Trading “Healthy” Foods
The other day, I was thinking about how I ate in college, and how different it is from what I eat now. I was very “healthy” in college… meaning I lived off of 100 calorie pack snacks, and low fat Pasta-Roni. From a calorie counting perspective, I was probably doing “better” than I am now. I never ate nuts (too many calories) I avoided anything that didn’t have a nutritional label (how would I be able to tell how many calories were in it?) and I lived off of “light” products (lets replace real food with a bunch of chemicals and try to achieve the same taste!)
I’ve come a long way. And while I still keep things like calories in mind, they’re not what drives my eating habits anymore.
Breakfast
In college, I would have a container of Carbmaster yogurt, with blueberries, and Fiber One cereal. Ok, not that bad, but after comparing the ingredients of the “Carbmaster” yogurt with Chobani… it’s no contest. I don’t need to be filling my breakfast with aspartame. I still love a bowl of yogurt with blueberries, but now I look for plain greek yogurt, and I top it with wholesome granola, rather than “diet” cereals.
Lunch & Snacks
More often than not, I packed a mini whole wheat bagel (ok, not so bad) topped with Better’n Peanut Butter. Oh my gosh I can’t believe I used to eat that stuff! If I try it now, it tastes like plastic.
And of course, I’d wash it all down with a diet coke.
Now I try to pack leftovers from dinner, or I get a salad from the salad bar at work. And no more low-fat-ranch dressing. I literally crave the taste of balsamic vinegar!
Peanut butter isn’t scary. Just because it has a lot of calories doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a place in your diet. And real cookies are so much more satisfying than those little wafers.
Lunches like this are just as easy to make, but are packed with nutrients. Forget those low-calorie-excuses for dressing. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar + olive oil and you’ve got a simple, tasty dressing.
Dinner
Sometimes my dinners were actually pretty close to what I eat now. Alexa and I often lived off of chickpeas and black beans, (yay for cheap food!) but I also did eat entirely too much Pastaroni. I have no idea why I loved that stuff so much. I’m sure I’d still enjoy it if I tried it today.
I’ve since moved on to bigger and better things. Such as this smoked gouda panini from Ipanema Cafe.
Holy yum. So what if I don’t know the exact nutritional info for this? It was so tasty and filling, I only needed half, and I packed the other half for lunch. Real foods are just so much more satisfying.
I still eat lots of fruits and vegetables, because I’ve always loved those. But I’ve made an effort to eat what I’m really craving, rather than substituting it with some chemical-artificial-substitute. My tummy, and my tastebuds are both happier that way.
What do you think about “diet” foods?
I love homemade pb so much better than most store bought! But I will still eat store bought (as a I look over to my big jar of skippy). But I do prefer wholesome foods over diet foods. Diet foods just seem too artificial and scientifically handled to make them “healthy.”
This is a great post. I hate when I see people fill their carts with ‘low-fat’ this and ‘low-cal’ that. I wish we were more informed as a society. All that people (not all people but a lot of people) seem to care about is how fast they can see results-therefore they fill up on these ‘fake’ foods but I think it ends up doing more damage to us in the long run. π When I first wanted to loose weight, my diet consisted of Lean Cuisines and Reduced Fat Peanut Butter w/ Lowfat Graham Crackers! Yikes!
I know!!! Isn’t it crazy?! People think they’re making a “healthy” choice… ugh don’t even get me started on food marketing!!!
So so true…My college eats consisted of all sorts of pre-packaged foods with no nutritional value..not to mention its HIGH sodium content! No wonder I always walked around looking like a jiggly puff! I would eat cereals thinking it’s healthier and lower in calories than eating real meals..the only problem was I’d eat the whole thing! And of course, I’m guilty of eating low-fat, lighter nut butters, mayo, etc…all the fake stuff! Why didn’t I care to take a look at what’s replacing the fat? disturbing..I like how you eat now π
Its CRAZY what they load up in those “light” foods!!! And I just can’t imaging you as a “jiggly puff” haha π
Liz, I can totally relate! Those 100-calorie packs were everyone’s obsession back in the day. I’m totally with you, thoughβI’d rather have a real handful of nuts or homemade granola than an overprocessed, oversweetened “granola” bar any day.
Haha π I love this comparison! I also really like the pic collages. Did you use picmonkey or a different program?
Yep! I love picmonkey. It makes it so easy to edit photos and add text!
I agree that real foods are so much more satisfying. Learning to eat healthfully is a process, an evolution, if you will. You have to start somewhere!
I’m in the same place as you are. A few years ago I lived off lower calorie choices. I liked the taste just as much as “real” food and I could save on the calories! But after educating myself more on health and wellness I’ve learned that there is no substitute for REAL food. In the long run, those chemicals will not be my friend. Great post! π
I’m not a fan of 99% of diet foods. Though admittedly I like PB2 because it blends really well in a smoothie or greek yogurt (since they don’t seem to make PB yogurt..ha!).
And whenever I bake, I go full out on everything. Who wants a diet cookie? Blech.
I do love PB2, but that’s because it’s still real peanuts!!! I usually mix a tablespoon of PB2 with a tablespoon of peanut butter, just so I get a bigger serving size, and more protein! π
Oh gosh I went through a period of eating a lot of light, diet foods as well and looking back I honestly have no idea how I did it. Talk about bland and unsatisfying. Those 100 calorie “cookie” snack packs? Feels like eating cardboard. And loading up on a bunch of chemicals and preservatives just to save a few calories? No thanks. I’ll take my higher calorie whole foods, thank you very much.
Absolutely love this post because I could have written it myself! I lived for diet & low-fat foods…although they were low in calorie I was never satisfied! While there are so many old foods I could oust, Diet Coke was a biggie for me. I used to drink 2 cans daily. I had my last one on December 31st, 2011 and just the idea of drinking all those chemicals makes me sick…I would even rather drink a regular Coke.
That’s so encouraging!!! I just stopped drinking diet coke a couple of weeks ago and I’m trying to keep it away!!