Smart Swaps

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Small substitutions can make a big difference.

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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.

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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.

Getting Protein on a Vegan or Vegetarian Diet

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Build muscle without touching an animal product.

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If you are doing any amount of resistance training, you should definitely keep an eye on your protein intake. Without sufficient protein, it will take a lot longer to build muscle and get that “tone” look you are going for. But if you are a vegan or vegetarian, it can be extra challenging to get enough of this essential macronutrient. Here are few suggestions I usually offer to my vegetarian and vegan clients.

Tofu is a staple of most vegan diets, and it fortunately contains a lot of protein. Tofu comes in a bunch of different textures, including silken, firm, and extra firm. For an extra shot of protein, stick with eating extra firm. It has the highest amount of protein per gram.

Nuts also give you a good protein kick and can be mixed with dried fruit for a healthy and filling snack. Ideally, you shouldn’t eat the heavily salted & roasted nuts you usually find in small packages. This process takes away a lot of the nutritional value and adds a bunch of unnecessary additives. In my opinion, the “king” of the healthy nuts is unprocessed almonds. They have twenty-one grams of protein per serving and tons of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Seeds are another great vegetarian protein source. Most varieties give you the protein you need plus a lot of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which can be particularly hard to get with a vegan diet. One of the healthier varieties is the sunflower seed, which has twenty-three grams of protein per serving.

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I have lots of clients who want to get fit but have to work around certain obstacles related to how they can eat or move. Sometimes they are lactose intolerant, have a bum knee, or have chosen to cut meat out of their diet. What I’ve discovered is that every obstacle is minor if the client really wants to lose that weight. Really, healthy eating is a challenge for everyone - vegans and vegetarians just have to be a bit more creative.

Life Without Meat

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Evaluate eating LESS meat. Creating a healthy eating philosophy that works for you is much more effective than going on someone else’s diet. Investigate some different styles of eating that may be more in tune with your tastes and/or beliefs.

Most everyone knows that vegetarians don’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but lately the term “vegan” has been thrown around without much explanation. Vegans are essentially vegetarians who do not partake in any type of animal products, including eggs, milk, cheese or other dairy items.

Vegetarians and vegans choose their eating lifestyles for many different reasons, ranging from health concerns to religious beliefs and animal rights to personal tastes.


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If you’re worried about the health risks of either of these meatless lifestyles, you have nothing to fear. It is completely possible to get all of the nutrients that your body needs whether you eat meat or not, but picky eaters beware! You may need to include a wider variety of foods into your diet if you want to be a healthy vegetarian.

Just like with any other healthy eating styles, you will need to include plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains while limiting sugar and saturated fat.

The assumption that vegetarians do not get enough protein in their diets is actually a myth. This is true in some cases because there are healthy and non-healthy vegetarians, just like there are healthy and non-healthy meat-eaters. It just depends on the person because healthy vegetarians get plenty of protein through other meatless sources like beans, nuts, tofu and leafy green veggies like spinach.

Another myth: All vegetarians are skinny. This is absolutely not true. I’ve met many overweight vegetarians in my lifetime. Oftentimes, instead of chowing down on a grilled chicken breast, they are choosing fettucine alfredo with garlic bread and a slice of pecan pie. Please don’t think that becoming a vegetarian is a sure-fire way to lose weight. However, I do think that it could help you take pause before you open your mouth. It requires at least a little more thought before you decide to add something to your plate.

For more info on vegetarian and vegan living, visit VegWeb.com. I really like this site because it has tons of great information that is organized in a logical way. Plus, the recipes are phenomenal.


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I chose today’s topic based on my own personal interest in vegetarian and vegan eating philosophies. I went without eating pork or red meat for five years, but it all fell apart over a deep dish pepperoni pizza that I just couldn’t refuse.

After that night, I decided that I really didn’t have any particular reason for eliminating those meats from my diets, so I decided to include them back in. However, had I been committed to no meat at all, I don’t think I would have given up so easily.

Eating no meat is intriguing to me, and I often consider making this lifestyle change.

Eating no animal products at all sounds impossible for me, personally. I love eggs. I especially love eggs with cheese. I also like cereal with milk. And I don’t want to be held prisoner to non-egg egg “product” with tofu cheese and soy milk. Keep in mind that I have absolutely no problem eating any of these things, but the most important thing to me is that I can actually eat when these items are not available (i.e. restaurants, homes of family/friends, banquets, etc.). My hunger trumps everything!

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.