12 Easy Food Substitutions for Weight Loss
Looking for healthy food substitutes for your clean eating goals? Here are 12 simple, yet effective ideas to take your diet to the next level and help you lose weight fast. From white rice, pasta, and cream cheese to sour cream, eggs, and ice cream, here are some of the best healthy food swaps to boost your energy and help you reach your weight loss goals without feeling deprived.
When it comes to losing weight, monitoring what you eat is key to reaching your weight loss goals. Exercising is important for weight loss, but it works best when combined with a healthy diet. Even if you’re working out a few ties a week, you may not see as much of a difference in you’re still eating foods that are high in fats, calories and sugars. Enter substitute foods, healthy food swaps that will help you lose weight.
By substituting a few unhealthy foods, you will see a significant change in your weight, as well as your energy levels. Foods that are high in sugar and unhealthy fats result in weight gain and are harmful to your health.
You may not even realize some of the foods that you eat are as unhealthy as they are. Love vegetable stir-fry on white rice? Quinoa is a much healthier option. Love your morning bagels with cream cheese? Why not use nut butter instead?
If you’re looking to lose weight, try these substitute foods to improve your health and help you reach your weight loss goals.
1. Substitute Portobello Mushrooms for Burger Buns
Portobello mushrooms are a delicious substitute for burger buns. They’re soft and have the same consistency as a regular bun. When you combine this with a nice juicy burger, you’ll forget that you don’t have any carbs on your plate.
2. Substitute Lettuce Wraps for Flour Tortillas
Lighten up your next Taco Tuesday by substituting flour tortillas with lettuce leaves. You can harness all those flavors by folding large lettuce leaves with your favorite taco ingredients.
3. Baked Veggie Fries for French Fries
Veggie fries can have the same crispy, yet soft texture as french fries, but they are so much healthier. Placing veggies in the oven is simple and this way you can get a variety of nutrients from baked carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes.
4. Quinoa for White Rice
I do enjoy a plate of white rice with vegetables for dinner, but it’s not exactly the healthiest for you. Rice consists of mostly carbs, and white rice in particular had the bran and germ removed, leaving it with very little essential nutrients. Quinoa on the other hand, is one of the most protein and fiber rich foods, and packed with lots of vitamins and minerals. It contains iron, magnesium, manganese and all the essential amino acids. It’s as versatile as rice and it has a delicious nutty flavor.
4. Zucchini Noodles for Pasta
When you compare pasta with zucchini noodles, it’s a no-brainer which one you should choose for weight loss. Zucchini noodles contain less than a fourth of the calories of pasta and they’re much higher than nutrients. Zucchinis are beneficial for weight loss and your overall health in general, they’re full of vitamins and minerals. To make zucchini noodles, all you need is a vegetable spiralizer and your noodle dishes will be a lot healthier.
6. Substitute Frozen Banana for Ice Cream
It’s not surprising that frozen banana is a much healthier choice than ice cream. Ice cream is high in fat and loaded with sugar, which contributes to weight gain. Frozen bananas can be whipped up in a food processor to mimic the smooth and creamy texture of ice cream. Bananas are filled with essential nutrients and aid in digestion and weight loss.
7. Substitute Mashed Cauliflower for Mashed Potatoes
To make mashed potatoes, you typically use milk and sour cream, both of which are filled with fat and calories. Potatoes themselves are full of starch and they’re high in carbs, which isn’t ideal if you’re trying to lose weight. Cauliflower contains more vitamins than potatoes and they’re lower in fat and carbs.
8. Nut Butters for Cream Cheese
If you love bagels for breakfast or even as a mid-afternoon snack, instead of spreading them with cream cheese, use nut butter instead. Cream cheese contains large amount of fat and very few nutrients. It’s a mixture of whole fat milk and cream, which isn’t an ideal combination if you’re trying to lose weight Nut butters, on the other hand, contain healthy fats and are high in protein, but you should make sure to choose natural nut butters so that there aren’t any added sugars and fats.
9. Substitute Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream
Greek yogurt and sour cream are similar in both taste and texture, but sour cream is less nutritious and higher in fat. Keep in mind that this substitute is for plain Greek yogurt. There are flavored options, but these have higher amounts of sugar and fat. Greek yogurt has more protein and vitamin B-12 than sour cream and is also high in probiotics, which promote healthy bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract.
10. Substitute Mashed Avocado for Mayo
I’m not really a huge fan of mayo, and even less so after hearing of its unhealthy benefits. It’s very high in fat and just one tablespoon contains almost 5 percent of your recommended daily caloric intake. It also contains a ton of sodium and cholesterol, which is harmful to your health. In general, you should try to limit your intake of mayo as much as possible. Mashed avocado is a much healthier option. They’re full of vitamins, nutrients and healthy fats that you need in your diet.
11. Substitute Fruit-Infused Water for Juice
Fruit-infused water is fresh and healthy and has much less sugar than juices that you’ll find in the store. Fruit juice lacks fiber and is loaded with sugar and it’s high in calories. Fruit-infused water is a much healthier alternative that can help with weight loss. Choose whatever fruit that you enjoy, from apples to oranges and strawberries. Drinking water naturally helps to boos your metabolism, and with the addition of fruit, you et the flavor without the calories.
12. Substitute Coconut Oil for Butter
Not only is coconut oil known as an amazing super food, it also aids in weight loss. It can help you burn more calories and can also reduce your hunger, helping you eat less. Butter, on the other hand, is extremely high in saturated fat, which raises blood cholesterol. Butter isn’t completely unhealthy, but coconut oil is more beneficial to yor health and weight.
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