Often when you are dieting, it is easy to feel you are being
deprived. You watch others enjoying all the foods you are not allowed to
have on your chosen diet plan. They are eating foods like mashed
potatoes with gravy and hot porridge with loads of brown sugar, mom's
apple pie-all the foods that make you feel good on a cold winter day. In
other words, they are eating comfort foods.
Believe it or not, though, it is still possible to stay true to your diet and eat comfort foods as well. You just have to modify what you think of as comfort foods and eat accordingly. These comforting foods can be adjusted to be ones that still make you feel good, but are just lower calorie versions or slight substitutions.
Dieting does not mean that you can only have salads and fresh fruit and vegetables to eat. You too can have hot, warming foods that will make you feel satisfied and not deprived. You can include food that can be your special version of comfort foods.
Try adding this version to your list of comfort foods: Instead of potatoes or that mound of buttery rice, add a hot vegetable to replace them. Why not try cooked cauliflower, beets or some other hot vegetable to your menu instead? They can take the place of the higher calorie potato or rice dish your family might be eating, and still give you the feeling of a hot, comfort food.
Also, if you are used to having your potatoes with gravy, change it a little for your own comfort and diet friendly variety. The fattening part of the gravy is usually the flour or corn starch added to thicken it. The flavor, though, is in the stock. Why not use the stock as flavoring on your hot cauliflower instead of butter or gravy? This would make it a diet friendly substitution.
Soups and stews are often considered to be comfort foods. These can also be great diet foods. They can contain a lot of vegetables cooked in a hot broth. You don't have to add the noodles or cream to soups, or potatoes to stews, to make them taste good. Omitting the cream, noodles or potatoes can make soups and stews very diet friendly, and they can still be hot and comforting.
A nice steaming cup of tea, hot chocolate or coffee can also be considered comforting, but if you add the cream and sugar again your diet may be at risk. Why not substitute an herbal tea for your hot beverage instead, one that doesn't require any other flavoring but the tea itself? That way you can still be comforted with the hot drink without adding any additional calories at all.
The porridge mentioned earlier can also be changed to be a lower calorie version while still being part of your comfort foods. Make the porridge as directed, but use a sugar substitute to sweeten it instead. Then you can get the benefits of the good carbs contained in the cereal while still enjoying the comfort food aspect of it.
If apple pie is your idea of a comfort food, you can also alter it to be able to include at least part of it on your diet. Why not stew some apples with cinnamon and sweetener and have that as your diet friendly desert instead of the pie?
There are many ways you can get the benefits of adding the comfort foods you love to your list of diet friendly options. You do not have to feel deprived next time your family sits down to a hot comforting meal of your favorite foods. You will be able to enjoy your own version of your favorite comfort foods.
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Believe it or not, though, it is still possible to stay true to your diet and eat comfort foods as well. You just have to modify what you think of as comfort foods and eat accordingly. These comforting foods can be adjusted to be ones that still make you feel good, but are just lower calorie versions or slight substitutions.
Dieting does not mean that you can only have salads and fresh fruit and vegetables to eat. You too can have hot, warming foods that will make you feel satisfied and not deprived. You can include food that can be your special version of comfort foods.
Try adding this version to your list of comfort foods: Instead of potatoes or that mound of buttery rice, add a hot vegetable to replace them. Why not try cooked cauliflower, beets or some other hot vegetable to your menu instead? They can take the place of the higher calorie potato or rice dish your family might be eating, and still give you the feeling of a hot, comfort food.
Also, if you are used to having your potatoes with gravy, change it a little for your own comfort and diet friendly variety. The fattening part of the gravy is usually the flour or corn starch added to thicken it. The flavor, though, is in the stock. Why not use the stock as flavoring on your hot cauliflower instead of butter or gravy? This would make it a diet friendly substitution.
Soups and stews are often considered to be comfort foods. These can also be great diet foods. They can contain a lot of vegetables cooked in a hot broth. You don't have to add the noodles or cream to soups, or potatoes to stews, to make them taste good. Omitting the cream, noodles or potatoes can make soups and stews very diet friendly, and they can still be hot and comforting.
A nice steaming cup of tea, hot chocolate or coffee can also be considered comforting, but if you add the cream and sugar again your diet may be at risk. Why not substitute an herbal tea for your hot beverage instead, one that doesn't require any other flavoring but the tea itself? That way you can still be comforted with the hot drink without adding any additional calories at all.
The porridge mentioned earlier can also be changed to be a lower calorie version while still being part of your comfort foods. Make the porridge as directed, but use a sugar substitute to sweeten it instead. Then you can get the benefits of the good carbs contained in the cereal while still enjoying the comfort food aspect of it.
If apple pie is your idea of a comfort food, you can also alter it to be able to include at least part of it on your diet. Why not stew some apples with cinnamon and sweetener and have that as your diet friendly desert instead of the pie?
There are many ways you can get the benefits of adding the comfort foods you love to your list of diet friendly options. You do not have to feel deprived next time your family sits down to a hot comforting meal of your favorite foods. You will be able to enjoy your own version of your favorite comfort foods.