There are so many diet foods out there marketed at us to replace the real deal. With punny names and claims they taste just like the real thing, what’s not to love? This isn’t a blog to say those foods are bad, because they aren’t! There is nothing wrong with looking for healthy swaps, creatively eating more veggies and getting more volume in your meals unless those things are done solely to cut out the foods deemed unhealthy.
Replacing or restricting
In times of more extreme dieting and food restriction, giving up the more calorie dense foods in favour of the lower or even zero calorie options is pretty common. I’ve been there as I’m sure a lot of us have!
Flash back to living away from home during my time at university. I would not trust myself to have a jar of real peanut butter anywhere in the house out of pure fear of losing control and eating it all with a spoon. I bought pb2 instead and convinced myself it was the same (spoiler…it isn’t!). If you don’t know PB2 is powdered peanut butter you make up with some water… now don’t get me wrong, I think pb2 is great especially to add a peanut flavour to bakes or if I fancy something much lighter to drizzle over my food. The problem I have is when you replace the real stuff with its ‘better’ alternatives entirely out of said fear.
Satisfaction
Now peanut butter obviously isn’t the only example here, it just happens to be the thing I’m most passionate about! Zoodles, egg whites only, lettuce wraps, cauliflower rice (RIP my old blender), zero calorie yogurts and 10cal jelly pots are just a small example of the variety of swaps out there.
I’m all for having options, and I love to add volume to my food wherever I can but the lower calorie alternatives are only great if you actually still enjoy them. Cauliflower rice is a great way to add veggies to your meals but let’s be real… it will never be rice. The zero calorie noodles I would spend a fortune on which tasted like plastic and wouldn’t fill or satisfy me were not the same as the wheat pasta I craved.
The nights I would try to study but could only focus on whether I should eat more because even though I had dinner I still wanted more. I couldn’t understand it! I would usually ‘allow’ myself 4-5 (usually more) chocolate biscuits because dinner was so light and healthy, it made it ok.
The problem was that I was never fully satisfied with my meals and that right there is key. When you don’t feel satisfied after eating you might just keep searching. It might be straight after when you find yourself rooting around the biscuit jar, days later or even a few weeks later but chances are it will likely lead to some overeating, usually followed some nasty self deprecating talk before getting ‘back on track’ with the right foods and going at it all over again.
There’s room for everything
I like pb2 and I love my 0% greek yogurt but I don’ eat them because I won’t eat peanut butter or full fat yogurt. You’re supposed to enjoy your food and I think that’s a pretty great thing.
So if you hate zoodles but love spaghetti squash, awesome! Just don’t try to convince yourself that veggie noodles are just the same and force yourself to eat them if you actually don’t enjoy them. Make sure you find pleasure in the food you eat, maybe use a new seasoning, try roasting over steaming, add some sauces or have half wheat pasta half zoodles. Let’s try to break away from good and bad food and try trusting our bodies a little more.
I love peanut butter and eat it literally every day! I promise there is room for a whole variety of foods in a healthy diet!
