16 Easy Food Substitutions For More Taste, Less
Fat
From eDiets - The premier online diet, fitness, and healthy living
resource
If dieting didn't mean giving up butter,
sour cream, mayonnaise, heavy cream or other fattening cooking favorites, you'd
do it... right? But then again, who wouldn't? Ask anyone who needs to lose
weight why they haven't gotten started and the majority will rattle off a slew
of foods they "just cant live without." In their minds, fat equals fabulous.
They've reduced the notion of healthy eating to a life of boring foods that are
unappetizing at best. Trust us: your taste buds will not wither up and die from
a healthy diet. Wellness coach Pam Smith promises healthy choices can be every
bit as edible as unhealthy choices. She knows the drill. Smith makes a living
bringing people over to "the
other side." The best-selling author of  The Smart Weigh: The Simple, 5-Point Plan to Losing Weight
Permanently
(Lifeline Press) trains men and
women from all walks of life -- from athletes to business executives -- to eat
healthily and fit exercise into their busy lives.
A key component to crossing over from
junk-food junkie to health-food enthusiast is learning to make healthy
substitutions. Small changes can add up to big fat losses, Pam points out.
She says our love of fat-laden foods is
learned and often passed down from our ancestors. Over the years, we’ve
watched Mom drop dollops of sour cream on potatoes or Grandma fry chicken in
lard.
“It’s what we’ve grown up
with,” Pam tells eDiets from her office in Orlando, Florida.
“We’ve learned that fat brings flavor. Somehow the notion of leaving
these ingredients out has us believing that healthier food tastes like
cardboard.
“Learning how to make smart
adjustments makes the difference. People lack knowledge. They lack time. They
push through the day and hardly have time to go to the grocery store let alone
modify time-tested recipes.”
That’s where Pam can help. She’s
already done the dirty work for you. All you need to do is apply the
substitutions when necessary. Your food will be healthier AND tastier, she
promises.
“You’re not just leaving out the
undesirables, you’re putting in flavor in ways that butter can’t even
deliver," Pam notes. "For example, rather than just taking out the butter, you
can sauté using a small amount of olive oil and shallots. Add flavor
using herbs and spices that jazz up the dish rather than leaving it flat, bland
and boring."
One example of a calorie-saving
substitution: swapping cooking oil for cooking spray can eliminate up to 540
calories and 60 grams of fat. Not too shabby for one simple step... not when
you consider one pound equals 3,500 calories.
But it isn’t just main-meal cooking
that gets us into trouble. Snacking is also a major danger zone. In
today’s on-the-run society, time is of the essence. When those cravings
strike between meals, we reach for the most convenient snacks... usually
high-cal, high-fat landmines grabbed from office vending machines or
just-down-the-road mini marts.
You can sidestep the snack trap with a
little foresight. Keep healthy snacks on hand and you won’t have to choose
from the lesser of the evils, she says. And if you don’t know what
constitutes a healthy snack, get educated. You have all the resources you need
at your fingertips (your eDiets meal plan includes a long list of
waist-friendly snacks).
The next time you’re in the market,
ready to reach for those products with little or no nutritional value, try
making these slimming substitutions from Smith’s Healthy Living
Cookbook (Siloam Press).
Food Substitutions for Cooking
Instead of... 1 cup whole milk
Use... 1 cup skim milk
Savings... 90 calories, 10g fat
Instead of... 1 cup heavy cream
Use... 1 cup evaporated skim milk
Savings... 783 calories,
87g fat
Instead of... 1 cup sour cream
Use... 1 cup fat-free sour cream
Savings... 432 calories, 48g
fat
Instead of... 8 oz. cream cheese
Use... 8 oz. light cream cheese
Savings...351 calories, 39g
fat
Instead of... 2 oz. oil
Use... cooking spray
Savings... 540 calories, 60g fat
Instead of... 1 oz. oil
Use... 1 tsp. oil
Savings... 225 calories, 25g fat
Instead of...1 pint mayonnaise
Use...1 pint plain nonfat yogurt
Savings...3,168 calories,
352g fat
Instead of... 6 whole eggs
Use... 12 egg whites
Savings... 324 calories, 36g fat
Instead of... 1 pint sour cream
Use... 1 pint plain nonfat yogurt or nonfat sour cream
Savings... 803 calories, 89g fat
Instead of... 4 oz. cheddar
cheese
Use... 4 oz. reduced-fat cheddar cheese
Savings...
225 calories, 25g fat
Instead of... 8 oz. cream cheese
Use... 8 oz. fat-free cream cheese
Savings... 711 calories,
79g fat
Instead of... 1 lb. ground beef (80
percent lean)
Use... 1 lb. ground turkey breast
Savings... 819 calories, 91g fat
Food Substitutions for Snacking
Instead of... Snickers bar
Enjoy... Crisp apple, mozzarella string cheese
Savings... 165
calories, 10g fat
Instead of... 60 Ruffles potato
chips
Enjoy... 24 Baked Lays potato crisps, 1 oz. part-skim cheddar
cheese
Savings... 260 calories, 29g fat
Instead of... 1 jelly doughnut
Enjoy... 1/2 whole-grain bagel with 2 Tbsp. light cream cheese, 1 tsp.
fruit jam
Savings... 79 calories, 5g fat
Instead of... Wendy's medium
Frosty
Enjoy... 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt and fresh berries sprinkled
with 1/4 cup low-fat granola
Savings...235 calories, 10g fat
To get your copy of Smith's The Smart
Weigh: The Simple, 5-Point Plan to Losing Weight Permanently,
click here.
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