I want to substitute my favorite foods with a healthier alternative. I appreciate any tips or advice. Please name the brands that you like or have tried. Or let me know if they are okay to keep. Also, what ingredients should I run away from if I see on a label??? Thank you everyone...I'm just starting my journey and I'm kind of lost. God bless!
Cows Milk--->soy milk
regular cheese--->laughing cow cheese
real eggs--->egg substitute (what brand should i get?)
cereal--->(what's a tasty yet healthy cereal?)
C&H sugar--->(what the #$^# replaces sugar lol?)
Sara Lees Whole Wheat Bread--->(what's a healthier brand?)
Jif Peanut Butter--->????
Tropical Jelly--->????
Honey--->(I heard of Really Raw Honey...I'm gonna try it)
sour cream--->???
Philidelphia cream cheese--->???
bacon--->(omg what replaces delicious bacon?)
Lawrys Meat Seasoning Salt--->???
Mention any other tasty, yet healthy things that you have tried. I'm going grocery shopping and I'm ready to try some new stuff.
Reduced-fat sour cream and cream cheese are just fine.
Someone told me soy bacon is really good. I'm not sure what brand.
I just tried Dickinson's sugar-free cherry preserves, made with Splenda (10 calories per T), and thought it was pretty good.
I don't know about healthy, but for a treat, there's sugar-free popsicles (15 cal.), sugar-free hard candy (8 cal), and sugar-free Jell-O (10 cal).
Well, for starts... Sara Lee makes GREAT bread. Just check out the label, make sure the first ingredient isn't refined flour (whole grains, whole wheat, stone ground is best) Sara Lee makes a GREAT 45 cal/slice bread. Whole Wheat w/honey (HAS to be with honey...check the label..it's perfect!!!) The ingredient list should be no longer than 10-ish
For peanut butter, go organic no sugar no salt added. Parkers makes a great one. The refrigerator section is the best bet for organic natural PB... plus, once you try it, you'll never want jif again.
I think sour cream in non-fat or light is still delicious. You can also try greek yogurt in it's place since they have the same "tang"
Philly Cream Cheese substitute?? Laughing cow cheese wedges. I am so serious, I love this substitute, I think they taste basically the same.
I say allow yourself bacon. Just limit to one or two slices. I believe depending on the brand/cut one slice is only around 50 cals. I couldn't give up bacon....
A good replacement for PB is Better'N Peanut Butter...Hungry Girl raves about it!!! I found it at Trader Joe's and it's D-Lish!!!! It's only 100cal & 2.5g Fat for 2Tbsp....It's really really good.
Also, my alternative for bacon is Turkey Bacon...they even make a low sodium kind...the kind I get has 25cal per slice...and it crisps nicely in the microwave...
As for bread, I like Healthy Life Whole Weat Whole Grain...its 40cal per slice! and it's good!!!
Kashi makes awesome cereals that taste great. I like their 'go lean crunch' and 'heart to heart' all natural ingredients and has protein in there as well as healthy carbs. YUM!
There are no rules here. Any or all are fine to keep, you just have to decide whether you prefer having the "original" less frequently and/or in smaller portions, or a lower calorie/fat/sugar/misc.ingredient option more frequently.
My theory - try alternatives to some of your higher fat/sugar/calorie/sodium choices and if you find them very disappointing, consider going back to the original, and eating it less frequently - or in a diluted form (eating a slice or two of bacon crumbled on a salad instead of three or four slices as a side to eggs or in a bacon lettuce tomato sandwhich).
regular cheese---> I tried reduced fat and fat-free cheeses. Haven't found one I like. I actually chose to change the way I look at cheese. I use cheese differently. I buy full-flavor cheeses (some low-fat, some high-fat), but I buy stronger flavored cheeses and use less. However, living in Wisconsin, there is a distinct advantage. I never buy national or store brand cheeses, I only buy cheeses from local, relatively small production cheesemakers (within a 60 mile radius) or ocassional imported cheese from the local cheesemakers (several of the local cheesemakers have barter agreements with their counterparts in Germany, Brittain and France).
real eggs---> I buy regular eggs and throw away most of the egg yolks. I use one whole egg to three egg whites when making an omelette or scrambled eggs (no magic to the number - it's just that on my exchange plan one egg or three egg whites are both equivalent to one protein, so it's easiest to count that way).
Egg substitutes are just colored egg whites. It's fresher and cheaper (and most likely less wasteful in the long run) to use your your own eggs, even if you do throw away the yolks. You can also cook the yolks (in the microwave, even) and mix them with birdseed for wintering birds. Feed them to non-overweight pets, use them raw as a hair conditioner or face mask, or mixed with food coloring to use as tempera paint.
cereal--->I like oatmeal. Left-over (cold or reheated) quinoa or brown rice (or cooked wheat berries) make excellent breakfast cereals. Add a little bit of fruit or cinammon if you like sweet cereals, or savory seasonings if you prefer. For cold cereals, I try to choose cereals that are whole grain. If you love super sweet cereals, you can try buying a box of all-bran or other "healthy" cereals and buy your normal brand and just use a tiny sprinkling of your favorite on the healthier version.
C&H sugar--->I use the Walmart version of Splenda. I also cut the amount of sugar/Splenda called for in most recipes. I find that most recipes are just as good with 3/4 the sweetener (whatever sweetener I use, whether natural or not), and some are as good with as little as 1/2.
sour cream---> I like light sour cream just as well. There are only a few fat-free brands I like (can't think of the name, but the one I like has a spotted cow pattern on the carton).
Philidelphia cream cheese---> I use the Walmart or Aldi low-fat or fat-free cream cheese (Neufchatel).
bacon---> I like Morningstar Farms soy bacon and buy it occasionally (especially if I want to eat more than a slice or two). However, I actually chose a different route with bacon (sort of like the cheese) We buy GREAT bacon from local small meat markets that smoke their own. We buy "ends" (irregular pieces) so that they're about as cheap as a mid-priced store brand of bacon. Instead of eating it as a meat, it's now more likely to be a condiment or seasoning (carefully rationed out, usually).
Lawrys Meat Seasoning Salt---> If you don't have high blood pressure or sodium or MSG sensitivity - this is probably just fine.
Some you didn't mention
Mayonaise - I like using avocado instead of mayo on a sandwhich. I don't like light or fat-free mayos, but really like Hellman's canola mayonaise (half the calories of regular).
Oils- I also use the same tactic I do with cheese and bacon - buy an "expensive gourmet version and be more careful with it, because it's so costly." I love walnut and other nut oils for salad dressings, but it's so expensive that I'm really barely going to use any to make that wonderful bottle last longer.
Vinegar - Rice wine vinegar and other gourmet mild vinegars are so good that they often make a great salad dressing with little or no oil (a great partner for that expensive nut oil).
Thank you so much Kaplods!!! I'm going to try all of your suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to write your response. I saw your weight tracker and I realized that you are a PRO at this!
Silk Soy milk is good, as is the Whole Foods 365 brand. Silk has a light version, and that's what I usually buy. There's also almond milk, coconut milk, and rice milk which are all very good and about the same price as soy milk, and hemp milk which tends to be a bit pricier.
I no longer eat cheese, but when I did, I used laughing cow cheese for most things. It's a good swap for sour cream, cream cheese, veggie dip, etc.
Kashi Go Lean Crunch is yummy. It tastes kind of like a less sweet version of Honey Nut Clusters or whatever that cereal is that used to have squirrel commercials years ago.
I use stevia instead of sugar, and agave instead of honey. You could also try Splenda, some people swear by it.
For bread, you could stick with what you like, or you could try something different. Arnold makes sandwich thins that are good, Josephs makes some killer pitas, and if you can find Flat-Out wraps, I hear they're very tasty.
For nut butter, I'd steer clear of light or reduced fat. That usually means more sugar, so you may as well have the full monty and just go easy on it.
I think it's OK to keep all those foods--with the exception of the refined sugar.
You can substitute with Sucanat (Sugar Cane Natural), which is evaporated cane juice. But ideally, I'd say get rid of the sugar and sweeteners as much as possible. You'll find you want less once you get used to it.
With the other foods, like eggs, cheese, cow's milk--whole eggs are fine although egg white gives you more protein for fewer calories. Even full fat cheese is OK but you have to be careful about portion size. Some lowfat cheeses, like lowfat string cheese, are good. As for cow's milk, try 1% or 2% organic (and look for Certified Humane). Why go to soymilk unless you are lactose intolerant?
Jay
Edited to add: Jif? Are you kidding? it's full of sugar. Try Smuckers or any brand that has as ingredients "Peanuts." period. Smuckers has an organic brand as well.
I agree with the Morningstar bacon suggestion--I eat two pieces most days for breakfast. Not only is it lower calorie, lower fat, but it's faster and easier to make, and it doesn't make my apartment smell overwhelmingly of bacon! I love it!
Also, light cream cheese and light sour cream are good-I can't tell the different (just don't get the fat free stuff, it's gross!) As long as you don't have too much of it, it's not going to blow the bank.
As far as bacon, the rare times I eat it now I use the Jimmy Dean microwave bacon. It's 22 calories a slice. So that is doable.
I love, love, love unsweetened almond milk--vanilla flavor. It's 1/2 the calories of skim milk.
I use egg whites.
I eat Kashi cereal and probably too much of it-the Go Lean variety.
I eat whole grain ANY time I eat starchy crap. Yes, they are still carbs but they are better and more filling for certain.
Bulk out your recipes with vegetables rather than with cheeses and meats.
I love Arctic Zero ice cream--absolutely amazing and made from whey protein--have the whole pint for under 130 calories.
I love Shiratake noodles--they take some experimenting but for 40 calories for the whole bag--they are SO worth the time and effort of experimenting.
I love fat-free cooking spray. I love 5 calorie squeeze butter.
Focus on whole foods. Yes, I do have my "chemical" cheats but am really trying hard to decrease them. By staying on whole foods, you will find your body is plain MORE SATIATED and satisfied than it is with typical foods found in American diets. Make a commitment to the whole foods lifestyle and insist on them.
I like Canadian bacon, and at 1/3 the calories (according to fitday), that's a good exchange
1 oz of canadian bacon is 52 calories
1 oz bacon is 151 calories
Try Fiber One for your cereal; I love it plain or in some yogurt. I also mash it up and use it as coating for fish from time to time. For a change from whole wheat bread, you might like La Tortilla Factory Wraps. The Tomato Basil is great.
Question regarding food subsitutes
