I have been trying really hard to eat a balanced diet. I try to eat well most of the time, but not completely remove anything from my diet. I eat whole wheat bread, yogurt, apples, salads with light balsamic vinaigrette dressing. When I buy chips I buy the baked kind instead of the regular. I stopped going out to lunch with co-workers except for rare occassions. I cook at home a lot more often than I used to (and by "I cook" I mean "my boyfriend cooks"). For example, tonight he made an absolutely delicious meal of grilled tilapia, rice and broccoli.
So this is why I'm frustrated that the scale has been moving in the wrong direction over the last 2 years. Not long ago my older sister recommended I buy a book called Eat This, Not That. And last night while at the grocery store I looked for it, and found it (at 20% off no less). I already read through quite a bit of it and found it very interesting. Interesting in an informative kind of way. It is very easy to read and has lots of pictures. It explains why you should choose something over something else and has a ton of neat little tidbits.
I found there were a few things I was doing right. Yoplait Light yogurt, for example, is what I have been eating gor a while now and is on the "Eat This" list. As are my Baked Lays and Nilla Wafers.
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After reading the At the Supermarket section of this book....
Instead of grabbing a random pasta sauce off the shelf the next time I buy it, I will grab Ragu Light Tomato & Basil. The Ragu light has 60 calories and 0g fat in it as opposed to the Prego Tomato Basil Garlic which has 80 calories and 2.5g fat in it (per 1/2 cup).
Instead of grabbing the Hellman's Light mayonnaise, I am going to try the Hellman's Canola mayonnaise. It has 2.5g monounsaturated fat instead of 4.5g of fat (3 of which is saturated or polyunsaturated).
Instead of grabbing my usual Arnold 100% Whole Wheat bread, I will grab the loaf of Arnold Bakery Light 100% Whole Wheat bread. It has 80 calories in 2 slices instead of 90 calories in 1.
Instead of grabbing the store brand of creamy peanut butter I will look for Simply JIF creamy peanut butter. Slightly less calories, saturated fat and sugar.
And since I am not perfect, and loooove me since ice cream now and then, I will opt for Breyers all Natural either Cookies & Cream or Vanilla Fudge Swirl. The Cookies & Cream has less calories and half the saturated fat as Edy's Slow Churned Mint Chocolate Chip.
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Another great section is what to choose (and to stay away from) at many popular restaurants. For example, at Uno Chicago Grill stay away (and I mean far, far away) from the Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza. IT HAS 2310 CALORIES IN IT!! AND AN UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF FAT -- 162g!!! Seriously? Are they really allowed to have something so horrifically bad for you available on the menu? Next time you go there, please order the 7oz. filet mignon instead. It only has 300 calories and 12g of fat. If you must order a pizza (which ok, I understand it IS a pizza place) the book recommends the Cheese and Tomato Flatbread Pizza.
Discussion: Do you own this book? If you do, did it work for you? Do you think that small changes like the ones promoted in this book can actually work?
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