Substitutions: The Truth, The Lies and The Total Bullshit

Our society is very consumed with finding substitutions and alternatives to the bad foods we put in our bodies. In stead of Coke you can have Diet Coke. Instead of Cuisine you can have Lean Cuisine. Instead of Ranche dressing you can have Lite or Fat Free ranche dressing. The list can go on and on.

Finding substitutions and alternatives for unhealthy choices is just a fact of life. Not just with food but in all aspects of our lives. For example, if you are a shopaholic and find yourself laid off of your job, you'll have to find something else to do (such as look for another job). If you like to play sports and you get in an accident that causes you to lose a limb, you'll have to find a sport that does not require you to need all of your limbs or do something else entirely.

The principal is the same when choosing foods. If you love Coke but then find out it is causing you to gain a lot of weight, you have to replace it with something else. If you love McDonald's Big Macs and later get a revelation that it has a ton of calories and almost no nutritional value, you have to find something else to eat at lunch time. The problem is that a lot of us do not know what to substitute or how to substitute so we make choices that do not help us in the end.

I have a friend who has struggled with weight her whole life. In her 20s she decided to do something about it. She started going to the gym, drinking lots of water, and eating healthier food. She lost 100 pounds. This was very good except she gained most of it back. She could not figure out what she was doing wrong (or at least she did not want to admit what she was doing wrong). On some aspects she was correct: drink water, cut out fried foods, cut back on chocolate. As a bystander, I could not figure out why she gained all of the weight back either. She appeared to be doing things correctly. However, as time goes on, you start to see things the way they really are. She once revealed to me that she started eating chocolate chip cookies. She was proud of herself because she did not eat brownies anymore. I also noticed that some of the good foods she was eating were being eaten in excessive amounts. She did not eat a lot of chips anymore but she could eat a whole can of nuts. Yes, the nuts are good for her and a lot better than chips; however, nuts have a lot of fat in them. If you eat a lot of them you will gain weight.

From the example above, you can see what she was doing wrong. The truth was she needed to cut out brownies, chips and fried foods (and she did). The lie she told herself was, "since nuts are good for me I can eat as much as I want". The bullshit she fed herself was "it's okay to eat cookies since I'm not eating brownies".

When substituting:
1. Choose a food or drink that is not a mimic of the original. (example: If you normally drink Soda, don't start drinking Diet Soda. If you do, you're not changing your lifestyle, you're just changing one ingredient. This will not cause you to lose weight or gain health. In fact, this could actually cause you to gain weight because you will probably drink more. A better way to replace Soda is to drink water, 100% fruit juice, seltzer water, Unsweetened tea (or tea sweetened with honey), or eat a very juicy piece of fruit (I do this all of the time).

2. Don't replace one bad thing for another bad thing. (example: Eating cookies instead of brownies is like smoking a cigar instead of a cigarette [or vice versa]. They are both bad. If you like desserts, you probably like things that are sweet. Eat tons of fruit. Drink smoothies made with fresh fruit and 100% fruit juice. If you absolutely have to have a piece of chocolate, eat 1 pudding cup- Not 2 or 3.) This is about changing lifestyles. We all have to do it.

3. Choose a substitute that you either won't overeat or it won't hurt if you do overeat. (example: if you want to stop eating chips or other snack foods, don't replace it with nuts if you can't stop at one handful a day. Instead, choose something totally different such as fruit. When I want to snack on something, I will eat grapes out of a ziploc bag or 2 bags of baby carrots. Usually, people who snack just like the action of putting things in their mouths. Eat as many grapes and carrots as you want. in fact, EAT AWAY. If you just need something salty, put salt on your baby carrots or tomatoes, or cucumbers.) Remember, it's about lifestyle changes.

In all things, know yourself, accept yourself and be truthful with yourself.