Food substitute ideas!

[MiniMoosey]

After years and years of bulimia, trying every diet going, every fad etc I’ve decided to fuck it all off, focus on healing my binge eating and just choosing health. I’ve decided to throw away the scales, stop tracking calories and just choose being healthy as my goal rather than being thin.

Im looking for some ideas of really good swaps for comfort foods. I binge on comfort foods, it’s all deeply psychological but I want to try and train my brain into swapping for example, something like a sugar craving, for something still sweet but just better for my body and mental health (as binging on crap makes me very depressed).

I don’t want to cut out any food groups. I just want some ideas along the lines of “oh, when I crave an entire packet of cookies I have XY instead, it ticks all my boxes, soothes the craving and doesn’t make me feel hanging after!”

Sorry if it’s a confusing post. I very close family member has just being diagnosed with cancer (she’s my age, mid 20’s) and it’s very likely due to her obesity. It’s made me realise how selfish I’m being to my husband and kids by potentially cutting my life short because I can control my eating.

Hi OP! Similar to you I am a chronic binge eater. It's crap and an uphill struggle as you're always going to be around food and have to eat to survive, can't go cold turkey on this one!

When I crave sweets - I have frozen fruit. I soak grapes / watermelons / summer fruits in juice or similar, then freeze them. Out of the freezer, especially grapes and watermelons I roll in a tsp of sugar (it tends to stick to the outside) and it takes a while to eat and tastes sweet outside and inside, so it hits that sugar craving for me.

I love ice pops in summer, the Mr Freeze ones. They're low calorie, and taste sweet so I can have 4 and it hits that sweet craving too, and bonus it's cooling in hot weather.

When I crave biscuits / cake, I make one. I can't buy packs to have in the house otherwise it's no control, but I have frozen cookie dough (homemade or shop bought) in my freezer and I force myself to cook one at a time. They take 12-15 mins to cook, by the time one has cooked and cooled for eating the urge to binge has normally gone away and I can just enjoy the single cookie.

I also have these little vanilla scented smelling sticks (bit weird but stick with me) - you sniff them when you feel a sugar craving, and it makes your brain think it's satisfying that craving. I take these to work and out and about to help me when I'm in public, they've been fab.

Hi op - just seen the not tracking calories - please ignore my ice pop calorie comment, I just put it as for me it eases my binge guilt afterwards

Chopped strawberry’s with sugar sprinkled on top instead of sweets.
Greek yoghurt with a spoonful of Nutella or biscoff is amazing and so filling too.
Swap milkshakes for protein shakes.
Chickpeas done in the airfryer with salt and seasoning instead of crisps

Thankyou! I’ll give these ones a try!

I find honeydew melon sweet and filling and also refreshing in hot weather

Have you looked into mindful eating? You don’t need to cut any food groups out. It’s really helpful.

Not really a food on its own but swap regular salt for sea salt, it tastes saltier so you use less of it.

Swap Frijj milkshakes for Yazoo, they're a lot more watered down so have fewer calories.

An easy swap is swap gin & tonic or JD & coke for the diet versions of the mixer, the difference isn't so noticeable when added to alcoholic drinks.

Baked crisps are better for you than fried ones.

Have a look at healthier spreads and oils, Benecol is advertised as being healthier than butter for example, olive oil is healthier than vegetable oil etc.

Try and concentrate on reducing 'ultra processed foods' (UPF). If you look at the list of ingredients on the packet and there are items that cannot be found in a 'normal' kitchen then it's a UPF. Try going 'whole' foods...lots more lean protein, dairy, vegetables, fruit, nuts and healthy fats (i.e. avocado). Protein will keep you full for longer.

I like strawberries with some dark chocolate if im craving chocolate.
Diet/zero fizzy drinks - they really hit the sweet drink craving. There are studies that show weight gain associated with diet fizzy drinks, but that only applies if you also eat more at the same time - to avoid this, drink it with the normal meals you eat/only drink the drink and don't eat anything at the same time.
(Wholemeal) toasted bread if craving bread. Put a moderate amount of peanut butter, or jam on, and eat it with banana. Delicious and filling!
If craving crisps, have salted nuts instead, but be a bit careful with this one. You CAN still overeat on nuts, although it's more difficult. Try salted and roasted pistachios - i find that having the extra step of having to unshell the pistachio means i can't shovel them in by the handful ;)
Ice lollies are a really good option right now. Still sweet and tasty and take some time to eat but a lot lower calories than say, a chocolate bar or an actual ice cream.
If you're hungry after dinner, have a cup of decaf tea or herbal tea first (without sugar hopefully if you're OK with drinking it like that!). Takes a while to drink and settles your stomach. See if you're still hungry 1/2 an hour later - you may have just been thirsty.

Yes, I was just coming on to recommend nice soft drinks for sweet cravings, currently I'm enjoying iced tea, cold herbal infusions and elderflower cordial, but I also sometimes have lime and soda, lemonade, flavoured water and gasp diet coke (sure the anti-artificial sweetener brigade will be here soon to tell me how bad aspartame is for you but for me it hits the spot and stops me going for loads of sugar-y stuff which is surely worse). Another mildly controversial one is I do sometimes chew some sugar-free gum, having something to actually chomp also seems to help me, don't know if it's purely psychological or the chewing actually releases some hormones. Frozen fruit is good too, or frozen smoothie mix to make an ice-lolly.

If it's more savoury you're after, I do make my own kale crisps and roasted chickpeas in the oven, you just need to drizzle a little oil, salt and pepper and any other seasonings e.g. paprika or chill flakes on, then roast in a hot oven for 10-15 mins (watch like a hawk or it'll burn). Then coat with extra salt flakes and vinegear - absolutely not as tasty as 'real' crisps or salted nuts I'm afraid but they satisfy the urge for something salty and crunchy. Other snacks that fill the same void for me are cubes of cheese, pickles e.g onions, gherkins (I'm afraid I eat straight out of the jar on their own😳 ), olives, jarred sundried tomatos or artichokes or aubergines, chutney (I try and avoid crackers as I'll eat a whole packet as if they were crisps if I'm not careful). Do make sure to have a big glass of water on hand though as all that salt does dry you out something chronic!

In general also I find practicing good psychological self-care is very important in avoiding binging, I need to find ways to relax and 'treat' myself that don't involve food at all so things like favorite TV/radio, baths, beauty treatments, walks - both when I've had a bad day and need to de-stress and when I've done well and want to reward myself! In my previous mindset food or alcohol would absolutely have been my go-to for either situation and that's a really hard habit to break. But I'm sure you know all that anyway!

I’m definitely going to try the sweet drink idea. I only drink water so maybe this is why I’m always after something a bit sweet? I love things like peach ice tea and that so might try and have more of that!

I'd be careful on the diet drinks. Basically because they tell your body to expect sugar, and then the body doesn't get it, it can make you crave sugar more. I would resist filling a gap with loads of UPFs as they tend to be addictive and not help in the long run. Try instead to aim for filling whole foods which will fill you up.
Fruit is good, greek yogurt with nuts and honey, ice lollies (the froxen yogurt ones, or real fruit juice ones).

Diet drinks work for me - if you're finding they're making you eat more or feel really hungry then definitely cut them out. Normal tea or fruit tea would be better in that case. And peach ice tea is delicious but definitely a treat so keep it to 2-3 times a week