What is a good alternative to eating pasta?
There is a high fiber pasta available online from The Fiber Gourmet. Because the pasta is higher in fiber, it is lower in calories. It is available for purchase in bulk or in packages. I find this is a nice swap for regular pasta, though I don’t care for their version of macaroni and cheese. Your taste may vary.
There is a product called Tofu Shirataki that is available in grocery stores in the produce section (near the tofu, no big surprise). It is a noodle-like product you can use like spaghetti. It has little taste of its own, so you’ll want to sauce it up. Some of my friends enjoy this as a spaghetti alternative, but I do not find it to be as satisfying as actual pasta. You can try it and see how you feel.
Instead of avoiding pasta, you might also try simple swaps to help you choose to eat less of it, or to reduce the overall calories in the meal with which you eat pasta. For example, you could use a different sauce. One way I find effective is to add vegetables to the meal. Start with a salad. Make your pasta main dish with a little flavored olive oil and steamed broccoli, carrots, sauteed red onions, and fresh basil. The bulk of the vegetables means less room in your stomach for the pasta.
I steam the spaghetti squash, then I scoop it out and let it cool.
While it’s cooling I saute onions and garlic and basil and then add the spaghetti squash and saute for a few minutes longer – than I push it to the side of the pan and add spinach to the pan and a little olive oil and salt the spinach and then let that wilt and then fold it into the spaghetti squash. It is so yummy. I usually season with oregano and a little hawaiian sea salt too.
Wow, am I in that same boat! In fact, even though I eat healthfully, I find that I need to make a big effort to reach for other food categories beyond the starches when I am hungry or planning meals. I love and agree with all the suggestions above, so will offer a new one from my arsenal. One of my favorite books on nutrition and diet, is the book “Volumetrics” by Dr. Barbara Rolls at Penn State University. You can read about her studies on “volumizing” your food, but she has a great recipe where you cook the pasta, then during the last 5 minutes you throw in a couple handfuls of vegetables into the same pot. Pour the pasta and veggies out into a colander when done, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and you are done. Now–when you serve it into your bowls, the veggies take up a certain amount of space that would have otherwise been pasta–so you will feel just as satisfied, but without the calories of a bowl full of pasta by itself! Does that make sense? So, sometimes, you CAN have your cake (pasta) and eat it too.