The holidays are notorious for binge eating, indulging in poor eating habits and weight gain. If we've learned anything from reality TV shows like "My 600-lb Life" it's that morbid obesity is a growing problem and ending it means taking action sooner rather than later. New Year is the perfect time to start a weight loss regimen to eat healthier. Here are 35 diet food swaps to eat healthier and lose weight today. Using diet hacks was part of how I lost 100 pounds.
Start to eat healthier slowly and steadily. Weight loss is like the old slogan "think globally, act locally." Begin by being mindful of what you eat. It's easy to overreact and bite off more than you can chew (pun intended) in weight loss. When you
go overboard, it's easier to get overwhelmed and give up. Eat healthier one day at a time, in little
ways.
Practice healthy diet food swaps. Don't think "diet food" instead think food swaps to eat healthier
overall. Cleaning up eating habits will lose weight today.
Beverage food swaps for weight loss. Start by swapping juice or milk for pop. Then swap substitute
whole Vitamin D milk for 2%, skim milk for 2%. Substitute protein flax, cashew or almond milk for skim milk. Then
switch to water as your go-to bevvie.
Substitute calorie laden coffee beverages like Cappuccino, Frappachino and latte with healthier
alternatives: Non-fat, low-cal sweeteners and almond milk make coffee creamers.
Condiment diet food swaps. Cut condiments to eat healthier. Substitute coconut, avocado or olive oil for butter
or margarine. Blend butter half and half with coconut, avocado or olive oil; this makes butter easier to spread
and healthier. Replace transfat margarine with Olivio or other trans fat free butter or margarine.
Replace sweet dips, jams and spreads with blended peanut butter and plain Greek yogurt (makes a
protein packed sandwich spread and fruit dip).
Change out sugar in diet food swaps. Replace
bleached sugar with raw sugar (Florida Crystals or Sucanat), blue agave syrup, pure maple syrup, stevia or Splenda.
Replace one meat meal per week with a vegetarian fish, cheese, egg or vegan meal to lose weight
today and eat healthier.
Replace bleached flour with unbleached flour, whole grain breads and
cereals. Try using almond flour or cauliflower as a bread base. I started eating more breadless meals and sandwiches. These diet foods swaps work well for eating gluten free.
Substitute one restaurant meal a week for a home-cooked meal. Substitute one packaged food meal
a week with a home-cooked meal.
Order fish or chicken instead of beef, pork or processed meat to
lose weight today.
Substitute broiled chicken for fried or baked chicken to lose weight today. Substitute tuna or broiled
fish for chicken. Explore flaxseed, miso or avocado in place of cheese and creamy products.
Substitute raw almonds or sunflower seeds for honey roasted or salted nuts. Eat more vegetables
and less potatoes and pasta. Eat more brown rice than white rice for weight loss.
Substitute edamame, rice cakes and plain popcorn for salty snacks.
Swap nuts and beans for
meat as protein sources. Substitute hummus (chickpea paste) in place of cheese in main dishes.
Substitute frozen vegetables for canned vegetables and fresh vegetables for frozen vegetables.
Substitute real cheese for processed, Neufchatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese) for regular
cream cheese, then cottage cheese for cream cheese and finally Greek yogurt for cheese to lose
weight today.
Replace lowfat cold cuts for bologna. Substitute turkey cold cuts for pork. Substitute MSG, nitrate and
nitrite free cold cuts. Eat tuna fish or nuts for diet food swaps. Eat trans fat free, hydrogenated fat free,
natural or organic peanut butter or almond butter instead of plain Jif.
Drink 100% juice instead of soda or fruit drink, then drink green tea for juice. Eat whole fruit instead of
drinking juice. Drink one less alcoholic beverage (beer, glass of wine, cocktail) daily.
Use plain, unsweetened applesauce in place of oil in cake mixes and muffins. Substitute healthy
muffins for cupcakes. Substitute bagels for donuts. Swap diet bread for regular.
Eat a vegetable salad with every meal. Eat it before the main meal and you will not be as tempted to
over eat. Watch less TV. It's easy to engage in mindless snacking while staring at a screen. For TV snacks, try raw
carrots, celery and edamame.
Fast one day a week on bread and water. That's part of how I lost 100 pounds was to do intermittent fasting.
Weight loss isn't easy but it not as hard as I thought it would be.
