How to Fight Food Cravings
Don't blow all of your calories on a binge.
Don't blow all of your calories on a binge. Satisfy your cravings with these easy substitutions.
You're Craving: Apple Pie
Eat this instead:
Cinnamon Apple Delight
Core a cooking apple (about 6 ounces), and peel one third of the way. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Cook in the microwave, covered, on medium-high (70% power) for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender.
Apple Pie: 295 calories and 14 grams of fat
Cinnamon Apple Delight: 115 calories, less than 1 g fat
Savings: 180 calories and 13 grams of fat
You're Craving: Buffalo Wings
Eat this instead:
Buffalo Tenders
Heat 1 teaspoon butter in small skillet; add 5 ounces chicken-breast tenders, cut into seven strips. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon cayenne-pepper sauce. Serve with celery sticks and 1/4 cup low-fat blue-cheese dressing.
Buffalo Wings: Seven pieces, served with celery sticks and 1/4 cup blue-cheese dressing, 860 calories, 70 grams fat
Buffalo Tenders: 285 calories, 10 grams fat
Savings: 575 calories, 60 grams fat
You're Craving: Four-Cheese Pizza
Eat this instead:
Napoli Pita Pizza
Use half of a 6 1/2-inch pita and top with 1/4 cup chopped tomato and 1/4 cup shredded, light mozzarella cheese. Top with chopped fresh basil or oregano leaves, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese and 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Bake to melt cheese.
Four-Cheese Pizza: 330 calories, 11 grams fat for 1/6 of an 11-inch pie
Napoli Pita Pizza: 180 calories, 5 grams fat
Savings: 150 calories, 6 grams fat
You're Craving: Cherry Cordials
Eat this instead:
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
Swirl bottom halves of three whole medium strawberries in melted chocolate (use half a semisweet chocolate square).
Cherry Cordials: Chocolate-covered maraschino cherries with liquid centers, 165 calories, 6 grams fat per three pieces
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries: 75 calories, 5 grams fat
Savings: 90 calories, 1 gram fat
You're Craving: Chinese Fried Rice
Eat this instead:
Rice With Steamed Veggies
Combine 1 cup cooked white rice, 1 cup steamed vegetables (frozen stir-fry variety works well), and a splash of soy sauce and Asian sesame oil; toss.
Chinese Fried Rice: 605 calories, 12 grams fat per 2 cups
Rice With Steamed Veggies: 300 calories, 3 grams fat
Savings: 305 calories, 9 grams fat
You're Craving: Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Layer Frosting
Eat this instead:
Angel-Devil Cake
Take a 1-ounce piece of angel food cake and cut into two thin slices. Spread 1/4 cup low-fat chocolate pudding between the slices. Sprinkle with some cocoa powder and garnish with 2 tablespoons light whipped topping.
Chocolate Layer Cake: 235 calories, 11 grams fat for 1/8 of a cake prepared from an 18-ounce cake mix
Angel-Devil Cake: 165 calories, 3 grams fat
Savings: 70 calories, 8 grams of fat
You're Craving: Chocolate-Coated Ice-Cream Bar
Eat this instead:
Frozen Banana on a Stick
Insert ice-cream stick into end of half a peeled banana. Roll in crumbs of one crushed reduced-fat chocolate wafer. Wrap and freeze.
Chocolate-Coated Ice-Cream Bar: 290 calories, 20 grams fat per 5-ounce bar
Frozen Banana on a Stick: 70 calories, less than 1 gram fat
Savings: 220 calories, 19 grams fat
You're Craving: Chunky Gourmet Ice Cream (like Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby Ice Cream)
Eat this instead:
Chocolate Dream Ice Cream
Add in one of the following to 1/2 cup low-fat ice cream:
- 1 reduced-fat mini chocolate bar, cut up
- 70 mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 chocolate-covered peppermint patty, cut up
- 2 reduced-fat chocolate wafers, crumbled
Chunky Gourmet Ice Cream: 240 to 370 calories, 14 to 26 grams fat for 1/2 cup
Chocolate Dream Ice Cream: 120 to 130 calories, 3 to 4 grams fat
Savings: 110-250 calories and 10-23 grams of fat
You're Craving: Custard-Filled Eclair
Eat this instead:
Vanilla Cream Bites
Split a ladyfinger; spread 1 tablespoon low-fat vanilla pudding on each half.
Custard-Filled Eclair: 260 calories, 16 grams fat
Vanilla Cream Bites: 55 calories, less than 1 gram fat
Savings: 205 calories, 15 grams fat
You're Craving: Fast-Food French Fries
Eat this instead:
Oven-Baked Fries
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss one unpeeled baking potato (about 5 ounces), cut into wedges, with 1 teaspoon oil. Arrange in single layer in shallow pan. Bake 25 minutes, turning once, until potatoes are golden.
Fast-Food French Fries: 450 calories, 22 grams fat per 5 ounces (large order of fries)
Oven-Baked Fries: 145 calories, 5 grams fat
Savings: 305 calories, 17 grams fat
You're Craving: Fast-Food Deluxe Hamburger
Eat this instead:
Veggie Burger
Top with lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, on sesame-seed bun
Fast-Food Deluxe Hamburger: 710 calories, 46 grams fat
Veggie Burger: 250 calories, 5 grams fat
Savings: 460 calories, 41 grams fat
You're Craving: French Cruller
Eat this instead:
Faux-French Cruller
Split 2 ladyfingers and coat on all sides with a butter-flavored cooking spray, then with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
French Cruller: 170 calories, 8 grams fat
Faux-French Cruller: 55 calories, less than 1 gram fat
Savings: 115 calories, 7 grams fat
You're Craving: Breaded and Fried Onion Rings
Eat this instead:
A-Okay Onion Rings
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a flat dish, combine the following to form a paste:
- 1 teaspoon plain bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Dip 10 large sweet onion rings (each about 1/2-inch thick) into the mixture to coat edges. Arrange in a single layer in a shallow pan. Bake for about 12 minutes, turning once, until the edges are golden brown.
Breaded-and-Fried Onion Rings: 290 calories, 19 grams fat for 10 large rings
A-Okay Onion Rings: 110 calories, 5 grams fat for 10 rings
Savings: 180 calories, 14 grams fat
You're Craving: Ice-Cream Sandwich
Eat this instead:
Ice Cream on Chocolate Wafers
Spread two tablespoons low-fat ice cream between two reduced-fat chocolate wafers. Roll sides in 1 teaspoon chocolate sprinkles. Wrap and freeze.
Ice-Cream Sandwich: 200 calories, 7 grams fat
Ice Cream on Chocolate Wafers: 75 calories, 2 grams fat
Savings: 125 calories, 5 grams fat
You're Craving: Jelly-Filled Doughnut
Eat this instead:
Jelly-Jammed Ladyfinger
Spread 2 teaspoons raspberry jam on a split ladyfinger.
Jelly-filled Donut: 290 calories, 16 grams fat
Jelly-Jammed Ladyfinger: 55 calories, less than 1 gram fat
Savings: 235 calories, 15 grams fat
You're Craving: Lemon Meringue Pie
Eat this instead:
Light Lemon Square
Spread 1 graham cracker square with 1 tablespoon lemon curd (in the jelly aisle); sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.
Lemon Meringue Pie: 305 calories, 10 grams fat for 1/6 of an 8-inch pie
Light Lemon Square: 95 calories, 4 grams fat
Savings: 210 calories, 6 grams fat
You're Craving: Milk Shake
Eat this instead:
Fruit Smoothie
Blend 1 cup fat-free milk; half a banana, sliced; six strawberries; and four ice cubes.
Milk Shake: Prepared with gourmet ice cream (such as Häagen-Dazs), 420 calories, 26 grams fat
Fruit Smoothie: 165 calories, 1 gram fat
Savings: 255 calories, 25 grams fat
You're Craving: Deli Style Potato Chips
Eat this instead:
Quick Chips
On a microwave cooking rack, arrange 12 very thin, unpeeled potato slices in a circle; sprinkle with salt. Cook in microwave on High for 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 minutes until brown; rotate rack halfway through cooking. Let stand for one minute.
Deli-Style Potato Chips: 105 calories, 7 grams fat for 12 chips
Quick Chips: 15 calories, 0 gram fat
Savings: 90 calories, 7 grams fat
You're Craving: Salted Peanuts
Eat this instead:
Salted Oatmeal Cereal Squares
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Toss 2 cups Quaker Toasted Oatmeal Squares with one egg white until well coated. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt.* Spray sheet with cooking spray; arrange squares in single layer, with a slight space between each. Bake 20 minutes, turning once, until golden.
* Use less salt if desired.
Salted Peanuts: 210 calories, 18 grams fat per 1/4 cup
Salted Oatmeal Cereal Squares: 60 calories, less than 1 gram fat per 1/4 cup
Savings: 150 calories, 17 grams fat
You're Craving: Sliced-Steak Hero Sandwich
Eat this instead:
Roasted Portobello-Mushroom Sandwich
Brush one medium-large Portobello mushroom with balsamic vinegar. Roast in 425 degrees F. oven, top side down, about 10 minutes. Slice, then serve on a split hero roll.
Sliced-Steak Hero Sandwich: 700 calories, 26 grams fat
Roasted Portobello-Mushroom Sandwich: 445 calories, 8 grams fat
Savings: 255 calories, 18 grams fat
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