Post Healthy Alternatives!!

Okay, so we all have cravings and they're they reason we fall off our diets.  So I think we should all post our healthy alternatives.  Maybe someone else has the same craving as you and can use your advice to curb their cravings.  

So, one of my cravings is chips.  I love the salty-crunch.  One alternative is Skinny Chips.  They're air popped and are crunchy and they come in a bunch of flavors like BBQ and Nacho Cheese (these ones curb my Cheetos cravings).

Also, if I slice up cucumbers and drizzle them in salad dressing it can sometimes satisfy my craving, depending on the type of dressing I use.

I like to buy a bag of those individually portioned Lifesavers Gummies. They're like 60 cals a pack and one pack will satisfy my gummy bear cravings. (I can eat a whole bag in one sitting. D:)

Also, I like sherbert instead of ice cream. I have it every day. But the kind I buy has half the calories of even relatively low calorie ice creams and therefore I can have more. =D

Peanut butter sandwiches.

1 tablespoon of the peanut butter blended well with some lite silken tofu. Then i warm it in the microwave and spread it on some whole wheat toast.

It's been a life saver. I hope that helps someone else with a peanut butter addiction. :)

Original Post by jetswings:

Peanut butter sandwiches.

1 tablespoon of the peanut butter blended well with some lite silken tofu. Then i warm it in the microwave and spread it on some whole wheat toast.

It's been a life saver. I hope that helps someone else with a peanut butter addiction. :)

 wow, I'm totally going to try that asap.

for a salty snack substitute, search online recipes for "cauliflower popcorn". yum.

Heres one for the holidays!

Instead of sugary fruity punch or sangria or something... try mixing together club soda, sugar free cranberry juice + citrus vodka with a bit of lime squeezed in!

Healthy Milk Shake:

-1.5 cups skim milk

-1 scoop of your boyfriends vanilla protein powder (haha this one may only work for me)

-ice

-Walden farms chocolate syrup (almost zero cals) to taste

Under serves 2 if you pour them into small tumblers, so only about 150 cals per shake! :)

When I crave "comfort foods" it ususally means something warm, gooey or sweet. I have recently taken to making a cup of coffee and adding milk and a tablespoon of chocolate or vanilla gelato. It helps me get the sweet out of the way and helps pick me up. Most of the times, after drinking it, I am warm and satisfied without a huge calorie bump.

I'm also an apples and peanut butter fan. It gives me the salty sweet combination (LOL - anyone else starting to see a pattern here?!) in a nutritious way that tastes great and I can feel good about eating.

My kids have a new "special desert" -- bannanas sliced longways with peanut butter and a few M&Ms on top. They're still little --which means they can be fooled a bit more easily -- but I've been able to get them to finish their meat and veggies by threatening to take away their special desert. :)

I like crisps... salt + crunch... and find hummus dip with raw carrot slices is a good substitute.

Pizza?

1/2 a whole grain bagel, small smear of light cream cheese, and a few of those mini peperonis, and green onions on top. I microwave mine for a few seconds, but it kinda hits the spot.

Otherwise if you buy a small can of marinera or pizza sauce, and have some wheat thins-you can put a dollop of the sauce on each one and then top some with a bit of cheese, some with those little pepperonis or anyother pizza type toppings you might normally order! They are like tiny bite size thin crusts!

• Frootloops = Fruity Cheerio's
• Doughnut = Bagel w/ 100% fruit spread
• Cheesecake = Vanilla pudding on lowfat Cinnamon graham crackers
• Chips = Lightly buttered popcorn or Baked chips
• Ice cream = Lowfat Frozen yogurt
• Pretzels = Raw Nuts or Trailmix

Original Post by ichigochanx:

• Frootloops = Fruity Cheerio's
• Doughnut = Bagel w/ 100% fruit spread
• Cheesecake = Vanilla pudding on lowfat Cinnamon graham crackers
• Chips = Lightly buttered popcorn or Baked chips
• Ice cream = Lowfat Frozen yogurt
• Pretzels = Raw Nuts or Trailmix

Yessss to the frozen yogurt. It's so amazing. The first time I tried it i bought the yoplait light orange creme flavor and i swear it tasted just like one of those flintstones push-pops i used to eat all the time as a kid!

This sounds bizarre, but one of our local Gastropubs (read: pub featuring gourmet bites) serve these mindblowing eggplant fries that are drizzled in honey & sprinkled with course salt. They are amazing.

I microwave strips of eggplant and green beans for 2 minutes and coat them in a packet of stevia (or splenda, whatever granular you use) and sprinkle them with salt = awesome!

I have no self control, so I need to substitute.

Chips= Curves 90 calorie popcorn with spray butter and cheese sprinkled on it.

Ice cream= Frozen yogurt. 

Pizza= 50 calorie wrap(La Tortilla Factory) w/turkey pepperoni and a slice of low fat cheese.  Obviously not as great as pizza, but it works for me.

French toast= Low cal bread w/egg whites, splash of milk and lots of cinnamon

Candy Bar= Curve or South Beach Diet bar.  They actually have more protein than some of the other bars, so it stays with you longer.

Something sweet= Cut up apple w/ cinnamon in the microwave for 30sec-1min.

Favorite Healthy Snack= Low cal vanilla yogurt w/grapes

instead of ice cream i like to make a very thick shake. i will put about a cup of soy milk, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries and a frozen banana. and some protein powder if i have it. add dashes of milk as needed. and it comes out so thick. its delicious and so good for you

If I want ice cream I definitely have ice cream, but if I just want something cold, creamy and sweet I go for 3 ounces plain non fat yogurt blended with 1 cup ice, stevia and flavorings. I love lemon extract and cinnamon, but obviously vanilla, peppermint, cocoa, instant coffee etc are awesome as well. It makes a HUGE bowl of 40 calorie frozen deliciousness! You can add chocolate chips to the mint too. Rawr!

I sometimes crave chocolate or something sweet. So I  just have body wise fat free bar its so nice and I feel much better or I drink strawberry/chocolate soymilk. Its not that fatty so its good. :)

I can't do without chocolate so I buy the best quality Swiss dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) and eat one square (about 50 cals) and have it with coffee every night after dinner. If you nibble it very slowly and allow it to melt on your tongue, you get the full chocolate 'hit'. I've dropped 27 lbs in 5 months and couldn't have managed without it. Now I'm at my goal weight I might even have two squares!!!!!

I recently had a bunch of leftover kale that was about to go bad, so I looked for some recipes, and found this one for roasted kale:

http://healthycooking.suite101.com/article.cf m/roasted_kale

It comes out with the consistency of a potato chip, and I added a 1/4 cup of shredded cheese instead of salt to give it extra flavor.  Maybe you can try that with the salt for a potato chip alternative. 

As for me, I use popcorn most often when I get cravings, because I usually just want to be munching on something.

When I'm craving pizza, I make little mini pita pizzas.  I get a whole wheat pita, spread some tomato sauce on it, add whatever veggies I want and put it in the oven to broil, you can pretty much add whatever you'd like on it.

I also heard that instead of mashed potatoes you can do something like cauliflower mashed to substitute. 

When I crave something sweet, I like to reach for werthers or some kinda chocolate hard candy and eat that. 

I also like to save calories from bread by wrapping sandwitches/burgers with lettuce leaf.

My favorite alternative is the Gardenburger portabella burgers as a substitute for a big, juicy hamburger.

Most of the time I just want the 'meaty' taste of a burger, which the portabella burgers--90 calories a patty--mimic. Really, my favorite part of a burger is the pickles, so I load those, lettuce, tomato, and mustard on a 120 calorie sandwich bun, and have a big, juicy burger for under 250 calories! Super filling and delicious!