Smart Swaps

Appetizer
Small substitutions can make a big difference.

Main Course
Sometimes a good diet isn’t all about completely revamping every little thing you eat. Often subtle substitutions to the foods you usually eat can make a huge difference in the number of calories you consume, the kind of nutrients you eat and your general health. Here are a few ways you can “health-ify” common meals. Use them as inspiration for altering your favorite dishes to better suit your healthy lifestyle.

Instead of: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Have: Whole Wheat Spaghetti and meatless meatballs

Switching to whole-wheat spaghetti eliminates much of the food starch that causes your insulin levels to rise and encourages your body to store fat. Plus it includes a lot of extra protein and fiber. Having vegetarian “meatless” meatballs instead of regular meatballs trims some saturated fat from the meal.

Instead of: Buttered toast, two eggs, and bacon
Have: Whole wheat toast with jelly, three egg whites, and a slice of lean ham

Even a traditional American breakfast can be made healthy. Jelly has about 1/3 of the calories of butter, plus none of the saturated fat. Scooping out the egg yolk takes out a lot of the cholesterol and saturated fat that have given eggs a bad rap. And ham has more protein than bacon but less grease.

Instead of: Two scoops of ice cream topped with chocolate syrup and sprinkles
Have: Two scoops of sorbet topped with low fat whipped cream and raspberries

No one said dieting means you have to give up your sweet tooth. Just keep an eye on the sugar and calorie content and you can have the occasional indulgence without feeling it in your waistline.

Dessert
I think this really illustrates that a good diet doesn’t start at home; it starts in the grocery store. Once you decide to only bring mostly healthy food into your home, slowly but surely, your white bread will be replaced by wheat bread; your whole milk will be replaced by skim milk; and your potato chips will be replaced by unbuttered popcorn. After that, eating healthy will simply be a matter of reaching for whatever happens to be in your fridge or cupboard.