Taking the diet out of “diet foods”

19th November 2009

Taking the diet out of “diet foods”

posted in Food History, Health, Nutrition & Fitness, Rachel |

I’m sitting at my favorite local indie coffeehouse staring at a large plate of cottage cheese and fresh fruit atop a bed of leafy greens paired with a side of steaming spiced apples and wishing I had my camera because the presentation is as much artistic as it is yummy. That its menu is vegetarian-friendly is one of the reasons why I love this coffeehouse so much, but despite its array of veggie offerings, I sometimes find myself craving the delicious synergy of pineapple and large curd cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese has gotten a bum rap in the past few decades. For too many, its pebblelike curds suspended in a milky mixture conjures up images of diet food or maybe food for the old and senile. There’s even a cottage cheese fad diet that guarantees weight loss if you only eat it straight for one week. I always find the association of cottage cheese as diet food a bit amusing considering that during my eating disorder days, I decided it way too high-cal to eat and labeled it a “bad” food. Salad, another diet food dismissal and a personal favorite, also seems to get no respect.

As I sit here alternating between typing and downing forkfuls of cheese curds, I wonder about other foods considered to be worthy of consumption only when in the pursuit of weight loss. Are there any “diet foods” that you like and have reclaimed as part of your non-diet diet?

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1 On November 19th, 2009, JennyRose said:

My mom frequently served cottage cheese and canned fruit for lunch when I was a kid. I think it is thought of as diet food because it is served as part of the diet plate, along with hamburger without a bun in diners acros the country. I always wondered who ordered it. It must have started with the first Atkins craze.

I was afraid of salads for years because of the hidden fat traps the magazines warned us about.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 12:33 pm

2 On November 19th, 2009, Penny said:

Fish, salad, cottage cheese, celery, carrots, various soups and most types of fruit, especially grapes, strawberries and blueberries. I loved these foods before I started restricting myself to eating only these foods and only in very small amounts, and because I started to associate them with headaches, inadequate nutrition and the rest of what came with my severely restrictive eating habits, I gradually came to loathe them. While my non-dieting diet has always been pretty healthy, I’m glad to say that it’s getting even healthier since I’ve started to regain my fondness for these foods.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 12:56 pm

3 On November 19th, 2009, Sarah said:

I really love Special K (though I’m in the UK and think the taste might be different) despite that its marketed as a ‘diet’ food. I hate that it makes me look neurotic. My boyf ADORES it too. I loved steamed salmon and spinach too.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:00 pm

4 On November 19th, 2009, Laurie said:

Popcorn cakes/rice cakes. There are some sweet/salty ones that just make me go om nom nom, especially during my period.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:18 pm

5 On November 19th, 2009, Rachel said:

I always find it funny whenever we go to a chain restaurant and order a veggie burger, it comes with a side of fruit or a salad whereas all the other burgers come standard with fries. Just because you eat vegetarian doesn’t mean you’re dieting or a health nut.

I also LOVE rice cakes. Kroger, our local grocery store, has a brand out now of Yogurt & Berries that’s simply divine.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

6 On November 19th, 2009, Rachel said:

Oh, and Lean Cuisine spinach and mushroom pizzas? They’re great with veggie sausage crumbles and extra cheese. I usually try not to support dietmongers, but the pizza tastes good and it’s the perfect portion size for one.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:26 pm

7 On November 19th, 2009, Micco said:

salad

And super ultra ditto on the veggie burger/no french fries thing. Even though I’d take steamed vegetables over french fries in a heart beat, I was a little insulted that I wasn’t even given the option at some Thai-Americana fusion restaurant downtown. Everyone around me gorged on mounds of deliciously crisp potatoes, but being vegan doesn’t mean I don’t want to do the same! (Sometimes. Maybe. The jury’s still out.) It irks me that, as plant-based diets gain momentum as a “green” move, dieters still get more preference when menu planning. It’s such a cultural slap in the face because it’s like, Hate yourself? Awesome. Make choices that are considerate of the world around you? Not so much.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:43 pm

8 On November 19th, 2009, buttercup said:

I love cottage cheese. Always have, always will. Salads too. The only “diet” foods I ever loathed were things made with frankensugar or with all or most of the fat stripped out and replaced with salt or chemicals. And Slim Gas shakes. Yuck. The thought of those and of sugar free jello are enough to make me grimace.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:44 pm

9 On November 19th, 2009, Alyssa (The 40 year-old) said:

Oh, gotta love those popcorn cakes! Esp. with a little peanut butter. Nom! I also love me a good salad, veggie burgers (especially Amy’s Texas-style, for those days when I’m in a hurry), whole-grain bread, oatmeal, and sashimi. Oh, and those grocery store veggie sushi rolls? Definitely a not-so-guilty pleasure, lol!

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

10 On November 19th, 2009, Shoshie said:

Cottage cheese tastes awesome in quiche! Also, I re-made a frequent South Beach Diet dessert, but with real sugar, and it was awesome. Ricotta with some honey, fruit, and nuts. Mmmm. I made two things of ricotta and it was GONE halfway through the potluck. I used cherries and pecans.

Also, really grainy, rough, bread. Mmmm. With chummus or some butter and jam.

Fortunately, I never developed a bad relationship with vegetables or fish. I think because I ate them consistently when I was dieting and when I was not dieting. I just love veggies and fish. Now steamed veggies and lettuce can go away forever, for all I care. Also celery, ’cause I think it’s gross. But that’s just my own little quirk. I’ve hated celery since I could eat it.

11 On November 19th, 2009, Trabb's Boy said:

After reading Bill Bryson’s Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (which left both me and my husband doubled up and bawling on the floor with laughter), I avoided cottage cheese for many, many months. I always adored it. Unfortunately, Canadians have no idea what cottage cheese is supposed to taste like. Here, it’s made of flavourless chunks of mush floating in a grey, slimy, salty and slightly bitter liquid reminiscent of … yeah, exactly. But I buy some of the good stuff whenever I’m back in the States.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 2:02 pm

12 On November 19th, 2009, WendyRG said:

Geez, I didn’t know our Canadian cottage cheese was that bad! I love cottage cheese!

There are no foods that I think of as “diet foods” only. For me, what’s important is reclaiming all the foods that I was deathly afraid to eat before. All those wonderful sweets, and breads and cheeses. The really good, quality stuff. I don’t need snack cakes, just give me tiramisu. These are the things that I’m working hard on “legalizing” without going off the deep end.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 2:55 pm

13 On November 19th, 2009, Mina said:

Spinach! I love spinach, lightly steamed, sauteed, raw or in minestrone soup, I love spinach! I also like rice cakes.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

14 On November 19th, 2009, Trabb's Boy said:

Yeah, sorry WendyRG. Cottage cheese and saugage are the True North’s only failings. Oh, and the treatment of aboriginal peoples. And Rush. But I’m really on board, here, and cried like a baby at my citizenship ceremony.

Back on topic, peppers. I keep a bowl of fruit in my office. Usually apples, since they last the longest, but sometimes oranges and sometimes red, yellow or orange bell peppers, which are just awesomely sweet and juicy to eat whole. People think I’m weird, though.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

15 On November 19th, 2009, Bree said:

Grapes, strawberries, clementines, pears, apples…I never considered them diet food until the hysteria over the obesity epidemic started heating up.

Rice cakes with chocolate drizzle are also tasty, as well as the Fiber One bars. Also grilled shrimp and chicken. It’s tasty in salad and by itself.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

16 On November 19th, 2009, Charlynn said:

For the longest time, I avoided rice cakes, Smart Ones entrees, sugar-free candies, and even most fruits and veggies because that’s primarily what I ate in the disordered days. Now I’ll occasionally pick up a bag of Quakes for a snack or the Smart Ones ziti marinara for a quick lunch. The only thing I haven’t re-integrated into my (healthier) diet is the sugar-free candy. If I eat too much of it, it does a number of my digestive system, so now I eat the regular stuff.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

17 On November 19th, 2009, Ashley said:

I never actually thought of cottage cheese as a diet food. I love it though! It tastes great! Also, I was never a salad eater as a kid, but as an adult I’m learning that it’s actually really good too.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

18 On November 19th, 2009, Twistie said:

It’s kind of funny you brought this up today because I’m sitting here eating a bowl of cottage cheese with dried cranberries, pecans, and a touch of honey. So delicious. I could eat this all day long.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 4:20 pm

19 On November 19th, 2009, sleepless said:

I like cottage cheese too, but have difficulty finding the full fat version. It seems like every brand has gone low-fat, with a corresponding increase in hardness and dryness. Not attractive, not tasty.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

20 On November 19th, 2009, Tracy said:

I enjoy fruit and all kinds of vegetables; not with the goal of losing weight but because they taste good and are healthy. I especially enjoy spinach, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, and all kinds of berries.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 4:34 pm

21 On November 19th, 2009, Andrea said:

I still cannot eat grapefruit. When I was 11 my doctor yelled at my mother to put me on a diet, and every morning for breakfast I had one-half of a grapefruit. I hated it then, and I hate it now. I would love to love it! It smells so good.

I do love rice cakes and Special K with berries. A guilty pleasure is a can of Slim Fast, but in the freezer until it’s all solid and mushy.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

22 On November 19th, 2009, JoGeek said:

I’ve recently had to take back my rejection of a lot of the “lite” foods when I read the labels and found out that “lite” often just means they used real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Personally I think most things taste better made with sugar. I still get a twinge of guilt when I buy “lite” chocolate syrup or jam because I feel like I’m tossing money to the diet industry.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

23 On November 19th, 2009, Rachel said:

Mmmm, grapefruit! And Charlynn, I am so with you on the sugar-free candy. The calories are totally worth not being in digestive agony for the rest of the day!

It’s funny to see grapes mentioned as a “diet” food. I had lost some 100 pounds or so when my aunt warned me that grapes were very high in sugar and to eat them sparingly or I’d gain weight. At the time, I felt so incredibly frustrated because here was my fat aunt advising me, who had already managed to lose a significant amount of weight, on weight loss and management. I still like to snack on grapes and also raw green beans. Yum!

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

24 On November 19th, 2009, erin said:

honeslty i have started drinking slim fast again. i hate it as a diet meal replacement. But in the am, i am busy, i am not hungry (but i know i should eat). it gives me something to fill the hole in my belly, is bland and smooth enough i can choke it down (i take birth control pills that make me very naesous in the am) AND it gives me a jump start on vitamins for the day.

Also yogurt of all flavors and types. yummy.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 6:09 pm

25 On November 19th, 2009, Vixen said:

Ditto on the yohgurts, esp. real sugar or (better) juice-sweetened — also the homemade sauerkraut I make with light mayo and rice wine vinegar. Yum.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

26 On November 19th, 2009, merri said:

Mmm I love cottage cheese especially the nancy’s brand. I haven’t had some in a while, I should get some. I remember whenever my mother went on a diet, that’s what she ate, cottage cheese and pineapple, so it wasn’t until a few years ago that I tried it, because I associated it as some gross diet food.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 7:06 pm

27 On November 19th, 2009, Godless Heathen said:

Cottage cheese (small curds for me), grapefruit, cabbage soup, salads, rice cakes, all kinds of fruit, real yogurt, and raw veggies. Except celery, celery needs to be diced up and cooked in something before I like it. I can’t stand Slim Fast anymore, but I will get that Ensure stuff if I’ve been too sick to keep solids down. It’s still nasty, but it doesn’t give me dieting flashbacks.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pm

28 On November 19th, 2009, Shannon said:

I really like a lot of “diet” foods including some that are made by some of the big name diet companies. I have a special love for those wrap lunch thingies that the South Beach Diet makes. There’s a chicken one that anytime I see them on sale I pick up a few. They are tasty. My philosophy is if something is tasty I’m going to eat it regardless.

Also I am a cottage cheese lover too but never with anything savory. Always with fruit. I am weirdly neurotic about that.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 7:41 pm

29 On November 19th, 2009, Michelle said:

I eat cottage cheese with breakfast almost every day. A few months ago, I visited my mom and noticed that she still has the little 1/2 cup bowls that I used to fill just to the line when I was counting calories. Heaping cottage cheese over the line put a big smile on my face.

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 9:31 pm

30 On November 19th, 2009, Les said:

I ate melba toast and pickles pretty much exclusively in my sick days, but now they’re one of my favourite snacks with a little cream cheese spread on the toast. nomnomnom.

love rice cakes too, especially cheddar!

posted on November 19th, 2009 at 11:49 pm

31 On November 20th, 2009, Kath said:

You know those rice cake things? Sometimes they come in corn cake variety? That are a bit like polystyrene? Well I love those. Usually with cream or cottage cheese on them. I love the texture and the squeaky sound they make when you chew them!

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am

32 On November 20th, 2009, Keira said:

Grapefruit interferes with my medications (both of them) so that scared me off the “grapefruit diet”.

Oh! rice/popcorn cakes! *dies* they make the best afternoon nibblies, though now I like to indulge and add a small amount of brie or Camembert and tomato chutney.. mmm.

I love yoghurt… I have never been able to stomach the “diet” ones here but I always included low-fat yoghurt in my “diet” just in minuscule amounts. I do prefer the low-fat ones purely because its hard to find the full fat ones and there is much less variety There is only so much strawberry yoghurt I can take.

Oh, and iceberg lettuce. It’s a hot spring here in Aust and I have taken to eating lettuce with my lunch (like piling it up on my salad sandwiches or as a side dish)…

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 8:58 am

33 On November 20th, 2009, Sydera said:

I’m laughing at your cottage cheese post. One of my favorite “comfort” foods is a bowl of fresh pasta with olive oil and salt, a handful of green onions, and a dollop of cottage cheese on top. My fiance finds it incredibly gross, but it is good!

I had also decided in my dieting days that cottage cheese was off the menu for being high calorie. Now I only eat the full fat version because the others taste terrible–and I do love large curd!

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 10:09 am

34 On November 20th, 2009, Sydera said:

Also–in European grocery stores they have this cereal called “Nestle Fitness.” It looks like Special K but has a heavier flake that tastes like pure heavenly crunchiness. It’s marketed as diet food. I just revel in a flake cereal that’s filling and not icky.

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 10:11 am

35 On November 20th, 2009, WendyRG said:

Our Canadian sausage isn’t good either? Good grief…well at least we have universal health care.

I’m positive you can find good sausage in Canada. At the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, at Kensington market, in Mennonite country near St. Jacob’s…and that’s just Ontario.

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 10:13 am

36 On November 20th, 2009, Tina said:

I like onlythe 4% fat, California-style large curd cottage cheese (with a dairy enzyme; being lactose intolerant makes things complicated). Any other cottage cheese has to be heavily spiked with pineapple flavor or those fruit preserves in the little trays, otherwise it’s inedible. Cottage cheese tastes great mixed with hot bowtie noodles.

I like the Gardenburger Portobella Mushroom. mmm! But I also tend to eat the burgers without a bun (holdover city from the avoid-bread days).

When I did have an eating disorder of the anorexic kind (most of the years was compulsive overeating) I swore by cole slaw and a scoop of the large curd …

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 10:56 am

37 On November 20th, 2009, rachel with a little "r" said:

I can imagine that a cottage-cheese only diet would make one lose weight…or chocolate diet, or any other “mono” diet…you’d just get so fucking sick of whatever it is, no matter how sweet and delectable, you’d just give up and not eat…or at least, I imagine I would. I like cottage cheese; I did not eat it till about a year ago when I decided to give it a try. All my life my mom had eaten it sometimes, and I thought it was sort of gross looking, but then once i tried it, it was good, even the low-fat; that’s the kind they carry at Sam’s Club in a big thing, and what my mom happens to get. I eat it with strawberries and/or pineapple, with a little honey on top. I also like it at buffet restaurants because it’s usually available, and gives me something that’s somewhat filling, so I don’t have to rely on just lettuce and veggies to answer “OMG what am I gauna eat???” Baked potatoes work well for that, too, of course…

I’m not going to ever even try Special K. While it’s likely very tasty food, I can’t get past their advertising. “Don’t skip breakfast! Women who eat a breakfast like Special K tend to weigh less!” Yeah, no shit, you think maybe the fatter women are SKIPPING breakfast in effort to lose weight? Oh, couldn’t be…much more likely that it’s the cereal that’s MAKING the skinny women skinny. :rolleyes

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

38 On November 20th, 2009, Emerald said:

Ryvitas! Not the fancy ones with seeds or fruit, and not the regular ones, which I still think taste like cardboard, but the dark rye ones…with the ‘dimples for lots of butter’ side uppermost, natch, rather than the ‘flat for slimmers’. And maybe a sliver of decent cheese, but really they’re great just with butter (and it has to be butter as opposed to can’t-believe-it’s-not-hydrogenated-low-fat-spread).

I’m generally a cheese lover, but never keen on cottage cheese. Just not enough solidity to it for me.

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 4:38 pm

39 On November 20th, 2009, Emily said:

Brussel sprouts! I used to steam them the night before and then eat them out of a Ziploc for lunch or dinner the next day (I would be out of my house from 8AM until 9PM.) THAT was disgusting. Once I recovered, I couldn’t eat them for years. Now, I roast them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and actually enjoy them!!!

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

40 On November 20th, 2009, Bronwyn said:

I actually love a *lot* of “diet” foods- provided they aren’t the diet version of another food I like. I find that sometimes those just are badly flavored beyond recognition. Not always, but sometimes.

Anyway, I love yogurt, cottage cheese- both things that have a reputation for being “diet” foods even though they can sometimes be anything but. I adore rice cakes, carrot sticks, spinach, Special K, prefer my veggies and fish steamed, my chicken grilled… That’s not to say I don’t enjoy fried foods, but if I’m given the choice and I’m fairly certain the quality of the item won’t be poor if I choose the grilled or steamed version, I always go that route. (I find that many times in restaurants, chicken especially will be kind of icky when grilled so I’ll often stay away from it in those cases).

Which is why I tend to find it so frustrating when someone might just assume that I’m dieting because I choose what people think of as “diet” foods. I suppose a lot of those foods even get good sales because of the perception but I also know there are people out there who probably never give things a chance because they assume that they’re going to not be tasty due to them being “diet” Which is a shame.

posted on November 20th, 2009 at 9:29 pm

41 On November 21st, 2009, Kath said:

I forgot broccoli! I ate so much of that shit when I was in my starve myself days, that I didn’t touch it for YEARS. I rediscovered it at Yum Cha (Dim Sum for those in the US) and now I love the stuff.

And yoghurt. I used to eat the horrible fake-chemical-sugar stuff when I was dieting, but now I like good old Greek yoghurt with fruit. Om nom nom!

posted on November 21st, 2009 at 5:32 am

42 On November 22nd, 2009, elizabeth said:

hard-boiled eggs! somewhere I read about Marilyn Monroe eating just hard boiled eggs to keep her weight down (the article didn’t mention the amphetamines!) and eggs were a big part of my ED diet. Now I love them again, especially with lots of real mayonnaise.

posted on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am

43 On November 23rd, 2009, Amy (No More Thinspo) said:

I have NEVER understood how it earned that reputation.

posted on November 23rd, 2009 at 4:04 pm

44 On November 23rd, 2009, Amy (No More Thinspo) said:

I used to be very preoccupied with celery…which sounds a cliche.

posted on November 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 pm

45 On November 23rd, 2009, twincats said:

Salad. I lurrve me some salad! I make all my own dressings and save lots of money so I can splurge on things like fennel root and heirloom tomatoes.

I also use lots of celery in things; sometimes smoosh some cream cheese or peanut butter in it raw when I can’t think of anything else to take to work with me.

posted on November 23rd, 2009 at 5:56 pm

46 On November 24th, 2009, a girl running said:

When recovering from my Eating Disorder I had to stop eating apples. I loved them but because as a dieter they were the only food I allowed myself in between meals I felt I was still eating them because I had to not because I wanted to.

It took almost 12 months for me to eat them again…when I had long since dropped the diet mentality.

It was a real turning point for me

posted on November 24th, 2009 at 11:42 am

47 On November 24th, 2009, *e* said:

Haha! I can not stand cottage cheese. I’ve tried it, but I just can’t do it. The consistency kills me, and frankly I’m not fond of the blandish flavor. I’ve tried pairing it with things but still no success. Anyway, I laugh because most ppl turn to it on a diet, but whenever I would read any kind of article that would break down the week’s food, if it included cottage cheese, I would immediately toss it aside.

posted on November 24th, 2009 at 4:09 pm