Healthy Food that satisfies my Craving?

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jezirus
jezirus Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay... I think I'm pms'ing...
Regardless, I am tired of "chicken, broccoli, rice" type stuff... I need more adventure! I don't want to fall back on old (bad) habits, but I am really craving "crap" today (read that as pizza, buffalo wings, cheesy pasta, chocolate anything, juicy cheeseburgers, nachos, etc....)
So what can I eat that will satisfy my cravings but not be too unhealthy????
I have lots of calories left today because of a good workout this morning, but do I really want to blow them on greasy pizza? Kind of defeats the purpose, huh?
HELP!!!
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Replies

  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
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    When i really NEED pizza, I have some, but always make myself get it loaded with veggies and get a whole wheat crust too.
  • SunnyMii
    SunnyMii Posts: 7
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    Well, I'm a newbie. But, what about eating a Lean Cuisine pizza? And a Weight Watcher's pasta? I think I saw Lean Cuisine mini-burgers in the freezer at Wally-World. How about No Sugar Added Fudgsicles? Or a chocolate Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich? Maybe sugar-free chocolate Jello pudding with a squirt of Redi-Whip? Would that help? I haven't had the opportunity to try it on myself...yet. Best Wishes! :)
  • mcqlove87
    mcqlove87 Posts: 59
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    When i really NEED pizza, I have some, but always make myself get it loaded with veggies and get a whole wheat crust too.

    I agree. If you want it, have it! Just choose a healthier option of it. I crave icecream or brownies, a lot, but I get reduced fat brownies and opt for frozen yogert or sherbert instead.
  • rkhdietrich
    rkhdietrich Posts: 5
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    Try a carne asada soft taco with salsa or pico de gallo! The fresco chicken soft tacos at Taco Bell are great and feel like cheating.
  • photorific
    photorific Posts: 577 Member
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    How about a protein style cheeseburger (using lettuce in place of the bun)?

    Oh - and for pizza, make one at home on a whole wheat pita... totally close to the real thing.
  • Dtrmnd86
    Dtrmnd86 Posts: 406 Member
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    You could always make your own pizza. I do that now just to save money and it's a lot healthier with better portion sizes.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
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    Why not make those things with substitutions. For example, when I want pizza I buy a portobello mushroom cap (used in place of crust) and poor light marinera on top of it with 2% moz cheese. Bake then enjoy! For pasta I use spaghetti squash instead of noodles. You get the same fix without the unwanted cals/fat/etc. :)
  • bbear
    bbear Posts: 96 Member
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    Make a pita pizza...whole wheat pita toasted under the broiler then topped with 'no sugar added' pasta sauce, reduced fat cheese and lots of veggies.Put the whole thing back under the broiler to melt the cheese. It always satisfies my pizza craving. Hope this helps!
  • Chrissy2627
    Chrissy2627 Posts: 70
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    Pizza- Cut up a zuchinni, coat both sides with cooking spray, put in oven at 450 for a couple minutes, flip, then add pizza toppings. Pretty low cal and not bad tasting.

    Buffalo Wings- Buffalo Chicken Salad (lettuce, chicken, 1 slice microwaved bacon, bleu cheese crumbles, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, approx 375 calories) or Michellina frozen Buffalo Pizza Bites (190 cals I think?)

    Cheesy Pasta- Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers now has a macaroni and cheese with broccoli, or an alfredo with mixed vegetables. The macaroni one is a little better tasting than the alfredo but both are pretty good.

    Chocolate- Skinny Cow candy bars (110 cals), Kellog Fiber something or other bars- the chocolate peanut butter ones are really good, fiber 1 brownies are okay too but a little dry

    Cheese burgers- Maybe turkey burger?

    Nachos- Maybe you can melt some laughing cow skinny cheese (or whatever it's called) with jalepeno's and dip veggies?
  • kikislove2
    kikislove2 Posts: 71 Member
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    it depends on what type of eating you are doing. if you are cutting out the carbs, then get the taste you want without the bad stuff. you can do a juicy burger, just use 60% ground turkey and 40% ground beef, broil it and melt a slice of 2% cheese on top and eat with no bread. Even put some condiments on top if you like. You can have hot wings if you bake them, hot sauce has no calories, you just have to watch it if you have high blood pressure because of the sodium. Want pizza, get pepperoni, cheese and spaghetti sauce and make a pizza bowl with no crust. The beauty of eliminating most carbs is that you can play around with meat and cheese and still be ok. Just be careful on your portions. throw some pepperoni in your salads. get some tuna and stuff them in bell pepper and broil them. throw some turkey wings in a slow cooker with a package of hidden vally ranch dressing mix. I hve tons of ideas because this is how i live now without pasta, bread and sugar.
  • Chrissy2627
    Chrissy2627 Posts: 70
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    Also- use a vegetable peeler for zuchini and run it down the length of the zuchini then steam the strips for a couple of minutes and you have noodles!
  • abqmike
    abqmike Posts: 3
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    English Muffin Pizza

    Ezekiel Sprouted Grain - English Muffin, 1 muffin- 160 cal
    1-2 TBS Trader Joe's - Organic Tomato Basil Marinara Pasta Sauce, - 30
    Trader Joe's - Roasted Red Pepper & Artichoke Tapenade, 2 Tbsp - 20
    Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese - 80

    Microwave the muffins to thaw and heat. Add toppings then toaster oven @ 350 till cheese melts and starts to brown. Comes in around 290 calories and satifies my pizza cravings. I'm adding anchovies to mine tonight.

    Exekiel bread is in the freezer section. All health food stores and many of the large supermarket chains carry it. Can't remember if Trader Joes carries it.
  • dawnblu
    dawnblu Posts: 95 Member
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    You can still have the crap - just make it yourself so you know what's in it. Make your own pizza - we do and the worst thing about it is the crust. Use lots of mushrooms and veggies to bulk it up and not so much meat and use a low-fat cheese (the fat free doesn't melt right). We also love hamburgers but make our own with the 96% lean ground beef or bison. Find a restaurant that offers bison if you want to go out. I can't tell the difference from beef.
  • meli_medina
    meli_medina Posts: 594 Member
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    Here's a couple of recipes...

    I haven't tried this one, yet, but it would almost satisfy a pizza craving for me! http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_parmesan_tomatoes.html

    Also, a friend gave this one to me when I had a chocolate craving:
    2 tbsp cocoa powder
    2 tbsp peanut butter
    1 packet instant oatmeal (or 1/2 cup of steel-cut if you have that instead)
    2 tbsp brown sugar

    Blend all ingredients together and add water until it all sticks together. Divide into 4 and roll each quarter into balls. Chill in the refrigerator. 2 balls = 1 serving with 210 calories, 26 g carbs, 10 g fat, 7 g protein, 3 g fiber, and 73 mg sodium. They are SO good and give me my chocolate fixes.

    And then there's "root beer floats" if you want a little fake sugar splurge. Take a can of diet rootbeer + 2 tbsp whipping cream (not whipped cream) + 1/2 cup ice cubes. Put in blender and pulse until your cubes are mostly crushed. Total calories: 100, with 10 g of fat. (This is an old favorite recipe from my WW days.)
  • Ambrogio1
    Ambrogio1 Posts: 518 Member
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    Make a fat guy pie, as I call it. I have it every friday

    half a dough ball
    fat free cheese
    tuto gravy
    mancini sweet peppers
    little turkey sausage or real really
    its under 100 cals a slice

    I eat 1 pie every friday, and maybe a snack after
  • meli_medina
    meli_medina Posts: 594 Member
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    You can still have the crap - just make it yourself so you know what's in it. Make your own pizza - we do and the worst thing about it is the crust. Use lots of mushrooms and veggies to bulk it up and not so much meat and use a low-fat cheese (the fat free doesn't melt right). We also love hamburgers but make our own with the 96% lean ground beef or bison. Find a restaurant that offers bison if you want to go out. I can't tell the difference from beef.

    If you spray the FF cheese with a spritz of Pam, it will melt. :) Same thing with soy or rice cheese.
  • wanttogetskinny
    wanttogetskinny Posts: 194
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    Okay... I think I'm pms'ing...
    Regardless, I am tired of "chicken, broccoli, rice" type stuff... I need more adventure! I don't want to fall back on old (bad) habits, but I am really craving "crap" today (read that as pizza, buffalo wings, cheesy pasta, chocolate anything, juicy cheeseburgers, nachos, etc....)
    So what can I eat that will satisfy my cravings but not be too unhealthy????
    I have lots of calories left today because of a good workout this morning, but do I really want to blow them on greasy pizza? Kind of defeats the purpose, huh?
    HELP!!!

    Make a healthy pizza! Here's what I do:

    Ingredients:
    2 La Tortilla Low Carb/High Fiber Tortillas (Large) - 80 cals each!
    2 oz. cheese of choice
    1/3 cup pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce of choice
    Any and all veggies of your choice

    I lay down one tortilla, put down about 1/4 of the cheese, then lay the other tortilla on top. This makes the crust thicker, and the cheese will hold the tortillas together when it melts. Then on top of the second tortilla I put the sauce, the rest of the cheese, and top with the veggies. I usually use chopped tomatoes, hot pepper rings, onions.

    Bake at 350 until cheese is melted. (only takes 5-8 minutes)

    You get a whole mini pizza for around 400 cals (depends on toppings). Because I use the high fiber tortillas (2 will give you 24g of fiber - basically a day's worth), it's super filling.
  • svanhoecke
    svanhoecke Posts: 266
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    For salty- 1 bag of 100 calorie popcorn- amazingly filling and pretty big portion size
    For sweet- Fruit, or take that 100 calorie bag of popcorn and throw in some zero calorie sweetener like stevia
    For chocolate- Fiber one brownie, Warm Delights 150 calories, or a square of fancy dark chocolate

    ...This is advice from a girl with the same problems right now! Gotta have my chocolate!! :tongue:
  • Lolyballs
    Lolyballs Posts: 180 Member
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    a friend gave this to me when I was making pizza recently. You can switch up toppings for what you like.

    When I make pizza I make mine on a low carb flatbread, which is huge...I can only eat half of it. . I crisp the tortilla up before I put the toppings on it. Here is the ingredients

    Flat Out Bread - Lite Italian Herb, 1 flatbread 90 cal
    Fresh Produce - Yellow Squash Raw - Sliced W/ Skin (Usda Info), 0.25 cup 6 cal
    Great Value (Walmart) - Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded, Part Skim, 1/2 cup 160 cal
    Van Zile - Fresh Zucchini Squash, 1/4 cup 8 cal
    Generic - Fresh and Washed Mushroom, 1 oz 7 cal
    Ragu - Pizza Quick Sauce, 1/4 cup 40 cal
  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
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    Turkey Burgers and Onion Rings!

    Turkey Burgers with Zucchini
    Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
    Servings: 5 • Serving Size: 1 burger no bun • Old Points: 3 pts (bun extra) • Points+: 4 pts
    Calories: 156 • Fat: 6.8 g • Protein: 18.6 g • Carb: 5.5 g • Fiber: 1.3 g

    * 1.25 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
    * 1 small zucchini, grated
    * 1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
    * 1 clove garlic, grated
    * 1 tbsp red onion, grated
    * A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
    * salt and fresh pepper
    * oil spray

    In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Make 5 equal patties.

    Heat a large skillet on high heat. When hot, lightly spray oil. Add burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook on one side until browned, then flip. Flip over a few times to prevent burning and to make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through.


    Low Fat Baked Onion Rings
    Adapted from Life as a Lofthouse
    Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
    Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1/2 • Old Points: 1 pt • Points+: 2 pt
    Calories: 74.7 • Fat: 0.6 g • Carb: 14.7 g • Fiber: 1.6 g • Sugar: 1.7 g • Protein: 2.9 g


    * 1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
    * 2 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
    * 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
    * 1/4 cup Italian seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
    * 1/4 cup crushed corn flake crumbs
    * salt to taste
    * olive oil baking spray (I used my Misto)


    Place slices of onion in a shallow dish. Pour the buttermilk over the top and let them soak for about 1 - 2 hours, refrigerated.

    Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

    Combine panko, bread crumbs and corn flakes in a large dish, season with salt.

    Dip each soaked onion ring into the crumb mixture; coat well. Place rings onto two cookie sheets. Lightly spray with oil. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

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