I have that super savvy Sagan to thank for this topic. You’re probably aware that Sagan is in the middle of a month-long raw food challenge. In her post today, Sagan revealed the non-raw foods at the top of her list at the end of this challenge.
Now, I’ve never done a raw food challenge and am not likely to attempt one in this lifetime, but Sagan’s post made me realize that I have a similar parallel in the conversion to healthier eating three years ago.
Most of you probably know that I didn’t lose my weight by following a specific eating plan. I kind of made mine up as I went along, starting simply by developing a habit of eating 5-7 fruit and veggie servings per day, then focusing on lean meats, and then whole grains, and so on. I also allowed one splurge item each week (a serving of non-whole wheat bread OR a slice of pizza OR some other deviation from the norm that left me within my calorie count for that day.) If I followed that plan, I promised myself ONE monthly splurge meal.
This plan worked for me (still does!), and I actually had a lot of fun with it. As thoughts of foods that hadn’t made the cut came to mind, I could evaluate them for potential splurge meals and determine if they were “splurge-worthy.” (Seinfeld fans will recognize the appropriation.) At one point, I had six months worth of meals set in my mind. After that, I think the new healthier way of eating had taken hold and I didn’t think about many of those foods anymore. Not very often, anyway. Reading Sagan’s post today, I realized that there are many foods I simply walked away from three years ago.
Here’s a random sampling of foods I used to eat regularly but apparently have left behind:
:
Hostess cupcakes (chocolate or orange)
Little Debbie snack cakes
Rotel cheese dip
Ritz crackers
Peanut butter pie
Multiple slices of pizza with extra cheese
Tater tots
Pizza Rolls (the commercial kind. I do make some at home using wonton wrappers. Thanks, Roni.)
Regular potato chips
Honey-roasted peanuts
Those are just a few, and there are many other foods that I’ve had very, very sparingly over the past 3 years: french fries (4-5x), pancakes (2x), fried catfish (2x, both times as monthly splurge meals), fried chicken (once), and biscuits (4-5x, always when traveling for some reason).
Everything else I’ve managed to work into the plan, even if in very limited portions. 
Foods I’ve significantly added in include dates, black beans, broccoli, green peppers, spinach (but still only in green smoothies), PB2, hummus, olive oil, pure pumpkin, yogurt, and soy milk. Oh, and air-popped popcorn. ‘Cause this girl does love to snack!
I’m curious what foods other people have “left behind” in their quest for healthier eating. What foods do you now eat regularly that you rarely, or never ate before?
And speaking of snacking (and I was earlier), the kind folks at Special K have offered one lucky US-reader a Special K Resolution Party Pack, including their new Special K Fruit Crisps, some cereal, a protein bar, an assortment of protein drinks, and some granola cereal.
Special K also provided me with one for taste testing, and I’ve sampled a couple of items. I opted for the protein bar one day when the tile guys were “finishing up soon” and my lunch was overdue. Another day, I tried one of the fruit crisps. I found both of them to be quite tasty and satisfying for their immediate purpose. I’ll be trying the other products in little servings here and there, due to the ingredients lists, which include sugar and other things that are no longer part of my every day (or every week) repertoire.
If you live in the U.S., and you’d like a chance to win your own Special K Party Pack and make your own informed observation, or if you’ve tried the products and would love to get your hands on more, just let me know in the comments! I’ll draw the lucky winner’s name on Thursday morning, 6 a.m.-ish US Central.
