Substituting in your diet

afigueroa_pr
afigueroa_pr Posts: 344
in Food and Nutrition
I am starting a thread in which I wanna know what has been your favorite substitute in your diet.

I'll start
Instead of regular ice cream and tortillas
I've discovered Skinny Cow ice cream and Ole's Low carb high fiber tortillas

It goes to show you that you don't have to give up the stuff you love to lose weight. You just have to discover other alternatives :D

What are yours?

Replies

  • hazymary
    hazymary Posts: 190 Member
    Ice cream..........> low fat fudge bars, solves the portion control issue too.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
    hummus for mayo, skinny cow bars for ice cream, a kitchen scale for the guessing game
  • gooster5
    gooster5 Posts: 8 Member
    ice cream- turkey hill extreme cookies and cream- this is so good i don't miss the full fat!
    bolthouse yogurt ranch dressing- a great alternative for the full fat version

    Other than that I try to bulk recipes up with veggies to have my 'normal' favorites, but just less :)
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    Low fat popcorn instead of chips or pretzels.
    Low carb, low cal whole grain breads, pitas, tortillas instead of white.
    Food Scale

    Portion control is the best way I found to lose weight.
  • HMD7703
    HMD7703 Posts: 761 Member
    Cream Cheese - Laughing Cow Wedge
    Potatoes - Cauliflower
    Flour Tortilla - Corn Tortilla or Flatouts
    Bread - Lettuce wraps
    Sugar - Truvia
    Bread Crumbs - Pork Rinds
    Mayo - Ranch
    Cupcakes Mix with oil/eggs/water - Cupcake mix with punpkin
    Noodles - Shirataki Noodles
    Rice - Cauliflower Riced
  • myak623
    myak623 Posts: 615 Member
    Eating whatever I want, but not how much of it I want.
  • montana_girl
    montana_girl Posts: 1,403 Member
    Potato chips ----> Pop chips

    ice cream ----> Dairy Queen Fudge bars or fruit smoothie
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,659 Member
    Each day I have several cups of coffee with milk (no sweetener) ...... slowly switched from full-fat milk, down to 2%, down to 1%, and now using fat-free ...... (can't look at skim yet)

    And I bring my own lunch to work each day, instead of ordering fastfood like my coworkers .......

    Baby steps .....
  • MNguerita
    MNguerita Posts: 199 Member
    laughing cow light cheese wedges, only 35 calories

    swapped ground beef with ground turkey

    love the cauliflower mashed "potatoes"

    swapped regular yogurt with greek yogurt

    I have found that I love spinach and that i don't need to be snacking all the time.
  • stephenjmac
    stephenjmac Posts: 5 Member
    Eating whatever I want, but not how much of it I want.

    That's been the key for me.

    Although I should add, that I cut out cream and sugar from my coffee more often than not and I've picked up healthier things to snack on such as almonds and dried fruit, not necessarily low cal - but high nutrition value.
  • bugtrain
    bugtrain Posts: 251 Member
    Eating whatever I want, but not how much of it I want.

    This :)
  • kinzytg
    kinzytg Posts: 42
    For those snacking moments

    Roll of smarties eaten one at a time for Reese's peanut butter cups
    Sweet chili Quaker rice cakes for BBQ potato chips
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    I am starting a thread in which I wanna know what has been your favorite substitute in your diet.

    I'll start
    Instead of regular ice cream and tortillas
    I've discovered Skinny Cow ice cream and Ole's Low carb high fiber tortillas

    It goes to show you that you don't have to give up the stuff you love to lose weight. You just have to discover other alternatives :D

    What are yours?

    I will have the unpopular opinion, but I don't like the "substitution" mindset.

    I completely changed my lifestyle, so there is no room for error. I enjoy better health and for ME, that is what makes me happy.
  • sunnyflower1177
    sunnyflower1177 Posts: 212
    eggs- eggbeaters
    bacon- turkey bacon
    cream cheese- laughing cow cinnamon cheese wedge
  • Aliciaaah
    Aliciaaah Posts: 379 Member
    One that I'm going to try this week is spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Excited for the results!
  • d0gma
    d0gma Posts: 3,966 Member
    I love cheeseburgers. I've replaced beef patties (350 calories) with turkey burger patties (170 calories).
  • momofthreesons
    momofthreesons Posts: 162 Member
    You will be surprised with the spaghetti squash. I cooked mine over the weekend. My 12 yr old son and husband ate it as well. It was good. I used reduced sugar pasta sauce and parmesan cheese. A bowl was 100 calories. Yummo!
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
    I dropped my 36oz iced caramel mocha with 6 shots of coffee for coffee with sugar free creamer
    truvia for sugar
    water for pop
    salsa for dressing
    plain nonfat greek yogurt for sour cream
    mustard for mayo
    97% lean turkey burger for 80% hamburger
    replaced vegetarian options 3 days of the week
    1 oz squares of dark chocolate instead of a huge portion of chocolate
    Skinny cow ice cream for regular ice cream
    almond and coconut milk for regular milk
    egg beaters for eggs
    lower fat and calorie cheese options instead of regular full fat cheese

    I also added more veggies and whole grain options


    I could go on...I just started making smarter choices...I don't feel deprived...in fact I really enjoy my diet now. It is far more tasty
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
    I've made a lot of changes (instead of just subs) but I do have one sub I cannot do without. Instead of sundae I have:

    Sugar-free dark chocolate pudding
    redi-whip
    sugar free strawberry syrup
    Sliced strawberries
    10 or so peanuts
    When I'm going crazy I put 1 square of dark chocolate hershey bar, crumbled, on the top.

    Not everyday, but man oh man, is it awesomely awesome. Oh yeah!! :love:
  • MsMargie1116
    MsMargie1116 Posts: 323 Member
    Laughing Cow Light Cheese for american cheese AND mayo/miracle whip... :love: Mmmm
  • skinnedknee101
    skinnedknee101 Posts: 92 Member
    turkey pepperoni chips instead of potato chips...like 70 calories per serving. Just stick them in the microwave for a little over a minute or until they get crispy. Just had some today!!
  • luppic8
    luppic8 Posts: 580 Member
    avocado on sandwiches instead of mayo! frozen low fat yogurt in place of ice cream and lentils instead of white rice
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    When I first started to try and lose weight, I reduced my bagel with cream cheese (my traditional breakfast of many years) to a HALF Bagel with cream cheese. I recently got smart and switched that to 1/2 cup oatmeal with cinnamon and a fried egg. I used to leave the breakfast table hungry. Now it's all I can do to get that oatmeal down, and I'm often not hungry for a long time. It also eliminated a sugar and replaced it with a more complex carb (which is part of why I'm not hungry for a long time) and added some protein.

    Shortly after tracking calories here, I reduced my bag lunch by box of raisins and substituted in a turkey-and-cheese wrap in the whole wheat tortilla I was already bringing in. I was already over on sugars with the banana and apple I eat every day, but was struggling with my protein. The few extra calories are totally worth it.
  • cindyhoney2
    cindyhoney2 Posts: 603 Member
    Skinny Cow instead of ice cream. I eat fruit and veggies all day long. I use olive oil instead of butter. Cauliflower for potatoes (they are great roasted or braised). Bolied egg whites instead of fried whole eggs. I crave fruity candy so I just cut a honey dew and eat that instead.
  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
    Eating whatever I want, but not how much of it I want.

    This!

    Oh, but I definitely concur on the Avacado for Mayo...YUM!
  • rainbowroots
    rainbowroots Posts: 28
    icecream --> frozen banan + other fruit in a fruit proccesor
    brownies --> 20 sec cake in a mug
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Weis cramel icecream (full fat, full sugar) instead of Skinny Cow or other fake icecream.
    I've been down the "low-fat, fake-sugar" route and I just don't see the point... why eat 110 cals of something that tastes flat and has a nasty after taste when I can have a full serve (60g) of real tasty, creamy icecream for 140 cals?

    Other things that work for me
    - mixing up veggie snacks (cherry tomatoes, snow peas, celery, carrot) with fruit.
    - boiled eggs, almonds, cheese slice (reduced fat but still "real" cheese) for snacks
    - adding rolled oats and grated veggies or fruit to muffins or slices to reduce cals per serve and add in a bit of extra nutrition.
    - adding lots of veggies to regular recipes like chilli, bolognaise, fried rice etc.

    In general, I try to eat a moderate portion of regular food and add veggies to just about everything rather than look for artificially low calorie products. My objective at this stage is to establish good eating habits that will keep me healthy for a lifetime, I'm not interested in being able to eat a HUGE bowl of noodles or icecream for practically 0 calories, I don't think that's a healthy habit.
  • ThisMusicalMiss
    ThisMusicalMiss Posts: 26 Member
    My Substitutions:

    No more beef - chicken, turkey, or fish.
    Pizza crust - Flat Out 's
    Ice-cream - Chocolate covered bananas (Banana Babies)
    Candy/Sweets - Hershey's Kiss

    Even with substitutions, I never deny myself something; keep everything in moderation.

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