Make Smart Substitutions
Why do so many people regularly eat potato chips and guzzle soda? Taste is partly to blame, but a big reason might be that people don’t have any good replacements.
Smart substitutions are small (seriously) changes to your diet that can really add up. Did you know that by using one teaspoon of mustard instead of mayonnaise, you save 54 calories? Or that one cup of airpopped popcorn has 100 fewer calories than one cup of buttered popcorn?
Suppose for dinner you want a pasta dish. You could either have fettuccine alfredo or spaghetti with tomato sauce. Both sound good, don’t they? Well guess what – the fettuccine packs 426 more calories! By simply subbing in the spaghetti, you save a bunch of calories and still eat a great tasting meal.
This is the basis for smart substitutions. None of the changes are earth-shattering, but they make your calorie goal a lot easier to reach. Some of them you might even prefer (such as mustard over mayonnaise). You don’t have to sub out every single fatty or high calorie food you eat, but a change here and there can be dynamite.
You’ll be amazed at the difference it can make. Even if you don’t do it all the time, if you make smart food substitutions a habit, you can speed up weight loss without putting yourself in dieter’s prison.
Here are some more suggestions for smart substitutions. Feel free to find your own and incorporate them to your daily diet.
Instead of Try
Regular potato chips Baked potato chips
Pudding Applesauce
Ice cream Non-fat frozen yogurt
Cream Evaporated milk
Whole milk Skim milk
Nachos w/ the works Tortilla chips & salsa
Chocolate Cocoa
Bagel w/ cream cheese Apple slices w/ peanut butter
Boiling w/ butter Boiling w/ chicken broth
Ground beef Ground turkey |