301530 Wed Feb 15 20:06:11 -0800 2006 47 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1681943 so from reading the boards im assuming im not the only one on a diet. what do ya'll like to munch while dieting? i love: falafel's with garlic scallion hummus and tabuli (sorry if i spelled that wrong) cottage cheese with blueberries and mango wholefoods carrot salad wholefoods tuna salad with cranberries and whole wheat tortillas with low fat cream cheese Wed Feb 15 20:06:11 -0800 2006 0 Ashley 1 1681944 edamame. Wed Feb 15 20:13:40 -0800 2006 1681943 0 brooklynmaslala 1 1681946 Green salad with plain yogurt and salsa. Wed Feb 15 21:32:18 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Marion Morgenthal 1 1681949 Fruit dipped in nonfat, sugar-free choc pudding Air-popped popcorn mixed with Corn Bran cereal Sweet potato, grilled, with cinnamon Frozen grapes Lettuce wraps (filled with sautéed tofu, veggies, and soy sauce) Miso soup Wed Feb 15 21:50:45 -0800 2006 1681943 0 piccola 1 1681955 How do you lose weight eating fried falafel, hummus, and mayo-ed tuna and carrot salad? I used to make a great broccoli souffle that included blended broccoli, egg whites, fat free ricotta, and lipton's onion soup mix. Fat free whole wheat tortillas, sprinkled with water or sprayed with I Can't Believe it's Not Butter, then sprinkled with splenda and cinnamon and crisped in the microwave or oven for "bunuelitos." The La Tortilla Factory tortillas make great quesadillas with fat free cheddar and jack cheeses. For a sweet treat, I mix a little barley or brown rice with fat free cottage, splenda, cinnamon and vanilla, and nuke for a mock rice pudding. I also like to make a salad with grilled onions sprinkled with garlic salt, chicken, black beans, salsa, and lettuce. The grilled onions give great flavor without needing fat. Some people can't stand them, but I like the shirataki noodles for a starch substitute, and I like mixing them with chicken and grilled eggplant, onions, and mushrooms, and a little healthy tomato sauce. Wed Feb 15 22:46:24 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Emme 2 1681987 >>How do you lose weight eating fried falafel, hummus, and mayo-ed tuna and carrot salad?>> What she said! Those WF products taste like they are very high in fat. At the WF I go to, they used to label some dishes as low in fat but they have stopped doing that. We have a local chain of stores called Foodstuffs; they sell food with Weight Watchers ratings. If you make sure you are getting the portions right, those come in very handy for a diet lunch although some are better than others. I like shirataki too. I find that if you are careful to rinse and parboil them, they lose that weird tinny taste and are very good in stirfrys with soy and some seafood or vegetables. Also, nonfat Greek yogurt, oatmeal with freeze-dried blueberries (Just Fruit brand; nothing added) all kinds of fruit and sushi or sashimi. I like Stacey's soy crisps but no other brand of soy crisps. Thanks to whoever mentioned edamame; I keep forgetting about those. Thu Feb 16 10:45:14 -0800 2006 1681955 0 bibi rose 3 1682040 >>How do you lose weight eating fried falafel, hummus, and mayo-ed tuna and carrot salad?>> If you're doing South Beach you could have a mayo-tuna salad but with regular mayo (light is carb-heavy) and NO carrot. Hummus is good, falafel OK in moderation, but NO pita! The point is to go for low glycemic index: whatever burns more easily (sugars, simple starches) is to be avoided. French fries are better than baked potato, simply because they're harder to digest...though they certainly aren't on the approved list! Thu Feb 16 19:30:15 -0800 2006 1681987 0 Will Owen 3 1682042 all hummus is is ground garbonzo beans with a bit of seasoning, and there in my diet there is nothing wrong with that. Some falafel's are not fried but baked and falafel's are a healthy complex carbohydrate. carrot salad yeah its probably dressed a bit, but whats wrong with it? carrots with a bit of pineapple and raisins... and there is not that much mayo in the tuna. and finally the whole key to dieting is chosing healthy foods and eating in moderation... so yeah some of these things arent equivalant to gnawing on celery sticks but they are tasty and healthy options for snacks (unlike my favorites such as potato chips and candy) Thu Feb 16 19:45:57 -0800 2006 1681987 0 Ashley 4 1682058 Hummus has garbanzos and tahini, sesame paste, which is not cheap on fat or calories. Fri Feb 17 02:15:22 -0800 2006 1682042 0 Emme 4 1682065 >>all hummus is is ground garbonzo beans with a bit of seasoning, and there in my diet there is nothing wrong with that. Some falafel's are not fried but baked and falafel's are a healthy complex carbohydrate. carrot salad yeah its probably dressed a bit, but whats wrong with it? carrots with a bit of pineapple and raisins... and there is not that much mayo in the tuna. and finally the whole key to dieting is chosing healthy foods and eating in moderation... so yeah some of these things arent equivalant to gnawing on celery sticks but they are tasty and healthy options for snacks (unlike my favorites such as potato chips and candy)>> Well, I was on Weight Watchers and lost 20 pounds in a year precisely by eating in moderation. I can tell you that one of the worst diet traps is imagining foods are not going to make you fat if they contain some healthy ingredients. "Not that much mayo" ends up being quite a lot if you have what most people consider a normal portion. Salads are also notoriously deceptive; people think they are dieting when they eat them but a lot of them are so high in fat and calories that you might as well be eating a burger and fries. I'm not saying you can't ever eat the prepared foods at Whole Foods, but I've eaten a lot of them and they usually taste pretty high in fat to me. If you imagine that these foods are low-calorie you will probably eat much too much of them. Fri Feb 17 11:07:57 -0800 2006 1682042 0 bibi rose 5 1682120 well all i can say is that it works for my diet. i am not on ww or south beach or any of those so i am not familiar with the restrictions. not all diets work for everyone. so as long as i continue to get positive results i see no wrong in eating these things. Fri Feb 17 22:29:02 -0800 2006 1682065 0 Ashley 6 1682129 >> well all i can say is that it works for my diet. i am not on ww or south beach or any of those so i am not familiar with the restrictions. not all diets work for everyone. so as long as i continue to get positive results i see no wrong in eating these things. >> Can I ask what diet you're on, and are you actually eating the things that were listed? Sat Feb 18 08:47:04 -0800 2006 1682120 0 bibi rose 7 1682192 im not on any specific name brand diet, but im seeing a trainer and he told me to focus on high protein with complex carbs. so im encouraged to eat fruit and veggies and whole grains. im not on some complex diet and im not looking to lose that much weight. all i was looking for in this topic was healthy snacks to replace the junk food i love to snack on. perhaps i should have had the topic be healthy snacks. Sun Feb 19 18:51:20 -0800 2006 1682129 0 Ashley 8 1682196 >>im not on any specific name brand diet, but im seeing a trainer and he told me to focus on high protein with complex carbs. so im encouraged to eat fruit and veggies and whole grains. im not on some complex diet and im not looking to lose that much weight. all i was looking for in this topic was healthy snacks to replace the junk food i love to snack on. perhaps i should have had the topic be healthy snacks. >> Thanks for the answer! I confess I am somewhat disappointed because I was looking forward to hearing about a weight-loss regime where you could eat a lot of hummus and mayonnaise and stuff. If you are not looking to shift a bunch of weight I am sure those foods are fine and in fact I am working some back into my diet having cut them out for the weight-loss duration. I still tend to stay away from Whole Foods' prepared dishes because they all see incredibly high-fat and Foodstuffs has similar things with nutrition information. Sun Feb 19 21:26:32 -0800 2006 1682192 0 bibi rose 4 1682228 I'm not here to criticize your diet...just to let you know that hummus is NOT just ground garbanzo beans and spices. It's ground garbanzo beans and TAHINI, which is ground sesame seeds, which are very, very high fat. That's why hummus tastes so good and leaves you so full when you eat it. Look at the lable on a jar of tahini sometime. sorry. :-( Mon Feb 20 12:25:17 -0800 2006 1682042 0 danna 2 1682087 Hey Emme, that broccoli souffle sounds really interesting! Would you mind posting the recipe for is please? TIA! Fri Feb 17 15:36:09 -0800 2006 1681955 0 Rani 3 1682114 That was the recipe essentially... It was really a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants recipe. I would cook a bag of frozen broccoli florets til tender, then throw in the blender with about half a pouch of Lipton's soup mix, a couple of tablespoons of fat free ricotta, a couple of tablespoons of fat free sour cream, and 1-2 egg whites, depending upon their size. Give it a whirl til smooth. Pour into a Pam-sprayed pan, and bake til firm. Note: If you let it bake longer, the edges crisp and slightly burn; if you like the taste of burnt broccoli, as I do, the edges are a real treat. Fri Feb 17 21:03:01 -0800 2006 1682087 0 Emme 1 1681966 That's funny -- felafel is one of my 'splurge' foods. I like to eat: apples cut into eights and dipped in a tiny bit of honey skinny cow ice cream sandwiches cucumber chunks (peeled and deseeded) with almonds (not too many almonds, though) mango salad -- a mango peeled and cubed with some cashews, cilantro and red onions, with a bit of lime squeezed on top pretzel rods (also, only a couple) palmitos! (hearts of palm) -- they are delicious, satisfy crunch and creamy texture cravings, and have 0 WW pts with so few calories and high fiber Thu Feb 16 00:29:50 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Dev 1 1681975 -Swedish cracker bread with roasted red pepper spread from TJs. -1/2 oz. of DARK chocolate...at least 70%, but usually around 80-85% (I have this every night around 8 p.m. to stay sane!!!) -Fruit-juice-sweetened yogurt with a couple of almonds stirred in -1/2 a high-fiber bagel with light cream cheese and/or fruit spread Thu Feb 16 09:10:01 -0800 2006 1681943 0 wyf4lyf 1 1681981 I refuse to diet. I put on 20 pounds training for the recent NYC Marathon (I ran and finished) and took it off by moderation. Thu Feb 16 09:54:43 -0800 2006 1681943 0 BlueHerons 2 1681982 You ran the NYC Marathon? Outstanding! You should come down to Ft. Lauderdale this weekend and join us for the Inagural A1A Marathon on FLL beach. (It was supposed to be in Nov. but Hurricane Wilma decided to change the date.) Are there particular snacks you were eating post-run, like the chocolate milk I treat myself to after my long runs? Thu Feb 16 09:59:45 -0800 2006 1681981 0 Dev 3 1681989 This is so bad but here goes. My long runs were always on Saturday and I started my four month training schedule July 1st so living in South Carolina, my long runs always started about 4AM and sometimes earlier on Saturday mornings. By the time I finished and showered, it was time to hit the beach. My treat was regular full leaded Budweiser Beer! No light beer for me! I swear nothing hit the spot like an ice cold Budweiser out of the can sitting on the beach. Maybe that is why I gained 20 pounds? I was a little on the skinny side and I'm still finishing up the last five pounds but I did take it off by practicing moderation. Training for the marathon made me swear off dieting forever! Thu Feb 16 10:48:16 -0800 2006 1681982 0 BlueHerons 4 1682024 Congrats on completing the marathon. I'm kinda' leaning to trying out my first marathon this year as well. I also subscribe to the "moderation is best" school of thought. Ironically, my inner CH awakened while I was in the midst of my long-term goal to lose weight (I'm close to 100 lb lost now and it's still dropping.) Yeah, I'll splurge on a luscious, high-calorie, high-fat meal or food item every now and then, but I know not to do that every single day. BTW, a side bonus of physical activity is your daily caloric intake goes up as well, which allows for some "splurging." I've seen charts where the most active people require 4,000+ calories per day. As for the topic, I find some of those energy bars (Clif Bars come to mind) are actually quite yummy and make for a nice snack or even a meal (i.e. breakfast.) Thu Feb 16 15:56:09 -0800 2006 1681989 0 JojoA 5 1682031 Good for you and congrats on your 100lb weight loss. If you do run, training will overtake your life. The Gels or Goo are the worst things ever invented. You'll need them for long runs and they are nasty! Thu Feb 16 17:03:10 -0800 2006 1682024 0 BlueHerons 6 1682033 Oh, yeah, they are nasty - blech! I've done a fair share of mid-level distance runs (10K, 12K, and half-marathons) - thankfully, I've only needed the gel/goo packsts on the half-marathons. Thu Feb 16 17:28:34 -0800 2006 1682031 0 JojoA 7 1682054 I HATE those gels! I think Clif has come out with cubes now that are supposed to be easier to open (don't you hate trying to open those GUs when your hands are all sweaty from running in 150% humidity?) eat and stomach. And jelly bellies has some beans for sports as well. Have either of you tried them yet? And I definitely agree with the major calorie burn after running for 2 or 3 hours. I don't watch my caloric intake on long run days at all. And I always drink chocolate milk after the run -- I think the carbs from the sugar is perfect for shuttling the protein back into needy muscles. And it tastes so good! Thu Feb 16 23:14:31 -0800 2006 1682033 0 Dev 8 1682056 I tried a sample pack that Jelly Belly included in a goodie bag (Lemon-Lime flavor) - it doesn't compare flavor-wise to any of their regular jelly beans (it's closer in texture and taste to cheap-brand-name jelly beans) but it's better than the gels taste-wise. However, I don't know if you wanna' be concentrating on chewing these things while you're running, though. Fri Feb 17 00:07:24 -0800 2006 1682054 0 JojoA 9 1682113 My running buddies have been taking gummy bears on long runs for ages. I think they make me thirstier, but they seem to like it. And gummies are much cheaper than gu... Fri Feb 17 20:40:40 -0800 2006 1682056 0 piccola 7 1682091 I do fine on gatorade only for half marathons. And in fact, lately I've been doing honey in water spiked with lite salt (lite because it has sodium AND potassium). Not great, but no worse than gatorade. I should start messing with flavors, orange flower water might be interesting. Lemon, lime, ginger... hm. If I ever decide to go longer, I think instead of gu, I would buy those little bottles for gu and use honey instead. My friend who has done many marathons carries rice krispy treats with her instead of any kind of specialty running thing. Easy to carry, open, swallow and digest. That long run might not be so daunting if I had some gourmet running treats to eat on the way. I smell a market niche. :) Fri Feb 17 16:37:52 -0800 2006 1682033 0 Jess 6 1682077 I can't do Goo, I find Raspberry Cliff Shots to be the most tolerable. My husband prefers Carb Boom apple pie flavor. Fri Feb 17 13:49:17 -0800 2006 1682031 0 danna 2 1682189 Well thank you for your inspirational and utterly helpful ego trip. I'll just be grateful that it's easier to lose pounds than to lose a personality defect like that one! Sun Feb 19 16:14:24 -0800 2006 1681981 0 Kathy in Cambridge 2 1682339 Oh. And about those tasty snacks? You know, the ones that the thread is about? Maybe this is the wrong board for you? Tue Feb 21 17:56:45 -0800 2006 1681981 0 Sir Gawain 1 1681997 My husband lost 50lbs last year so we've become pros at low-cal foods. Some favorites-shrimp cocktail, herb-ox low sodium chicken or beef boullion,home baked tortilla chips (just cut corn tortillas into wedges, spray baking sheet with Pam, coat tortillas with Pam and salt, bkae 375 for 15 min-I even make my own "doritoes" by mixing several of Penzey's spice blends together and sprinkling them over the tortilla chips), no-fat frozen yogurt with fruit, tons of fruit and veggies, 94% fat free microwave popcorn sprinkled with spray "butter" and salt. I'm sure there are many more, but that's what I've come up with now. Good luck!! Kelly Thu Feb 16 11:50:13 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Kelly Migliaccio 1 1682001 I love celery sticks with Laughing Cow lite spread on them. With WW, the celery is free and the cheese is only one point. Trader Joe's has a recipe for a smoked salmon spread, I make it with L/F cream cheese and it's wonderful - 4 ingredients. One of the keys is focusing on what you CAN have, not what you can't. Good luck to everyone!!! Thu Feb 16 12:01:39 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Suburban Sandy 2 1682002 Can you please paraphrase the Trader Joe's smoked salmon spread? Thanks! Thu Feb 16 12:39:04 -0800 2006 1682001 0 Jen 3 1682005 Sure! It's a recipe that they have in the store (ours gives you recipes for several things.) You use 8 oz of lite cream cheese, about 1/2 cup or so of diced red pepper, some dried dill and 4 oz. smoked salmon. I also added a little bit (about 1 or 2 TB) of lite mayonnaise to make it more spreadable. You could use lite sour cream or yogurt as well. Mix it up and enjoy - you can add hot sauce if you like it a little spicy and serve it with pita wedges or crackers or those little rye bread slices. Thu Feb 16 12:54:32 -0800 2006 1682002 0 Suburban Sandy 4 1682038 If you're South-Beaching you could use the light cream cheese but real mayonnaise, as the light stuff is carb-heavy. Thu Feb 16 19:19:28 -0800 2006 1682005 0 Will Owen 1 1682011 I suppose this should really be in the "Home Cooking" site but: My WW group leader suggested: chop a bunch of fresh broccoli and cook it in chicken broth until tender then buzz with a motor boat blender. I keep this in the fridge and in the cooler weather it makes a "Zero Point" snack - I just fill a mug and nuke till hot. It's satisfying and warms you up... I've done it with just broccoli, and a mix of broc and cauliflower but any veggie could be used. It's easy and really doesn't need any other seasoning. Thu Feb 16 13:46:37 -0800 2006 1681943 0 RWCFoodie 2 1682068 try any of the following veggies in the same manor: cauliflower leeks potatoes carrots very simple, but they all have a lot of flavor. my fav is carrot - sprinkled with a little mrs. dash. my hubby and i eat (drink?) that by the gallon! Fri Feb 17 12:00:44 -0800 2006 1682011 0 SPARK 1 1682017 turkey jerky Thu Feb 16 14:43:41 -0800 2006 1681943 0 DB 1 1682018 Oven roasted cauliflower. Thu Feb 16 14:45:57 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Ericka 2 1682025 Love that too - I usually sprinkle quite a bit of curry powder over it, yum! Laurie Thu Feb 16 16:07:12 -0800 2006 1682018 0 sivyaleah 1 1682036 when i want something sweet, i get those 100 calorie packets of chips ahoy wafers. hits the spot and they are packaged so that I don't eat too many/ Thu Feb 16 19:07:55 -0800 2006 1681943 0 meb903 1 1682041 Laughing Cow Lite on celery sticks for me, too, or better yet some chunky peanut butter. I'm also a big part-skim mozzarella fan - the sticks are okay, but I really like to get the North Beach brand from TJ (that's funny: North Beach cheese for a South Beach diet!) and cut it into 2-oz. pieces, then amuse myself by pulling off strands and eating them. Pistachios are very nice. I get the 4-lb. bags from Costco for about $12, and keep them in a big airtight jar. They make a great TV snack, since it sorta takes both hands to eat them. Thu Feb 16 19:37:51 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Will Owen 1 1682046 Steamed, then grilled artichokes drizzled with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and dipped in Greek yogurt (Fage's is my favorite). Thu Feb 16 20:29:26 -0800 2006 1681943 0 Colleen 2 1682071 My new fave is artichokes dipped in good balsamic vinegar. Yum! Fri Feb 17 12:49:51 -0800 2006 1682046 0 Dev 1 1682072 as an experienced yoyo dieter having gained and lost hundreds of pounds (usually 20 at a time) 2 key things remain true. forget all the fad diets, they're not real life. who eats like that? americans are overweight because we eat too much in a sitting and don't exercise enough. portion control is key. that's it. that's why WW followers lose and keep weight off and carb counters don't. calories matter. and beyond your usual exercise, walk when you can. take stairs, not elevators. then if you want, you can treat yourself to an oreo...but just a couple in a sitting! and don't eat mayo...EVER! Fri Feb 17 12:52:30 -0800 2006 1681943 0 diet boy 1 1682828 Orville Redenbacher's 99% fat free popcorn sprinkled with splenda and cinamon Tue Feb 28 10:52:17 -0800 2006 1681943 0 MM