Swap this for that!
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Pizza with a spoonful of brown rice and 1/2 a cherry tomato.
Ice cream with plant protein powder stirred into water.
Chocolate with spinach and some agave nectar, but only if I'm feeling naughty.
Seriously, though, some of these are a little bit ridiculous... I understand that whatever the "swap" is may be a "healthier" or lower calorie alternative, but you aren't really replacing the original thing. Zucchini is not pasta. If you're going to eat zucchini just call it zucchini.0 -
I dont think that's what they mean Iknowsaur - Im sure nobody is saying grapes are the same as ice cream - but they are saying they used to regularly snack on a bowl of ice cream and now they snack on a bowl of frozen grapes.
Less calories in frozen grapes and therefore easier to fit into calorie allowance.
not saying they will never have ice cream again - but if it doesn't fit into allowance they have found a low calorie alternative to swap for. No-one is saying they are giving up the swapped food entirely.0 -
New Find....
Tuna salad sandwich with bread----> Tuna salad on celery sticks.
Added bonus you can use the celery stick as a spoon to get the tuna onto the celery stick.0 -
thanks for the post!
I agree with some others who are using lettuce leaves instead of tortillas/taco shells. I do this everytime now.....and I actually don't miss the tortilla at all (serious!) - -as for pizza and ice cream.....well........i'm working on it.0 -
This thread makes me sad. Good luck off to have my last chocolate of the night
Me too. Swap all the original things for a smaller portion of the original thing and fit it in your day - some of these are horrible (you know who you are, cauliflower pizza crust)0 -
For cooking sauces and gravies, replacing fats and heavy heavy creams with chicken broth and 1% or skim milk is a great alternative. I also use broth for pasta dishes that call for a lot of butter. I use a little butter for flavor, but a lot of calories are saved, and dishes still taste great!
Good topic, thanks.0 -
Love this topic and have found new ideas. Keep them coming.
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Edys outshine coconut bars instead of ice cream. They are soo good I don't feel like i'm missing a thing! :drinker:0
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Swaps huh? Hm....
Applesauce for oils in baking
I have halved the amount of meat in pasta sauce and filled it with vegetables. I have also done this with the pasta in pasta dishes such as ziti and lasgana...that cuts A LOT of calories.
Plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
I do a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour with all purpose now....mainly for the fiber increase.0 -
I make my own wraps with only 5 carbs.
I use cauliflower to make faux mashed potatoes.
Almond milk instead of skim.0 -
This thread makes me sad. Good luck off to have my last chocolate of the night
Why does it make you sad?
People aren't saying they will never have their favourite thing ever again - but if you are going to lose weight, you are going to have to make some changes to your eating habits ( and/or do more exercise) .
So if one of their changes is swapping, say, a regular snack of ice cream to a snack of frozen grapes, why is this sad?
Because some people here don't believe in giving up anything. They just work it into their calories. If it fits, they eat it.
This doesn't make me sad.. lol.. but that's exactly what I do :-)
I still eat what i want.. if it fits into my calories. I just usually have smaller portions of it.0 -
Sparkling Ice, This is the brand name. Extremely tasty, carbonated water, has fruit extract for flavouring, sweetened with sucralose, ZERO calories. Swap this for pop!!!!!Comes in tons of flavours0
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Remember! Exercizing so you can eat what you want can still be unhealthy if done all the time. Don't forget type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease. EVERYTHING in moderation. 0
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The only swap I have ever done is when I make ranch dip I swapped sour cream for non fat plain greek yogurt. Oh nope not true ground turkey for ground hamburger. Other wise I just count my calories and exercise. It's all about moderation and moving.0
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I LOVE chips and dip...I mean really really LOOOOVE chips and dip! I switched to rice crackers and herb/garlic hummus. So good! I can only eat maybe a third of my usual portion due to the high fibre content, and now any 'pop' I drink has to be clear. Sprite or sparkling fruit water type stuff.0
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The first time I swapped yogurt for sour cream on a potato, I found I preferred it.0
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The first time I swapped yogurt for sour cream on a potato, I found I preferred it.
I do Greek yogurt instead of sour cream on tacos and I actually prefer it too. It was a pleasant surprise.0 -
I'm not sure if this has been done before but I thought it would be fun to share any healthy food swaps we've adopted into our lifestyles.
One for me is:
Ice cream for low fat greek yoghurt!
this makes me want to cry...0 -
This thread makes me sad. Good luck off to have my last chocolate of the night
Me too. Swap all the original things for a smaller portion of the original thing and fit it in your day - some of these are horrible (you know who you are, cauliflower pizza crust)
took the words out of my mouth...0 -
To each their own but I don't understand...sure, you can be thin and lose weight but it doesn't mean you are healthy. For me, this is a lifestyle change to put better things into my body. Sure, I have a treat and do eat things that may not be good for me at times but overall this journey is to be healthier and if losing weight is one of the benefits then great. Garbage in, garbage out! If swapping food works for people and helps them lose weight and in turn eat healthier then I am totally for it. Eating even smaller amounts of crapping food just doesn't make sense even if you have the calories. This is my opinion and to me, losing weight should be more than about just being thinner. Good luck to all, whatever method you take on this journey.0
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To each their own but I don't understand...sure, you can be thin and lose weight but it doesn't mean you are healthy. For me, this is a lifestyle change to put better things into my body. Sure, I have a treat and do eat things that may not be good for me at times but overall this journey is to be healthier and if losing weight is one of the benefits then great. Garbage in, garbage out! If swapping food works for people and helps them lose weight and in turn eat healthier then I am totally for it. Eating even smaller amounts of crapping food just doesn't make sense even if you have the calories. This is my opinion and to me, losing weight should be more than about just being thinner. Good luck to all, whatever method you take on this journey.
what is "crapping food"….?
so you are saying that ice cream is somehow unhealthy?0 -
This thread makes me sad. Good luck off to have my last chocolate of the night
Why does it make you sad?
People aren't saying they will never have their favourite thing ever again - but if you are going to lose weight, you are going to have to make some changes to your eating habits ( and/or do more exercise) .
So if one of their changes is swapping, say, a regular snack of ice cream to a snack of frozen grapes, why is this sad?
I don't really think the swaps are sad, but they aren't necessary either. I lost over 40 pounds and I eat everything I like, just less of it. I always ate GoGurt tubes frozen, but now eat one instead of two, for instance. I wouldn't swap caulitlower for potatoes because I don't like the flavor of it cooked, but I eat cauliflower raw in salad all the time. I buy ice cream or yogurt, whichever is on sale and eat it if I have calories left for it at the end of the day. I have found keeping the 40 pounds off much easier this time because I didn't deprive myself while losing it. I just learned to eat less. Maybe I liked healthier foods to start with or maybe I cut out a lot of the junk after my celiac diagnosis years ago. If the swapping works for you, by all means do it. It just didn't ever work for me - I've yo-yo dieted since I was 7.
And to answer the original question: regular pizza crust for gluten free pizza crust -- every website I've looked up the GF crust on to get the calories, it almost halves the calories in a pizza because it's a super thin crust. Also, you can buy just the crust and control the toppings completely.0 -
Okay, spelling error no need to be a jerk about it And yes, ice cream is definitely not the most healthy food around but again MY opinion, don't want to start a war here 0
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Instead of 2 Cadbury creme eggs, I eat 1....
I've swapped half a medium pizza for 2 slices...unless I'm really hungry and have the calories for it.
I'm not being a jerk lol, but I haven't taken anything out of my diet...for me, I just swapped serving sizes. That is working for me, but everyone is different!0 -
Great post! I'm always trying to think of inventive ways to swap out foods for better versions.
So far my main swapsies are:
- Spiralized Zucchini in place of pasta & Spaghetti noodles
- Thinly sliced zucchini in place of Lasagne Noodles
Why not use spagetti squash instead of spiralized zucchini? It strings itself and has a great flavor. (Not that I may not try the zucchini now that you mention it. just wondering)
Eggplant makes a good substitute for lasagne noodles too.
Both of those are celiac - friendly swaps that I tried before I lost the weight. :-)0 -
Sorry, the jerk comment was NOT for anyone else besides the person that was questioning my spelling error, again to each their own so if it works for you then great....my mission is different and it's what works for me. Good luck to all.0
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Why not use spagetti squash instead of spiralized zucchini? It strings itself and has a great flavor. (Not that I may not try the zucchini now that you mention it. just wondering)
I tried spaghetti squash and I found it gross- it was way too sweet. Perhaps we cooked it wrong? Now I LOVE zucchini in all formats, maybe the person thinks spaghetti squash is too sweet too.
For me swaps are about finding "healthier" things to replace calorie dense foods I don't really enjoy eating. I don't really like ice cream and enjoy frozen pineapple WAY more (I like the Trader Joe's very cherry blend frozen too). I recently tried cauliflower in place of the biscuit in biscuit and gravy and that was SPECTACULAR! I felt like a genius as I never really liked the biscuits much but I LOVE cauliflower.
I also often do half dressing/half vinegar for salads as I prefer vinegar but just vinegar straight was a bit too watery.
I don't really care for some pizza crusts so much so I could see me preferring the cauliflower crust there as well.
I do a bag of frozen Italian blend mix veg with a small can of tomato sauce, some water, bay leaf and oregano in place of pasta dishes. Pasta is another thing I don't prefer and I like the veggies better. Or green beans in spaghetti sauce, though the tomato sauce has fewer calories than most spaghetti sauces and I like it just as much.
I also think chocolate chip cookies are gross and are way better without the chocolate chips, but I don't know if that makes them any less calorie dense 0 -
I just love Zucchinis Especially Spiralized, they have a really nice texture and quite often I don't even bother cooking them.
I've actually not tried squash noodles, so I will give them a go too.
I use egg plants also, but find egg plants make a lasagne taste more like a Mousaka - but if I'm in the mood for Mousaka, egg plant is definitely the way.0 -
Okay, spelling error no need to be a jerk about it And yes, ice cream is definitely not the most healthy food around but again MY opinion, don't want to start a war here
if you can fit it into your calorie deficit and macros, what is so bad about it??? I am just curious why think it is not healthy...0 -
To each their own but I don't understand...sure, you can be thin and lose weight but it doesn't mean you are healthy. For me, this is a lifestyle change to put better things into my body. Sure, I have a treat and do eat things that may not be good for me at times but overall this journey is to be healthier and if losing weight is one of the benefits then great. Garbage in, garbage out! If swapping food works for people and helps them lose weight and in turn eat healthier then I am totally for it. Eating even smaller amounts of crapping food just doesn't make sense even if you have the calories. This is my opinion and to me, losing weight should be more than about just being thinner. Good luck to all, whatever method you take on this journey.
I agree with you whole heartedly. I'm in it for the lifestyle change, I'm actually really enjoying discovering real food and whilst my weight has yet to change much, my hair, skin, nails and energy levels are 1000x better since I stopped finding ways to eat my beloved junk food and sugar.
I wish I had this clarity years ago. Rubbish in, rubbish out. I'm now horrified looking at the ingredients labels of the foods I used to eat, 30+ ingredients and most of them aren't even food!
The funny thing is, everything fatty, refined sugar full, empty calorie, carbonated food and drink I loved I've found a way to make healthy substitutes that not only taste great but do wonderful things for my body.
Everyone has their method. I'm glad to have finally found one that works for me 0
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