[Beverlyjoy]

I think we all have them. Things that save calories or are so delicious, but, fit in. Let's share the ones we use. It might help another person:

Mine:

-I Can't Beleive it's Not Butter Spray
-Frozen grapes
-Lite Hot Cocoa
-sf chocolate pudding
-2% sharp cheddar cheese
-Pam sprays for cooking
-fat free cottage cheese (with banana, pear or peaches)
-100 calorie packs - crackers
-Weight Watcher Whole Wheat Bread - love it!! - only 45 calories
-Morning Star Corn Dogs
-Boca Burgers
-fat free sugar free yogurt
-Healthy Choice and Healthy Request canned soups
-Turkey Italian Sausage
-Almond butter - a teaspoon of that seems to cure my cravings
-fat free shredded sharp cheddar cheese
-roasted veggies - eggplant, onions, peppers, mushrooms

How about you?

[Kriss]

Heeeyyy,
I dont have too many yet. I have to get more creative. I have to stick to the basics. I used to eat yoplait nonfat key lime flavor sandwiched between two grahm crackers and then freeze it. A lite "ice cream " sandwich. Here are mine so far. Some cause they are yummy some cause they make me feel good that I am treating myself well.... finally! Has anyone found they feel really hungry after eating apples? weird.

* raw green beans
* cherry tomatoes
* coffee
* vanilla tea
* raw strawberries with a tiny square of dark chocolate grated over the top { served in a silver dish }
* multi grain Ryevita { this is what I use instead of bread now}
Thats all I can really think of now. One thing I have been doing that I really like is about my atmosphere.

I eat when I am ready. When I am not going to be interrupted. I really like food... I like a beautiful home and ambience. { i'm a cancer lol!} I sit at the table with a placemat and cloth napkin. I use my nice dishes and silver. I have my water in a big goblet and I usually light a votive candle somewhere near by. Sometimes I play some music. I arrange the food artfully .Well it might seem over the top but it makes me happy. It makes me slow down. It helps me to be thankful for the nice things in life. This is coming from a person who used to eat mindlessly! Until I would loose track of what I had eaten in an evening. standing over the sink, by the light of the fridge, in the car, walking around he house, in bed...!! anywhere I am focusing on control.... control of my emotions and my surroundings. I wish you all the best. please continue cause i 'd like more ideas.

[Kriss]

okay, I just re read my post and I look like some kind of materialistic diva woman! Not! my silver is odds and ends my Gramma gave me and my nice dishes are simply not the orange plastic ones I serve my kids on! well just wanted clarify!Lol

[rockinrobin]

Kriss, I don't think you sound like a diva - at all. I think you've got some pretty good statergies there, if you ask me. I think it's mucho, MUCHO important to enjoy your food and creating the right atomosphere is a big help in that department.

One of the major keys to me staying on plan for so long this time, and thus allowing me to lose the weight and now maintain that loss, is the fact that I truly enjoy everything that I'm eating. Though I had to give up some pretty darn good tasting food, food that was doing me NO good, no good at all, I've ADDED in wonderful, tasty and low cal stuff.

Some of my favorites -

-Tofutti chocolate pops, 30 calories
-Danon Sugar free/fat free yogurt
-Fiber One Cereal
-Sugar Free jello
-STRING BEANS - great roasted or just plain/raw for munching (A LIFEsaver)
-Cauliflower, cauliflower and MORE cauliflower
-Roasted acorn and butternut squash
-Most vegetables in general
-Berries (blue, straw and rasp)
-Clemintines, lady apples, seckle pears - they're all small, helps with portion control
-Morning Star Farms Veggie Burger products. Chick Patties and Spicy Bean burgers are my favs
-Cooking Spray
-lemon juice
-distilled vinegar
-Chicken breasts
-Salmon
-Chicken broth - for sauteeing and for steaming
-fresh garlic and onions
-SPICES
-Tea
-canned tuna in water

It's not food, but I gotta give a shout out to my insulated lunch bag and all my little containers.

There's more, much more, but that's what comes to the top of my head, for now.

[the slim me]

Kriss, why are you appologizing? There is nothing wrong with making your eating experience as pleasant as possible. Using the "good stuff" does make you enjoy what you are eating more, and to think about what you're eating. You deserve to feel special.

[Schmoodle]

About a hundred different flavors of tea
skim milk sugar free lattes
NSA hot cocoa
NSA fudgesicles
peanut butter
Laughing Cow Light Cheese
Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
Agave nectar
Taco Bake
Nuts
turkey bacon or sausage
Gourmet flavored chicken sausages

[Heather]

There are so many foods I never knew I liked that make me feel like I am really enjoying! Here are a few of my "new" foods.

- nuts (new fave: almonds). Though you have to really watch quantities
- squashes and sweet potatoes
- roasted/grilled veggies
- whole grain breads (I love bread, and limit quantities, but I love that I can eat really yummy stuff)
- frozen blueberries and grapes
- my homemade protein berry smoothies!
- dark chocolate (again, in limited quantities)
- licorice tea (my fave)
- protein pancakes
- grilled pork tenderloin

I also no longer eat mindlessly and I honestly think I'm eating tastier food than I used to. I think I appreciate food more. The flavor of ripe fruit or a perfectly grilled chicken breast is heavenly! The big key is to watch portions, and, for me, try to eat enough protein.

[suzanne]

What great lists! I also rely on the Fage Greek yogurt-fat free version. There is no other yogurt like it. I also love the International Foods Cappucino Coolers. I mix them up with skim milk and ice. Tastes like an incredible treat to me. You can find them in the coffee-tea aisle. Berries...one berry at a time, especially raspberries.

[Beverlyjoy]

Thanks...these are some wonderful ideas!

[Purplefirefly]

Schmoodle--what is taco bake? Please share!

[gina1221]

These are a few of my favorite weight friendly foods:

>Thomas' Light Multigrain English Muffins
>Better'n Peanut Butter
>String cheese
>Kashi crunchy granola bars
>Dannon Activia yogurt
>Wasa multigrain crispbread
>M&Ms - one fun size pack (90 calories) - I love M&Ms and this way I can still have them without doing any more damage than those 100-calorie pack snacks.
>Morningstar Farms Chik patties and Black bean burgers - I'll 2nd rockinrobin, these are the only two that I eat
>Blueberries (especially in Fiber One or Kashi cereal)
>Mahi Mahi
>Roasted asparagus
>Spaghetti squash (I rarely make real pasta anymore)
>Chicken sausage with apple & gouda (not always easy to find)
>Sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms (works well with so many things)

I'm sure there are many more but these are the "most popular" in our house.

[GirlyGirlSebas]

Hi Beverlyjoy....great thread!

My favs:
- Steel cut oatmeal. On days when I start of the day with my oatmeal, I seem to have less of a struggle to stay on-plan.
- Natural peanut butter and celery.
- Westsoy Unsweetened Vanilla Soymilk....its so hard to find a good unsweetened soymilk. This is great in my smoothies.
- Oscar Meyer Smoked Turkey Sausage - perfect quick lunch when sauteed with pepper and onions.
- Sugar Free Eddy's Butter Pecan Ice Cream - 1/2 cup in the evening makes me feel like I'm not being deprived of my treats.

[Trazey34]

fun thread! and I'm with Kriss -- my meals are eaten at the table, real linen napkin, the good silver & dishes and a nice big wine glass for my h20, I love it!

It was hard to give up white potatoes and rice (those fun yet empty "uncle bens" packages hehehe) but I've discovered i LOVE mashed turnip instead! it's robust and the texture is like mashed taters, yummy!

soooo my list would be...

turnips!
sugar free jello
cottage cheese (i get the 2% as it's 3 calories more than the 1% and tastes soooooo decadently creamy!)
fruit - the "boring" kind, not the candy kind like watermelon & pineapple lol
spring mix - who knew this was sooooooooo good????
steel cut oats - soak overnight in water, some dried cranberries added, a few chopped walnuts and hellllllo yummy!
Kashi chewy bars - lots of protein & fibre, good for when you're stuck
soups! i always have a lean veggie soup on the go, and a bowl before dinner makes you feel like you're eating a 3 course meal
tea - just plain black tea, no flavours, just the ritual of boiling the kettle, getting the good teapot, the nice china cup & saucer, the whole production is so much fun!
taking lunch to work- this time last year, virtually all of us in the office were going to lunch OUT about 3 times a week! at least! now there's been a real paradigm shift and we all play Trivial Pursuit at the board room table and eat a meal we brought from home! it's great!
Organic Ginger Snaps - a nice crunchy cookie bite, decent-sized, and you can eat FIVE of them for 100 calories ohhhhh babyyyy!!!!!

[BattleAx]

-Laughing cow cheese
-Almond milk. Unsweetened is delicious at 40 calories a cup. Sweetened is a decadent tasting treat at 90 calories a cup.
-Soups in the winter loaded with veggies and comfort
-Summer fruits in the summer mmmmm, such as berries, melons, and peaches
-Chicken apple sausage from Trader Joes
-Sugar free instant pudding (limited due to artificial sweetener)
-Pumpkin custard
-Ak-Mak crackers. 5 large strips for 110 calories. 100% whole wheat

[chick_in_the_hat]

I have to second the sping mix vote - I buy 2 lb bags at Smart and Final...I'm really lazy about washing lettuce. But I eat tons of lettuce this way.

Also on my list...whole wheat low carb tortillas 50 cals each. Makes a great wrap with mustard and turkey slices.

Newman's own light salad dressings and salad spritzers.

natural peanut butter

cherry tomatoes

pink lady apples

I am the queen of wacky veggies- I testing the grocery checkers with the codes of wierd veggies that apparently no one else buys. Parsnips, leeks, rutabagas, chinese eggplants, whatever is in season.