you have?
Instead of a chocolate bar what do you have?
Instead of bacon wh....there is no substitute for bacon!

Would love to know your healthy alternatives.

1) Parsnip chips
2) Dark chocolate - 90% and above. The more bitter the less I'm able to binge eat it.
3) Bacon, just plain regular ol bacon!
4) Instead of mashed potatoes - Mashed cauliflower whipped with garlic, cream cheese and butter. More vitamins, more fiber, more filling and better for you.
5) Instead of take out pizza - Fathead pizza, or if you're not doing low carb, mini pizzas using english muffins as the "dough". So easy and better for you.
6) Instead of wheat spaghetti - spaghetti squash. Bake the whole thing for an hour, then chop it in 1/2 and scoop out "spaghetti". I pan fried it in garlic and butter once I had scooped it all out and it was delicious.

@NicoleMichael62 It tastes similar if you add enough cream cheese, yes. I liked it more than mashed potatoes. I chop up a whole head and steam it in the microwave on high for 10 mins at a time until I can poke it with a fork and it easily goes through a piece. Then I put it in a food processor with garlic powder, salt and add at least 4oz of cream cheese, adding more if needed until it's fluffy and there's no lumps left. Once it tastes right I add chives at the end and put it away - it makes a huge container and lasts me about a week.

Here's a recipe for it: http://www.food.com/recipe/mashed-cauliflower-with-cream-cheese-511772

You can also make a mock version of Mac n cheese with cauliflower instead of the noodles! I haven't tried that one yet but I need to because I love Mac n cheese.

I don't think of things as substitutes. Some foods I do have rarely (like chips) whereas other similar foods (like roasted potatoes) I have more often, but roasted potatoes aren't supposed to be chip replacements. Chocolate I have when I want it, but smaller pieces of high quality chocolate (or a serving of chocolate ice cream/gelato when I have the calories). I also have some low cal unsweetened ground chocolate that makes a coffee-like drink that's reasonably low in calories--that's more a hot drink then a chocolate fix thing, though. Bacon I can usually take or leave, but if I want it, I have it. Like others have said, it's not that hard to fit in (less so than I used to think when I used the wrong entry, since mine doesn't come in a package).

I sometimes choose to go with lower cal options like winter squash instead of pasta as a base for a pasta sauce, or a lower cal root veg or another veg option instead of something like potatoes, but again this isn't as a replacement -- just another option I also like that happens to have fewer calories.

amusedmonkey wrote: »

NicoleMichael62 wrote: »

Sarahb29 wrote: »

4) Instead of mashed potatoes - Mashed cauliflower whipped with garlic, cream cheese and butter. More vitamins, more fiber, more filling and better for you.

That sounds so unique. I have never tried mashed cauliflower. Is the consistency and texture just like mashed potato?

No. It lacks the starchiness that makes mashed potatoes what they are, so it's not a successful substitute. And it tastes of cauliflower, not potatoes. It's good though if what you want is cauliflower.

Although I personally think cauliflower tastes better non-mashed (and I like cauliflower just as much as I like potatoes -- both are delicious, just different). I am always mystified by the effort to make a perfectly good food like cauliflower dress up like other foods that it's not really like. If you think potatoes are too many calories, eat less of them or eat something else, don't pretend like the something else is potatoes, IMO. But of course everyone is different, I just don't get it. It's like cauliflower isn't good enough unless it's masquerading as something else.

Sued0nim wrote: »

NicoleMichael62 wrote: »

Do you guys have any go to alternatives for the not so healthy food you love?

Instead of potato chips what do you have?

Multibag packs of chips, not the big family bags ...my go to are Walkers Pops smokey bacon and cheese and Quavers (both under 90 cals) I also like basic Walkers multipacks (130 cals)


Instead of a chocolate bar what do you have?
A chocolate bar or a few pieces of dark chocolate or strawberries dipped in dark chocolate and left to set, or a nestle fab ice lolly (all around 100)

Instead of bacon wh....there is no substitute for bacon!

Bacon ..2 grilled back bacon rashers are 120 calories


Would love to know your healthy alternatives.

But old pile of no need for substitutes

Quavers! Now I must get some for my snack stash. Currently got Space Raiders in there.

Sarahb29 wrote: »

NicoleMichael62 wrote: »

Do you guys have any go to alternatives for the not so healthy food you love?

Instead of potato chips what do you have?
Instead of a chocolate bar what do you have?
Instead of bacon wh....there is no substitute for bacon!

Would love to know your healthy alternatives.

5) Instead of take out pizza - Fathead pizza, or if you're not doing low carb, mini pizzas using english muffins as the "dough". So easy and better for you.

What makes the flour, yeast, salt and water in an English muffin better for you than the flour, yeast, salt and water in pizza dough?

I don't have a lot of them, but often do pork rinds instead of chips. Satisfyingly crunchy, no carb and high protein!

For me ... no chips. If I eat chips I turn into Mrs. Potatohead in the closet stuffing my face with a whole bag of them. LARGE family sized bag. Don't know what the deal is with those but I can't touch them. I have no control.

The rest, I eat! Mmmmm bacon!!