Experts say that during your dieting days or when you are in a weight loss regime, your mind should be stress-free and you should remain happy. You should listen to what your heart says and eat what you feel like. But what if you are craving a cheeseburger? Certainly, it’s not at all healthy for your body. The best way to deal with this problem is by making smart food swaps. Low-calorie food swaps will not only make your soul happy but will also be beneficial for your body.
To help you lose weight significantly we have jotted down a few simple food swaps that will help you to cut down extra calories in a week!
Top Food Swaps to Try Out
Opposite to popular beliefs that one must eat boiled and bland food during dieting days, by making easy food swaps, you can cut down a lot of calorie intake this month. Here are top food swaps that can change your life and help you to meet your weight loss goals effortlessly:
1. Swap out Refined Grains for Some Whole Grains
Bread, rice, pasta, and cereals are something that is a necessity for many. Some people can’t just live without having a bowl of rice, pasta, or cereal on a daily basis. For them, the best alternative is to swap out refined grains with whole-grain alternatives. This way you can boost your fibre intake & improve your energy level without gaining extra calories.
For example, if you are a sandwich lover, you can swap out refined bread with whole-grain or multi-grain bread and enjoy your favourite sandwich. You can swap out normal rice with brown rice. When shopping for pasta, noodles check whether the pasta or noodles is made with whole grains or not. As a result, you can enjoy your daily dose of happiness without any guilt.
2. Swap Mayonnaise with Yellow Mustard or Yoghurt
A common ingredient to make your salad and sandwiches tasty is mayonnaise. Sadly mayonnaise is high in calories. A jar of mayonnaise has 90 calories in it while a jar of yellow classic English mustard has 0 calories. By swapping mayo with mustard you can save up to 90 calories. This is one of the healthy food swaps for weight loss that is done by most fitness enthusiasts.
If you are looking for that creamy richness in your sandwiches or salad, you can also swap it with some beaten-hung curd or Greek yoghurt. Curd or yoghurt not only adds richness to the dishes but also has much fewer calories compared to mayonnaise.
3. Spice up the Eggs
Who does not like some buttery cheesy scrambled eggs? Scrambled eggs with cheese are a go-to breakfast option, but sadly it’s filled with a lot of calories. Eggs in general are high in protein, pretty filling, and nutritious.
But by adding butter or cheese to your eggs you’re packing your breakfast with a lot of calories. A better alternative to make your eggs tasty is by adding some chopped chives, chilli flakes, or bagel seasoning. By doing this you will save up to 105 calories per serving.
4. Sip Seltzer instead of Soda
If you are looking for a drink post diner to wash off your stomach then don’t just grab a glass of sugary soda! Rather you can go for a glass of non-sugary unflavored plain seltzer. It will do a similar job but cut down on calorie intake.
By passing away a glass of soda you can save more than a hundred calories in one go. If you do not like the plain taste of seltzer you can add some orange juice or slices of lime to it for added flavour. These flavours are 1000% natural and won’t do any harm to the body.
5. Keep Nuts for Snacking
Eating in between meals is a good habit as it keeps you full and you won’t end up eating excess through our real meals. However, the calorie content of different nuts varies. A bag of walnuts is higher in calories than a bag of raw pistachios. One oz of raw pistachios has 159 calories whereas one oz of walnuts has 185 calories. Therefore by swapping walnuts with pistachios you will save up to 26 calories intake.
Fun fact: By shelling the pistachios with your hands will let you snack slower than eating walnuts so will not end up munching excess nuts.
6. Swap Candied or Canned Fruits with Fresh Fruits
Candied or canned fruit is generally filled with refined sugar syrup to keep them fresh for a long time. Therefore always go for fresh fruits instead of canned or dried sugary fruits. If you love fruit drinks always opt for freshly made fruit juices rather than buying a packaged fruit drink from the supermarket. Packaged fruit juices have a high content of sugar in them which should be strictly avoided to cut down your calorie intake.
7. You can choose Greek Yoghurt Instead of Sour Cream
Certain dishes always demand some sour cream for the richness they add to the dish. However, sour cream is high in calories. A better alternative to it is a dollop of Greek yoghurt. It will do a similar job but not add those extra calories to your dish. Among the various healthy swaps, Greek yoghurt tops the list.
8. Swap Sugar with Cinnamon
A tablespoon of sugar has 16 calories in it whereas a tablespoon of cinnamon has just 6 calories in it. If you are one who cannot have coffee or tea without sugar, you can opt for adding a tablespoon of cinnamon powder to it for a hint of sweetness. When on a weight loss diet one should eat foods that do not only promote weight loss but have other health benefits as well.
Cinnamon is one such ingredient that not only promotes weight loss but also helps to regulate blood sugar levels in the body and improve metabolism.
Conclusion
Whether on a weight loss diet or not, one should always opt for healthy and nutritious food that will both be tasty as well as filling. By following the above-mentioned food swaps, you can cut down a lot of calorie intake and feel a great difference in your body within a month.
