food alternatives

Good on you for looking for alternatives to the foods you normally buy - but be cautious with "diet" foods.

Often the "low salt" foods have lots of sugar added to make them tasty without the salt.
Things that are "low fat" often have lots of sugar and salt and starchy fillers.
Things that are marketed as "diet" may just be smaller serves (are you getting the same amount of bread or have they reduced the calories just by making the slices smaller?).
And remember that the companies making this food have no interest whatsoever in you getting healthier - their job is to sell their product and if they can do that by convincing you that it's better for you, they will try every trick in the book to do that.

That's not to say don't buy these product, but make sure you are a smart consumer.
Learn to read the labels, and compare them with regular brands to see if there is actually a difference. And if there is - see what ingredients they have used to make is lower in calories, is that something you actually want to be eating?

My personal philosophy on food is that I'd rather get used to eating a smaller (i.e. what I actually need!) portion of "real" food rather than a larger (i.e.. unnecessarily huge) portion of "diet" food. And that I'd rather cook my own meals when I can so I know exactly how much salt and sugar and oil and veggies etc are in them.

I don't mean to be negative here and I'm sorry if this post comes across this way - but, don't get suckered in by the marketing companies!