First of all we all diet in our own way.

I just started dieting again, or what I like to call my eating lifestyle change.

I lost weight before and have been keeping it off for the most part, so here I am again, I can not sleep, I am hungry and I know I have to get my body back in balance and detoxed from all the simple carbs and sugars I have been shoveling in my body the past 6 months.

I am going to go to the grocery store tomorrow and re-stocking up on the things I need.

Everyone does this different, but I wanted to share My list of this instead of that.

• Sugar Free Instant Pudding and skim milk with light cool whip instead of candy bars.
• Light Mayo instead of regular mayo.
• Strawberries with light cool whip instead of cake.
• Water instead of sodas.
• Tea instead of coffee.
• Stevia Sweetener instead of sugar.
• Lean ground turkey spaghetti with light sauce instead of regular spaghetti
• Pork instead of red meat. I try to limit red meat to once a week.
• If I am craving friend chicken I take chicken breasts rub them in olive oil and roll in bread crumbs and bake them, they turn out crispy and yummy and I do not need to go and get a bucket of chicken. It works for Me.
• If I must have pizza I try to make My own and make it thin crust with veggies only and light sauce.

Ladies help me out here, what do you make to curb your cravings? 

Thank you,
Mandy

Hi

I like the sound of your bucket chicken replacement , think i will try that tonite !

Thanks

For me, it's a matter of stopping the binge eating. When I feel one coming on, I eat shredded broccoli (it's sold pre-packaged in a bag) and top with Walden Farms zero calorie ranch dressing. Then, I eat 15 calorie popsicles. I then try to go to my room. That usually works.

I like your ideas! Way to go!!!

Lots of Crystal Light for my sweet tooth, and Puffed Wheat cereal (instead of the regular packaged chips my husband eats) for munching on.

Otherwise, I eat all foods including pizza, cheese, chocolate and wine, so I am never hungry and never feel deprived. While eating like that, I lost 34 pounds in 5 mos and now am maintaining or maybe I might drop a bit more. I eat carbs, fats and proteins so never have to exclude specific nutrient group. Except I have been a vegetarian for many years so eat a rich variety of non-creature-based foods.

Main thing is counting calories and doing mild exercise every day. At least that works for me.

I buy a mix of frozen berries and if I feel like a sugar fix I have a small bowl....since they're frozen they take longer to eat plus I get more nutrients from it- this beats scoffing a packet of sweets in a few seconds

Strawberries dipped in sugar free chocolate pudding instead of the regular chocolate kind. I switched to ww bread instead of white italian. Water instead of soda. Light margarine instead of butter. When I make spaghetti or baked ziti I only make enough garlic bread for everyone to have one piece. I used to make twice or three times that much and then after dinner I'd eat the rest. Ugh. I stopped putting so much cheese in my baked ziti. Most of my changes have just been eating less of what I was before. Oh and not buying pizza bites. I'm powerless against them.

I like your ideas; I use some of the same ...

-- strawberries & yogurt instead of cake
-- baked apples with cinnamon instead of pie
-- sugar=free pudding instead of sweets
-- pumpkin custard instead of pie
-- whole grain PITA PIZZA instead of regular
-- smoked chicken istead of pepparoni
-- turkey bacon instead of regular
-- butter flavored margarine instead of butter
-- romaine lettuce instead of iceburg
-- skim milk for whole/2%
-- salads instead of french fries
-- baby or small new potatoes instead of baking
-- 1/2 cob corn instead of potatoes
-- mushroom-veggie medley instead of a starch
-- barley & brown rice instead of white rice
-- whole grain or protein pasta instead of white
-- wg & bran bread instead of white; same for buns of all kinds
-- chicken or fish instead of beef; have it once a week also
-- lean center boneless pork instead of beef or sausages
-- chicken super dogs instead of beef or pork ones
-- salad dressing instead of mayo
-- mustard instead of other condis
-- fruit instead of baked goodies
-- UNsalted nuts instead of chips, etc
-- baked beans instead of pasta/potatoes
-- green tea instead of black
-- any tea instead of coffee (I cut down to 1-2 cups a day)
-- water or crystal lite instead of pop
-- whole grain cereals instead of snacks
-- whole grain soda crackers instead of bread
-- yogurt or yogurt ice cream instead of regular ice cream
-- sugar-free popsicles instead of ice cream
-- bbq spit deli chicken instead of fried
-- baked or roasted chicken instead of fried
-- homemade mocha coffee instead of hot chocolate
-- ovaltine (cereal based) drink instead of hot chocolate
-- natural peanut butter instead of regular
-- sugarfree applesauce instead of sweetened
-- onion rings instead of fries
-- oatbran instead of flour to thicken
-- anything that decreases or subs for sugar
-- anything that increases fiber

Not to quibble, nor am I suggesting that it's necessarily an unhealthy choice, but pork IS red meat (along with lamb, mutton, beef, bison, venison, rabbit andy any other meat that comes from a mammal).

"The other white meat" is a marketing slogan of the pork industry. You can find leaner cuts of all red meats including pork, but pork isn't generally leaner or healthier than the other red meats. Traditionally it was one of the fattier choices until leaner breeds of pig were developed, but it's still usually not the leanest of red meat choices.



Sorry for the interupt.


For myself, I don't make as many substitutions as I used to. I realized that I was often not saving any calories, but sacrificing a lot of flavor.

I do use

Splenda instead of sugar

My favorite real mayo, but less of it (and sometimes canola mayo if it's on sale because it's the only 50 calorie mayo I've ever liked).

Non-gluten grains and pastas instead of wheat (because I discovered I have a wheat allergy or intolerance)

Sugar free gelatins and pudding instead of other desserts (rarely because I don't often eat desserts).

Skim milk instead of 2% milk

Sometimes diluted coconut milk instead of skim milk (when making pudding for example) to reduce the carb count

Stronger, more intensely flavored real cheese instead of reduced-fat cheeses (which tend to be reduced flavor cheeses, so a tiny amount of a stinky real cheese goes a lot further than a bunch of no-flavor reduced-fat cheese)

Mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes (I add a little bit of potato flakes, no more than 10 calories worth per serving - it gives the cauliflower a more potato like texture and flavor, and reduces the amount of weeping in the fridge. When you store mashed cauliflower in the fridge, water seeps out, and you have to stir it back in before eating).

Corn tortillas instead of wheat tortillas (not only because I can't eat wheat, but because there's about a 50% calorie savings).

For browned ground beef, instead of 85 to 85% lean ground beef, I make my own 90% or leaner mixture from very inexpensive 75-80% lean ground beef, and even cheaper TVP granules (soy protein - looks like grapenuts cereal before cooking). TVP is $3.00 per pound, but a pound of tvp is equivalent to 3-4 lbs of ground beef (so the eqivalent of less than $1 per pound).

Beans instead of meat (more fiber than meat, also cheaper than meat, though higher in carbs, so I have to watch that).

Beans instead of rice, pasta or bread (fewer carbs and more protein).

Justwant2be healthy i love your list!

although somme things on your list are not on My plan, but some I will be thinking about. :-)

I weighed in today, I have lost about 4lbs these past 4 days. I am feeling a little hungry, but I know my body is just in shock from the changges I am making. :-)

I think it is VERY importtant for Women to know that this does nt have to feel like a diet, just a change, I feel the choices we make is what is important. My friend is dieting along with me, she told me this is the longest she has stuck with it in a long time. She is not weighing herself, but is already feeling a difference in her clothes. She is dieting differently then I am.

This weekend I am having a treat meal. :-)

Different diets work for different people, I have met people who absolutly can not have cheat meals and some who cut portions and some who count calories.

The most important thing I have found doing is finding quick alternatives for this instead of that. :-) Al of us girls need that.

Tonight for dinner. Lean turkey meatloaf, green beans and caulifloir. The meatloaf is not 100% on my plan, I usually try to eat as clean as I can.

So another list of this rather then that.

• Lean turkey meatloaf instead of regular meatloaf.
• Ms. Dash seasonings instead of salt.
• Fruits and beggies instead of chips.
• And if you MUST have chips do the baked kind.

I have to remind myself to not neglect myself, just to make different choices.

What other alternative chhoiices do you ladies make?

Thank you,
Mandy

Usually the big thing I crave is anything hardy, crunchy (chips, pretzels, cookies, etc.). I don't have that big of a sweet tooth but when I do have a craving coming on for any of this stuff, I've just been trying to eat more fruit (not with too much sugar since I can't have it) and drinking more water because it does help reduce the cravings for me.

Also, since I am a BIG Dunkin' Donuts addict, I noticed a few weeks ago when I walked in that they have a dunkin' light menu which has alternatives listed for ways to get a drink if you can't have sugar, watching your weight, etc. Whenever I get the coolatta now, I usually get it with skim milk and make sure I get a small, nothing bigger.

Other things I've gotten used to recently:
1. Whole grain/weight bread instead of white.
2. Grilling meat more rather than constantly breading it and drying it.
3. Light/reduced fat sour cream or cream cheese instead of the regular
4. Salad for lunch instead of a sandwich
5. Replacing all of my drinks with water or the occasional diet/sugar free iced tea.

Wholegrain instead of white pasta and rice.

Half water, half soya milk in my breakfast porridge, although that's only because I need to be on a lower-fat diet until my gall bladder comes out.

Nothing else springs to mind, I was already eating healthily, just too much of it!

By the way, isn't this in the wrong subforum?

Yes it is the wrong sub forum, I did not realize it until after I posted, I apologize, perhaps a mod can move it for us. :-)

Keep em' coming Ladies what do you use for substitutes when you have cravings?

Thank you,
Mandy

Today I had Turkey Hot dogs with whole wheat buns and mustered instead of regular hot dogs. And raw veggies instead of chips with lite Blue /cheese dressing instead of chips.

Yummy!

Mandy

You can PM a mod if you want it to be moved. It's a nice useful thread, it'd be good to see it get more attention.

A few things I've been doing:

Turkey burgers instead of regular burgers.
A water with a kiwi strawberry active lifestyle packet instead of juice or soda.
For chicken, instead of making it high calorie with eggs and pretzels or fried chicken, I soak it in lite italian dressing for a few hours in the fridge, then use the light italian breadcrumbs and bake it. It comes out amazing and honestly I like it so much better than the high fat version. I get compliments on it all the time when company comes over.

I also make baked chips instead of french fries. Yum.