What have been your experiences with horrible food alternatives?

 I thought this would be funny considering we all want lower calorie versions of the foods we love.

 I have to start by saying that I am not nessecarily a peanut butter fan, but one day I was craving a peanut butter jelly sandwich and of course all other peanut butters are in the 2-300 calorie zone.

 I saw this other brand "better'n butter" and I thought oh great, low in calorie,  with some reduced sugar jelly and bread and I am set! but my experiences with this "peanut butter" were quite bad.

 Just didn't leave a pleasant taste in my mouth.. haha.

Anyway I thought it would be interesting to hear stories, I know there are great alternatives out there but it would be nice to try to stay away from those other versions of a favorite food!

Personally, the only time I choice "light" versions of foods are for items I don't particularly need to begin with (like butter or condiments).  My BF is such a label junkie and if he sees that it says "light" or 'fat free", even if he said he likes it, it changes his view point...pretty funny.

Anyways, I go for portion size more than anything, but I don't mind getting the higher calorie stuff as long is it's full of nutriants.

Not really related, but thought I'd share with you. I used to buy frozen fish bc it was cheaper and lasted longer, but that stuff always tasted horrible! I officially changed to fresh fish and I will never look back. It may cost a little more, but it tastes better and is SOO much healthier. Okay, I'm done rambeling...

Shirataki noodles- yukk absolutely weird texture, i'd rather have a smaller portion of whole wheat pasta please!

just last week i bought TOFU for the first time. I've only used half of it and it maybe be good mixed in spices, but i decided to try something i saw online. TOFU "Fries" - EWWWWWWW!!! They did not taste like french fries at all! The outside was partially hard/partially soft and the inside was rubbery... never again!

Original Post by colorfulanatomy:

 I thought this would be funny considering we all want lower calorie versions of the foods we love.

 I have to start by saying that I am not nessecarily a peanut butter fan, but one day I was craving a peanut butter jelly sandwich and of course all other peanut butters are in the 2-300 calorie zone.

 I saw this other brand "better'n butter" and I thought oh great, low in calorie,  with some reduced sugar jelly and bread and I am set! but my experiences with this "peanut butter" were quite bad.

 Just didn't leave a pleasant taste in my mouth.. haha.

Anyway I thought it would be interesting to hear stories, I know there are great alternatives out there but it would be nice to try to stay away from those other versions of a favorite food!

 mine would have to be PB too! I bought a reduced fat one and it tasted sandy! Eww. My dog got to eat it though so it worked out for someone! haha

Original Post by fat2fit77:

Shirataki noodles- yukk absolutely weird texture, i'd rather have a smaller portion of whole wheat pasta please!

 I am SO with you on the shirataki noodles! Double-yuck!! They didn't really taste like much but the initial odor and the subsequent texture... BLECH!

I recently purchased some sodium-free brown rice crisps (kinda like little crackers) and I would have to say that they taste like cardboard. Actually... maybe cardboard tastes better. I'll stick with the lower sodium crisps and pass by these in the future.

I had some gluten free organic chinese mix crap and was in the bathroom 20 minuets excavating from both ends....AT THE SAME TIME!! I didn't even realize that it was " health" food until my hubby said it tasted weird.

ANY fat free, light or reduced fat bleu cheese dressing is absolutely disgusting.  It tastes like nothing but chemicals.  I'll take 100 cals worth of the real thing thank you.

Also, Special K made some sort of "high protein" cereal at one point that was utterly foul.  It had a super hard texture and tasted like cardboard.

Salmon in a pouch (like tuna) is also incredibly nasty to me.

Some of the no fat dairy products I`ve tried have such a high sodium content that it`s practically impossible to pair them up with fruit or anything sweet for that matter. And they taste horrible by themselves. Yuck.

Good thing capitalism provides me with many different options to choose from.

Weight-Watchers wine ...be afraid, be very afraid...its enough to drive you to not drink !

I actually found that anything "light"/"fat-free"/"low-calorie version" tastes horrible. fat-free sour cream, fat-free mayo and dressings, skim milk, light tofu are disgusting. So, no thanks, I'd rather add two tablespoons of real sour cream to my salad and it will be delicious than gag at fat-free ranch dressing and feel completely unsitisfied after eating it. The only exception - Yoplait light yogurts.

I think my worst experience has been fat free cream cheese. It tastes like plastic in cream form. I tried to see if it was an "acquired taste" but after multiple tries, I'll just stick to the regular kind when I do decide to stock cream cheese in my house. I also have issues with fat free margarine and fat free cheese. I like some reduced fat cheeses, but entirely fat free is completely gross to me.

wanted to add some extra fiber to my diet so i bought kashi's good friends cereal.  should have realized that when the package said "flakes and twigs" that they actually meant tree bits.  be a good friend and dont recommend this to any of yours.

A big mistake was trying those Walden Farm's salad dressings. That sh** taste like a bunch of chemicals. Ick!

Original Post by lyri:

I think my worst experience has been fat free cream cheese. It tastes like plastic in cream form. I tried to see if it was an "acquired taste" but after multiple tries, I'll just stick to the regular kind when I do decide to stock cream cheese in my house. I also have issues with fat free margarine and fat free cheese. I like some reduced fat cheeses, but entirely fat free is completely gross to me.

I totally agree with you on this ff dairy product.  Also, I hate any light, fat free yogurts.  They just taste like chemical with its artificial sweetener (by any chance, is there such thing as no-fat plain yogurt?).  I'm fine with skim milk since I just make my oatmeal with it, but I'm sure that if I tried a "light" cheese or ff creamy dressing, I would be totally disgusted =/

Diet pepsi, coke, and pepsi are all disgusting too

Anything with Stevia in it will ruin my day.  Really any sugar substitute, but I have a special loathing for stevia.

I totally agree on_point!  I can't stand any food that has that stuff in it.  ANY artificial sweetener.  Especially yogurt.  That "light" stuff literally makes me nauseas. 

Strangely i do just fine with "fat free" dairy.  Nothing quite tastes like the real thing but I can tolerate the flavor.  No one in my family has noticed a change in the taste  of their mayo or cheese either.  I figure I have cut the calories my guys get by several hundred a day this way.  Especially once I saw my son open the mayo jar and take out a big spoonful and eat it.  I might not be around to stop him but now he is only getting 15 calories per 2 table spoons.

But honestly - dairy and sugar alternatives are the only things I have tried.  I eat a lot of dairy and I wanted to cut the sugar from my coffee.  I find it easier just to plan anything else I want to eat into my calorie budget than to replicate it with some dubious substitute.

I agree, sugar substitutes are the worst!

You should try neufatchel (sp?) cheese instead of cream cheese though. It is 1/3 of the fat of normal cream cheese but I think it tastes the same.

Original Post by oreopuppies:

wanted to add some extra fiber to my diet so i bought kashi's good friends cereal.  should have realized that when the package said "flakes and twigs" that they actually meant tree bits.  be a good friend and dont recommend this to any of yours.

 I laughed so loud someone came into my office to investigate the source of the obviously extreme humor.

I -hate- low fat cheese, I found one that is yummy. Laughing cow mini baybel. 50 calories a circle thing, its creamy and delish.

On the whole, I say skip the low fat and fat free stuff. It's crap, and you're better off with a small portion of the "real" stuff, and actually ENJOY it.  There are two exceptions for me: I do like some lower fat (NOT fat free) cheeses, mostly cheddar and mozzarella sticks, or shredded form for salad topper or home made pizza.  And I also like Dannon's fat free yogurts.  Not sure why I go with the fat free, when the low fat or even full fat is not that high in calories.  But... the flavor is ok, and I usually choose one when I need the calcium and protein, don't have many calories left in my budget, and I've had (or will have) plenty of fat for the day.  It makes a great snack, in that situation.

Anything with aspartame will give me a headache.

Stevia doesn't taste exactly like sugar, nor does splenda, but at least they don't give me headaches!

Using applesauce or pureed pumpkin in place of oil and eggs in cake/bread mixes is AWESOME though.