my lil tricks

I'm a foodie. I love food. Which is exactly how I got myself 50lbs overweight..by loving food and I've worked very hard in the past year to lose those 50lbs and I'd rather not go back. :-) I hate going without things that I love to eat, makes me grumpy. I cannot live on salad and asparagus, no ma'am, So I've found some easy substitutes to make the food I do love a little healthier. Trust me, if they weren't good substitutes I wouldn't share them because I wouldn't still be using them :-)

My Little Diet Lifestyle change Tricks:

I use ground turkey in all my foods that I used hamburger in. Chili, sloppy Joes, spaghetti, meatballs. I honestly cannot tell a difference and I don't have to drain grease (I hate draining grease) I can get a lb of ground turkey for 1.49 which is just about what I would pay for a pound of hambuger. The only thing I haven't tried turkey in is turkey burgers. I haven't got that brave yet, I LOVE me a burger. I also don't grill so that makes it a bit tricky :) I did get some turkey dogs on sale which I have yet to try..we shall see. We don't eat a lot of red meat. We eat LOTTSSS of chicken and ground turkey. I don't even buy red meat anymore unless it's for a certain dish. Some dishes I do 1/2 hamburger 1/2 ground turkey (meatloaf, those things that need a lil extra fat) Still saving calories though

Greek Yogurt. I use this in just about anything that calls for cream, sour cream, ect. I HATE yogurt but I can put the greek yogurt in things like tacos, cream soups, ect and I can't tell a difference. I have heard greek yogurt with honey and almonds in it is a wonderful snack but I haven't been brave enough to try that bc I don't like yougurt. One day I will though. (did you read that..I don't like yougurt but I put greek yogurt in place of creams, ect and I love it!!) When I make mashed potatoes I skip the milk and butter and just glop in some greek yogurt and it makes some REALLY good mashed potatoes! YUUMMM!!! It can be kinda pricey but I can make a tub go pretty far since I'm not using it everyday.

Night time snackies... I get them sooo bad, especially when I'm alone. I try to keep a bag of celery and carrots on hand and I munch on those in the evening with some veggie dip and before ya know it I'm too bloated from veggies to eat any other crap :-)

Here's my jewel that I just came up with in the last couple days..I took some chopped spinach and added it into the alfredo sauce I was making and my kids ATE IT! The little one, ya know, the one that doesn't eat green, had 3 servings!! The big one did ask what it was and I told her it was like seasoning, to make it taste good, even she ate 2 servings.. bwahahaha I honestly don't like spinch that much either but it worked great! I didn't taste it at all. Got some green in my non green eater.

We also aren't eating out as much (by 'eating out' I mean Mcdonalds, jack in the box, BK, ect bc I would have to be mental to take my kids, by myself, into a sit down establishment) But when we do (and trust me, there are definatly some nights since I'm doin this single parent gig) I skip all dressings on my burger, if I get one. No mayo, no spicy white sauce, no chipotle whatchama sauce..If i get something on there it's just mustard. Same for sandwiches.

Desserts: noowww you're speakin my language. mmmmmm Major sweet tooth! In all honesty I've cut my desserts down by a huuuuuge amount. I really don't eat sweets unless it's a certain week of the month and then I graze through like a starving hobo, which I do allow myself to that week to cheat. Trick #1: DON'T BUY IT! if it's not in the house ya can't eat it! Trick #2 when baking substitute the sugar for honey or Agave when possible. You can do a quick internet search to see if the recipe can be converted. Sooo much easier for your body to process since it's a natural sugar and less calories.

So there ya have it. Those are my little tricks. If you have any little tricks please feel free to share!