Regarding cheese: how do you normally consume it? Finding healthier alternatives that occupy similar niches might help. For instance, if you usually spread it on bread, you could substitute hummus; if you’re making paneer-based curry regularly, you could substitute tofu; if you’re melting it on top of nachos, I have no suggestions, because nothing melts quite like cheese.
I eat it on crackers (hummus is a good suggestion), but the two main areas that aren’t that easy to replace are sandwiches and just plain eating slices of American cheese by themselves. Which was originally a replacement for eating slices of meat by themselves.
Cheese has a certain soft-yet-firm quality to it that A) makes it a good glue to hold other things together, B) I just like. I’ve tried a lot of the standard replacements and I could probably convince myself to prefer them if I worked at it long enough, but it’d be hard.
I suspect fixing the cheese situation will probably end up being last on the list. It’s sort of my equivalent to cigarettes—comfort food that I get twitchy without. I don’t know exactly how unhealthy it’s making me, but I think it’s the one thing that if I try to fix at the same time as everything else, I’ll end up failing, and most of the other things are at least as high a priority.
To start with I’ll try getting some hummus though, and seeing if I can at least cut back a little on the cracker-related stuff.
You might want to consider substituting another kind of cheese for American. I suggest this for two reasons: 1- If you have to cut it, rather than having it presliced, you’ll be more mindful of how much you are eating it. 2- American cheese has more additives than other forms of cheese.
I, also, think the hummus suggestion is good. Keeping other healthy snack foods around might also be helpful- fruit, salsa, guacamole, carrot sticks or baby carrots and nuts.
Once you decide to address the less cheese goal, you could try rationing your supply. Decide how many crackers and/or slices of cheese you are comfortable eating in a single serving (and be realistic or you won’t stick to this), and bag them separately, to force a deliberate choice if and when you go and open up the second package of the day. If there are more slices in a package of american cheese than you want, and you know you will be too tempted, it is of course possible to immediately throw half of them away on your way home if nothing else works.
Or if you want to be bolder, just don’t buy things that are conducive to incessant oversnacking. That way you exercise your willpower in the grocery store, not at home when you’re hungry and your willpower is compromosed.
Hummus is good on sandwiches too, FWIW. Also guacamole, bean spreads (put a can of black beans and a can of artichokes (drained) and some garlic and olive oil and salt and pepper through a blender: awesome dip/spread!), baba ghanoush, lox, cucumber slices, pesto (contains cheese).
Regarding cheese: how do you normally consume it? Finding healthier alternatives that occupy similar niches might help. For instance, if you usually spread it on bread, you could substitute hummus; if you’re making paneer-based curry regularly, you could substitute tofu; if you’re melting it on top of nachos, I have no suggestions, because nothing melts quite like cheese.
I eat it on crackers (hummus is a good suggestion), but the two main areas that aren’t that easy to replace are sandwiches and just plain eating slices of American cheese by themselves. Which was originally a replacement for eating slices of meat by themselves.
Cheese has a certain soft-yet-firm quality to it that A) makes it a good glue to hold other things together, B) I just like. I’ve tried a lot of the standard replacements and I could probably convince myself to prefer them if I worked at it long enough, but it’d be hard.
I suspect fixing the cheese situation will probably end up being last on the list. It’s sort of my equivalent to cigarettes—comfort food that I get twitchy without. I don’t know exactly how unhealthy it’s making me, but I think it’s the one thing that if I try to fix at the same time as everything else, I’ll end up failing, and most of the other things are at least as high a priority.
To start with I’ll try getting some hummus though, and seeing if I can at least cut back a little on the cracker-related stuff.
You might want to consider substituting another kind of cheese for American. I suggest this for two reasons: 1- If you have to cut it, rather than having it presliced, you’ll be more mindful of how much you are eating it. 2- American cheese has more additives than other forms of cheese.
I, also, think the hummus suggestion is good. Keeping other healthy snack foods around might also be helpful- fruit, salsa, guacamole, carrot sticks or baby carrots and nuts.
Once you decide to address the less cheese goal, you could try rationing your supply. Decide how many crackers and/or slices of cheese you are comfortable eating in a single serving (and be realistic or you won’t stick to this), and bag them separately, to force a deliberate choice if and when you go and open up the second package of the day. If there are more slices in a package of american cheese than you want, and you know you will be too tempted, it is of course possible to immediately throw half of them away on your way home if nothing else works.
Or if you want to be bolder, just don’t buy things that are conducive to incessant oversnacking. That way you exercise your willpower in the grocery store, not at home when you’re hungry and your willpower is compromosed.
Hummus is good on sandwiches too, FWIW. Also guacamole, bean spreads (put a can of black beans and a can of artichokes (drained) and some garlic and olive oil and salt and pepper through a blender: awesome dip/spread!), baba ghanoush, lox, cucumber slices, pesto (contains cheese).