What has your new eating plan forced you to try that resulted in a pleasant surprise?

For me...well...when I start eating healthy I always crave PBJ. But it's an expensive item, calorie wise.

I find the biggest problem seems to be the bread. I'm not anti-carb (I eat lots of fruit) but it's hard to spend 200 calories on bread. There are so many other things I'd rather have. I've used tortillas in the past, but even then...

So I forgo PBJ (well ABJ - I switched to almond butter recently)

Anyhow I was REALLY craving P/ABJ the other day but didn't even have any bread in the house. So I put the Almond butter and a spicy jam into a little sauce dish and then dipped chunks of baked chicken in it. SO GOOD! I now use Tom Douglass spice rub on my baked chicken, add a little salt, and dip in PBJ goodness.

I'm addicted - it's easily my favorite food right now. Don't knock it, till you try it!

The thought would never have come to my mind to dip chicken into peanut butter & jam

I'm the same way about PB - I bought the all natural stuff but it's so expensive calorie wise - I can have a bowl of cottage cheese with carrot chips for the price of a table spoon of peanut butter...but it's so delicious.

I tried spaghetti squash and found I don't care for it...it's too crunchy. I have fallen in love with fat free sour cream though - it doesn't have much of a taste, but it's a great substitute for mayo for sandwiches and chicken salad.

Mines cabbage, so versatile I use it like spaghetti, in stir fri, as a wrap. I adore the crunchy and a little goes a long way and calories are almost non existent.

Mine is coleslaw mix - usually the broccoli one. I sub it for rice on my plate often and put it wraps because it is crunchy. I even like it mixed in with eggs in the morning.

Adding one egg to an egg white omelet. Just the one egg plus three egg whites cuts the calories way down but makes it more satisfying- nice color and flavor. I sautee some spinach, mushrooms, and peppers and it makes a satisfying plateful.

Low sodium bacon. Yes, bacon. I get it at Costco (Kirkland brand), and if someone said that you could have 2 slices of bacon or an afternoon tryst with the man of your dreams, I'd have to think about it for a minute!

It has 90 calories for 2 slices, 6 grams of fat, and 150 mg of sodium. I cook it in the microwave between 2 pieces of paper towel on a bacon tray so a LOT of the fat gets cooked out.

I put marinara sauce over chunks of cooked chicken and then melt low fat mozz cheese over it. No pasta or pizza dough involved, but I get that yummy tomato and cheesy goodness.

OP check your local stores for light bread, Nature's Own makes a 40 cal per slice bread that I really like. Sara Lee makes a 45 cal per slice bread as well, but I don't know how that one tastes.

Decaf coffee. My doctor insisted I cut out regular coffee (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) and it took me weeks to accomplish that. Then once off it completely, I lasted three days. I really missed the delicious roasty smell in the morning! I never liked decaf, but I let myself get indulgent and buy the good stuff, some organic fair trade, high elevation stuff, and then I bought a Toddy cold brew system. Makes a lovely cup of coffee! I have one or two cups every morning and I am happy!

I think honestly I'd still rather have a chicken breast than 2 pieces of 40cal bread.

I've tried the lower calorie breads and haven't been a huge fan in the past.

Wow! Chicken in ABJ/PBJ? Sounds interesting and something I'd like to try! Now I am wondering what kind of spicy jam it was that you used.

I haven't really done anything "creative" other than try to make my own salad dressings out of 2-4 tbsp cottage cheese & 1/2 oz blue cheese crumbles mixed together, and 2-4 tbsp cottage cheese mixed with 1-2 tsp dry ranch seasoning. More protein, less fattening than the regular dressings AND more tastier than the FF/lite dressings, IMO.

My favorite spicy jam is Raspberry inferno from Johnson Berry Farm (http://johnsonberryfarm.com/section/pepper-jams/). It's made with ghost peppers instead of habanero and is awesome!

I also sometimes get a pepper jelly from Costco. It's not as good but not a bad substitute.

Cut the sugar out of my coffee, still have the milk. Happily surprised to find that I like the taste better without the sugar!

Yeaaa, the ghost peppers and habanero won't work with my acid reflux, LOL. Sounds really delicious though! Thanks for sharing.