What are some healthy changes that you've made in how you eat?

While you're losing weight or trying to become more healthy, one of the best things that happens is that you drop bad habits along the way and pick up better ones. A few of mine are:

• I never drink regular soda anymore.
• If I have a choice, I always choose whole wheat over white bread.
• I always ask for salad dressings to be on the side, you'd be surprised at how many calories are in them and how much they drown your salads with them.
• I have discovered that I love fruits, especially the ones in season.
• I use low calorie cooking spray to cook eggs instead of oil.
• I never eat foods I don't like... what a waste of my calories! I try to use them wisely.
• I have nuts more often than I did before. I almost always add them to cereals or salads.
• 1% milk is perfect for me, not too heavy and not too bland.

Also, I almost always use "reduced" versions of things- never completely fat-free, though... yuck! I believe in having the foods or flavors you love but tweaking it a bit to be healthier. And in my opinion, these things taste the same whether they are the regular or reduced version:

• Light mayo
• Light thousand island
• Reduced fat cream cheese
• Low-sodium salt
• Reduced sugar ketchup
• Reduced sugar BBQ sauce
• Natural peanut butter
• Reduced fat ice cream (Dreyer's Slow Churned Cookie Dough is my favorite)
• Certain baked chips (Cheetos, Sour cream and Cheddar Cheese Ruffles)
• Diet Soda
• And a lot more!

Don't get me wrong, some foods are meant to be enjoyed in their original condition, but I use those foods sparingly because a little usually goes a long way.

And yours are?

Mo.

 

great post!

i think the healthiest change i have made is just plain reducing how much i eat, following serving sizes. I have always had a pretty balanced diet with fairly good food choices, so i think this is the best change i have made.

another thing i have done is cut waaaaaaay back on diet soda (i only drink diet). i have found that it really makes me retain water. instead, i drink water and flavor it with lemons, limes, orange slices, etc. that way i am getting something more than plain water (and a little extra vitamin c as well). occasionally i will still have a diet coke but i can definitely feel the difference in the water retention.

oh there is one other healthy change i forgot - i dropped the fully loaded vanilla lattes - i was drinking 3-4 of these a week. now i rarely have one but when i do i go for the skinny version (skim milk, sugar-free syrup).

i agree with you on the completely fat-free foods - yuck - they taste way to fake to me. although, i do eat fat-free yoplait yogurt. i don't even really eat lo-fat versions of some foods - i am afraid that they are compensating with something that is worse for you. artificial sweeteners freak me out especially.

I also have made HUGE changes in portion sizes.

• cut way back, to almost none, refined sugars
• drink unsweet tea and water only
• no more full fat Frapps and Latte at Starbucks
• bring my lunch EVERYDAY to work
• cook at home for dinner, not get fast food
• brown rice instead of white
• veggies at least 3-5x a day
• learn to like high  protein, low fat dairy..ie cottage cheese and plain nonfat greek yogurt.
• swimming 3-4x a week

I don't ever have regular sodas anymore. I drown myself in diet but thats something I will learn to change in time.

When I go out to eat, I make it a point to only eat half of my food, and save the rest for tomorrow's lunch. A big change from when I'd try and eat all of my food because I didn't want to waste money.

I cut out red meat. (: That was pretty easy because I've never been a fan of red meat. Hate the texture.

I realized that not everything that tastes good is high calorie. I learned to love fat free milk and light mayo and my lower calorie wheat bread as well as other things. However, some things do not taste good in low-fat form, so I stick to the regular versions but try to control my portions as much as possible.

My farmer's market became my new best friend. I love shopping for fruits and vegetables now!

I haven't eaten a fast food burger in months. And I replaced a regular burger with veggie burgers, if I ever go out for burgers. I find them delicious. (:

Another one of my healthy changes [Fast food edition, lol]:

Whenever I decide to treat myself to a cheeseburger, I go to In & Out Burger, because they use high-quality ingredients: http://www.in-n-out.com/freshness.asp I order a cheeseburger with no spread and ketchup/mustard instead... it'll cost you just 400 calories but is well worth it. Plus, I save about 100 calories and 10 grams of fat from skipping the spread... you won't even miss it! It's a complete win-win situation, I satisfy my craving and I do it in a smart way. Highly suggest this idea to people who want to treat themselves to a real cheeseburger but want it to be sort of healthy. Just get a diet soda, fries if you can afford the extra calories, and enjoy.

P.S- For the people who don't have an In & Out around them, my heart hurts for you...

Mo.

I've made it a point to eat around 300grams of veggies with dinner - this way i feel full and i avoid the rice/potato/bread trap that i usually find myself falling into. (and i avoid feeling that i don't get anything to eat - the whole down sizing part is really hard for me!)

i don't buy or have sweets/salty snacks at home anymore, whereas before i would always have some "for guests", that would magically disappear on those long evenings infront of the tv...without guests!

i drink a pot full of green tea, black tea or white tea for an evening treat (and ned to pee about a million times before bed, but i find it cozy...the drinking of tea, not the peeing, obviously :-))

i eat before i get really really hungry - this way i avoid just tossing random stuff down my throat at a really fast pace.

i have carrot sticks and cucumber sticks in the fridge at all times and make a dip of onion soup mix and low fat yoghurt when i really need to treat myself.

but having said all this, i will still eat whatever i want once in a while - i'm a sucker for a medium rare peppersteak with a beer or sushi...arraaraaraaa (mouthwateringlikehomersimpson) :-)

My biggest change is portion control.  The only thing I eat more than one "serving" of at a meal is vegetables.

I eat more whole grains and fewer "white" grains (rice, bread).

I only eat when I am physically hungry.

I ask myself 3 questions before I eat to avoid "mindless eating":

1. Am I physically hungry? (If not, why eat?)
2. Is this a healthy choice to eat? (If not, why not substitute something healthier?)
3. Is this an appropriate serving to satisfy my hunger? (If not, serve myself the appropriate amount).

I drink wine less often with dinner.

 

I don't restrict what I eat. Instead I added terrific in season high quality fruits and veges to every meal and snack. This had the effect of crowding out the tasty but higher calorie foods. But I do not feel deprived because I still eat what everyone else has - I just have more sides!

Have also changed to brown rice and brown basmati rice and whole grains for all bread products at home. I don't worry about it at restaurants.

I've increased the size of my breakfast. This had the wonderful effect of keeping me full all the way through lunch which has saved me more morning snack calories than I added to the breakfast!

I focus on eating the best food I can find and cook using highly seasoned recipes. I intend to eat this way forever so all food must be tasty, appealing, and never boring.

I am more experimental with food. I don't automatically order what has always been a favorite in a restaurant and have made many new favorites! I try new food items - most recently bison burgers and lotus seeds. I also seek out new recipes to try.

I'm not going to post a huge list, because mine honestly mirror most of the ones before me, especially OP's...

Celery. I eat celery now. And I'm pretty proud of that. I used to hate it, wouldn't touch it, didn't want it's presence throwing a shadow on my plate. But I really like it now, I've conditioned myself into liking it. I've found that it has a very crisp feel to it, much like the texture of iceburg lettuce. I like that it's cold and juicy, and virtually zero calories so I can dress it up with that peanut butter I love so much or have it as a side with a little ranch for when I'm eating super spicy foods. It helps take the edge off of the hot meal.

 

these are great!!! I exercise more because I don't want to ruin my hard work/body with junk

I no longer drink regular sodas and rarely, if ever, use regular sugar for anything. I was doing Splenda for awhile, with coffee, but decided one packet of sugar was  more appealing for me. I would say the biggest change is when I fell full, I stop eating. Oh and that and my new gym membership. I have lost 91 pounds so far and I have 69 more to go.

I dont eat meat so it cuts out all the fat that you get in meat products. i replace meat with either veg or quorn/linda mcartley vegertarian products which i think are even yummier!!

I have made a life choice to loose weight and to do this I have the help of my 16 year old daughter as well as made a geographical move and with that it has triggered a way to start over.

My daughter has seen how much it means to me to be a healthier size and she too doesn't want to follow my pattern to easily put on weight by eating the wrong things.

So together we have been recognizing what a true portion is and started adding to our plate more variety in the correct portion.

* Meats (the size of a deck of cards is just right (one steak goes along way)

*Pasta (measure out one severing (be surprised at how filling it is when combined and eaten slowly)

*Sauces (drizzle the sauce not drown it)

*Fresh fruits

*Veggies

For me eating every two hours is important and to still count all the calories I consume.

The exercise comes next to add that into my fitness goal (had to stop due to relocation) I have lost size not weight yet but that will come with in time.

My goal is to get closer to 160 from 211 wish me luck and thank you for being here!

Jessica 

For me, the biggest change is eating more!

I started in here @ CC tipping the scale @ 240, now am down to 232. It's only been a few weeks so I guess that's pretty good, eh?

The reason I am eating more is that I was always told that if I eat 1200 cals per day, I will lose weight, even tho' the thinking nowadays seems to be that someone like me needs 1600. So, lately I have tried to keep myself @ at least 1400 or so...and it seems to be working! Go figure! (...it seems that when I have gotten to the 1600 mark, I am stuffed! and I hate that feeling, y'know?...)

So, that, plus increasing my treadmill time ~ and eating more veggies & fresh fruits (every day) ~ and I see the scale slowly working in my favor.

My husband always tells me that I don't seem to eat enough, so I try to have small meals, every 3-4 hours apart, keeping the total cals per meal to 400 as much as possible. This is a whole new lifestyle change for me; I am usually one to skip a meal here or there, eat dinner late, etc.

No wonder my metabolism is so far out of control......

the important change i have made is to understand my own hunger signals and not just EAT coz there is nothing better to do( most of us eat when bored)

also i dont eat anything after 8pm..nothing.this gives the stomach a lot of time to digest and burn fat and makes u hungry for breakfast which is the most important meal. ( if u binge late night the next day u dont feel hungry at breakfast and the day goes for a toss)

i write a diary,so even if i am wrong i know

 

i have lost aoound 9 pounds in 2 months..slow but steady

 

i NEVER starve...something u should never do.coz u willl only eat witha vengeance and all ur weight that u lost will double! guarnteed.

 

i start my day with a fruit

 

breakfast and lunch are heavy

 

dinner is light

 

nothing post dinner

 

hope this helps:)

I walk everywhere and always. Car/bus journeys of less than 3 miles are for poor souls without functioning legs.

I learned to love healthy food rather than "having to eat it". I cook japanese and thai and healthy curries and fresh pastas and all sorts. I eat around 10 portions of fruit and veg a day. I only buy ingredients.

I still drink wine, but it is a small glass a night, not half a bottle!

And I weigh my cheese. Which still hurts. Everything else is cool though.

I still didnt find the right diet for me yet, but there is many things i stopped slowly to prepare myself and my body for a diet and to start living my life in a healthy way.

Well...

For a week now i stopped all salt and sugar adding to my food and drinks, for the last 2 weeks i started to eat more fruits and vegitables than carbs, i do eat carbs but if i do it will be either in breakfast or lunch in a small portion as for dinner i always go for light things i dont want something heavy to be in my stomach, which i end up waking up feeling kinda lazy and heavy.

i stop eating and drinking nothing except water at 8:00 pm just to give my stomach a break allowing it to digest any un digested food, start doing that for a month now.

Fast food i barely eat from it now for a month, a month ago i used to eat fast food almost everyday and twice a day :S

i barely drink soft drinks not a big fan of them.

oh and i am so happy that finally i am geting 8hours of a sleep everynight for the last 3 weeks :)

now my focus is on to stop any bad habits slowly and i believe it makes a big difference even if its with out a diet it helps alot.

I eat as soon as I feel hungry - I just don't eat too much! I'm finding out how happy it makes my body to eat a small meal every 1-2 hours.

The less processed the food, the better. I forgo wrappers and packaging whenever possible.

I try to drink as much water as possible during the day - it makes me feel fuller and just makes my body feel better overall. I drink a glass whenever I am near a sink, try to carry a water bottle with me, and when I am at work I don't let myself get up from my desk unless my glass is empty and I can go refill it on the way to do whatever it is I needed to get up for in the first place.

I have started to air pop my popcorn. I still get the crunch but a lot less calories that the microwave stuff.

I have started to air pop my popcorn. I still get the crunch but a lot less calories that the microwave stuff.

Original Post by hotnhealthymo:

While you're losing weight or trying to become more healthy, one of the best things that happens is that you drop bad habits along the way and pick up better ones. A few of mine are:

• I never drink regular soda anymore.
• If I have a choice, I always choose whole wheat over white bread.
• I always ask for salad dressings to be on the side, you'd be surprised at how many calories are in them and how much they drown your salads with them.
• I have discovered that I love fruits, especially the ones in season.
• I use low calorie cooking spray to cook eggs instead of oil.
• I never eat foods I don't like... what a waste of my calories! I try to use them wisely.
• I have nuts more often than I did before. I almost always add them to cereals or salads.
• 1% milk is perfect for me, not too heavy and not too bland.

Also, I almost always use "reduced" versions of things- never completely fat-free, though... yuck! I believe in having the foods or flavors you love but tweaking it a bit to be healthier. And in my opinion, these things taste the same whether they are the regular or reduced version:

• Light mayo
• Light thousand island
• Reduced fat cream cheese
• Low-sodium salt
• Reduced sugar ketchup
• Reduced sugar BBQ sauce
• Natural peanut butter
• Reduced fat ice cream (Dreyer's Slow Churned Cookie Dough is my favorite)
• Certain baked chips (Cheetos, Sour cream and Cheddar Cheese Ruffles)
• Diet Soda
• And a lot more!

Don't get me wrong, some foods are meant to be enjoyed in their original condition, but I use those foods sparingly because a little usually goes a long way.

And yours are?

Mo.

 

--------------------------------

Wow! Those are all of the things I have been doing for over a year now! Took time to get the hang of it, Of course having gallstones means if I eat bad things, I get sick.
So yay for no fried foods or greasy things, no french fries, cut out most red meat. Was vegetarian for a couple months, takes more organization and preparedness that I couldn't do sometimes, so mainly eat chicken and fish, seafood.
So, more veggies, more water, more natural healthy organic type foods when I can.

Ya feel so much better don't ya?! AND overtime, its super easy to adapt.