Food Sacrifices and Substitutes

I use cooking spray instead of butter/oil sometimes.
Thin bagels instead of rolls for sandwiches.
Shirataki noodles in place of pasta sometimes.
Splenda instead of sugar.
Frozen Nonfat Greek yogurt with fruit/Splenda for a frozen dessert.

I totally understand. I use substitutes/alternatives when I don't think taste will be compromised and then just exercise portion control for everything else.
For example, I don't hate Shirataki noodles, but they just don't do it for me. Instead, I just use regular noodles and portion out around 3/4 of the recommended serving size and add a lot of veggies and some meat.
Generally, in stores, I take the time to compare nutrition labels and opt for the product that offers the lowest calories PER GRAM/PORTION (labels can be tricky) and the best protein and fat ratio per serving. To break a tie, I examine vitamins and minerals provided, and the winning product is the one that's the cheapest.
For ice cream, I *did* like Halo Top as a substitution, so much that after reading reviews here on MFP and trying them out myself, I went through nearly a pint a day for a few consecutive days. Well, as the saying goes, too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing, and after those fews days, I got sick of Halo Top. I get a little nauseous whenever I think of the ice cream. Haha. Now I stick to regular ice cream.
I second the bagel thins, however I sometimes just buy regular bagels if there's a good sale and just eat half a bagel.
I love sweets and still do eat them, but I also love protein bars just as much, so I'll often eat a protein bar as my sweet treat. I get the sweetness of candy bars while also hitting protein goals.
As for cookies, I've been spoiled by Lenny & Larry's Complete Cookies. They're very dense and provide slightly more protein per serving than bakery/packaged cookies. Even though I have to eat only half a cookie at a time, I honestly find them much more tasty and satisfying than regular cookies.
I don't miss regular milk at all. I use coconut/soy milk in place of regular milk, and recently, I've been using protein powder for my cereal.
Protein pancakes in place of regular pancakes.
Burrito/tortilla wraps, flat breads, and/or mushroom caps instead of regular prepackaged crust for homemade pizza.
Turkey/chicken versions of sausages, bacon, pepperoni, and hamburgers.
Jennie O's ground turkey.

It depends on what your food philosophies are. Some people refuse to eat foods that have, what they consider, unnatural ingredients. These could include some sugar free sweeteners, processed foods, gmo's ect. Here are some substitutions or options I go with that have helped me. You may also want to look into a book series, I think they have a website now too, called Eat This Not That.

Substitutions:
Greek Yogurt instead of Sour Cream
0% Milk instead of Whole Milk/2% Milk. (Or homemade almond milk, since almond milk is expensive and it only takes three cups to make about a gallon.)
Sugar Free options in place of regular (Such as puddings, ice cream, ect.)
Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges instead of regular cheese.
Shirataki/Miracle noodles instead of regular pasta. (Warning: they do have an earthy flavor to them.)

Fudgesicles are a low calorie treat.


Make your pizza, cheeseburgers, and other normally "bad for you" foods at home from scratch. If you make the sauces and dough for a pizza from scratch, you can control what's in it. Toppings like pepperoni or salami will still need to be purchased pre-made, but you can control the amount you put on top. If you make a cheeseburger, get lean beef, get thin sliced cheese or laughing cow cheese, make it an open top burger or get some romaine lettuce and wrap it with the lettuce cutting out the bun.

There are a lot of low calorie, high flavor condiments/flavorings as well such as:
Jalapenos and other peppers, balsamic vinegar, Yellow Mustard, Tahini, Kimchi, Siracha and most hot sauces, Harissa, (some) BBQ sauces - make your own, Teriyaki/Soy sauces, Hoisin sauce, Lemon Juice, pepper, chilis, cocoa powder.

Oh, I almost forgot. Get some cucumbers, slice them up and use them to dip in salsa or another good for you food like hummus.

hummm.....cucumber pieces dipped in salsa. I like that idea.

I substitute:
ground turkey for ground beef
plain Greek yogurt for sour cream
I love some lettuce wraps, instead of a bun or bread
I love zucchini spiral noodles instead of spaghetti pasta
I like roasted veggies instead of boiled veggies with butter and salt

Less oil. A lot less oil.

More fruit for snacks instead of crackers.

I barely eat cheese any more. I lost my taste for it along the way. When I do, it's usually feta or Parmesan. I used to eat a LOT of cheese.

Everything else is just smaller portions.

For me, it really hasn't been about substitutions so much as it is about eating less.
I will substitute plain Greek yogurt for mayo in chicken salad, in place of sour cream, or in place of oil in cake mixes if I'm not taking the cake out of the house. Otherwise, I eat what I want in the appropriate portions. I also have cut out most of my cheese usage, and bread, but only because the calories aren't worth it to me.
I've also learned that I can bulk up things. A single serving of cereal looks a lot bigger with a banana or strawberries sliced up in it. Pasta servings look huge when I have only 3/4 of a portion of the noodles, but a plentiful mix of carrots and broccoli added to it. It's almost like a mind trick that way. A tiny looking portion makes me think I'm still hungry, but a larger looking portion does the trick.