Trade Up Without the Big Tradeoff
By Zach Van Hart, Staff Writer
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. The Spark Diet helps solve this problem with smart substitutions.
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 regular potato chips try baked potato chips
Instead of pudding try applesauce
Instead of ice cream try non-fat frozen yogurt
Instead of cream try evaporated milk
Instead of whole milk try skim milk
Instead of nachos with the works chips try tortilla chips and salsa
Instead of chocolate try cocoa
Instead of bagel with cream cheese try apple slices with peanut butter
Instead of boiling with butter try boiling with chicken broth
Instead of ground beef try ground turkey
source:sparkpeople.com
