Food Swaps

LAT1963

Was reading a guy-pal's diary--he gets about 1000 calories more per day to play with than I do, and so he can afford a few more splurges.

Still, I was struck by one recent splurge in his program, that made me think about a book my 80-something year-old parents have been using, "Eat this not That". The premise of the book is that you can often substitute one brand of a thing for another, and save calories on a similar portion size. The book names brands and while I don't off-hand remember the specifics, I was impressed that the same gram-portion pepperoni pizza can vary between 600 and 1200 calories depending on the brand. In the case of pizza the difference was primarily in fat-calories that depended on the fat-level of the cheese and quality of the pepperoni.

Anyway, you don't need a book to be able to do this, all you need is to read food labels, so, I wondered if anyone has recently discovered a helpful substitution they can make (brands or similar items) that saves them calories or has some other nutritional benefit.

So, for a brand:

Pizza A = 600 cals
Pizza B = 1200 cals

->potential calorie savings for the same eating experience

For a nutritional benefit:

Raisin bran 2 servings (60g) + 1 cup milk = 3g fiber, approx 300 cals
1/4 cup Chia + 1 cup almond milk + 2 tsp sugar + 1/4 tsp vanilla extract = 14g fiber, approx 300 cals

->potentially more fiber intake for a similar calorie count.

----

The case that inspired me to wonder about this was my pal's splurge--750 calories on a cinnabon as breakfast. Now, I believe everyone who is not gluten sensitive or diabetic should budget a cinnamon roll on occasion, staying within daily targets. But it got me to thinking of other breakfasts one could have for 750 calories:

Cinnabon: 750 cals

-> taste, convenience

vs:

Nancy's quiche: 460 cals (2.5 minutes in microwave)
200g Canteloupe: 70 cals
1 c Simply Orange Orange juice with Calcium: 120 cals
coffee or tea with 1 TBSP heavy whipping cream: 50 cals

= 700 cals

->taste, equal convenience, PROTEIN, calcium, fiber, filling

vs:

3 x-large eggs any style: 240 cals
3 trader joe's applewood bacon: 270 cals
2 trader joes sprouted wheat bread toast; 160 cals
2 tsp butter: 68 cals
1 TBSP organic strawberry jam: 40 cals

=778 cals

->taste, less convenient/must be cooked/takes time, PROTEIN, filling
(and using large instead of extra large eggs would get you 758 cals, within margin of error for the cinnabon)



Gives a different perspective on the options. Much as I like cinnabon, if I were going for a ~750 calorie breakfast, I'd probably choose #3. But the cinnabon would be fine too as an occasional item.