Eat
8 Easy Ways to Substitute Healthy Food for Junk Food
It’s been a long day. The last thing you want to do is go home and cook.
On your way home, you pass a drive-thru and, without a thought, you’re waiting in line to order a quick sandwich.
Happen to you much?
Have you ever waited so long to grab something to eat that you just grab whatever’s nearby and shove it into your mouth as fast as you can?
Of course you have. We all have.
There are so many bad habits that sabotage success and help us pack on extra pounds.
What are yours?
Take a minute, open up a Word doc or a note, and write down 3 – 5 of the worst habits you have that stand in the way of you and your goals.
Need an example? Here’s mine:
- Eating out nearly every day because I hate to cook (restaurant food is packed with calories, fat, and sugar)
- Sitting too much
- Choosing Cheetos, Cheezits, and takeout pizza much too frequently
- Thinking “It’s okay – I’ll start tomorrow!”
Once you’ve listed the major obstacles that hold you back, make another list. Next to each bad habit, write at least one thing you will do instead next time. Make it actually doable. Keep the list handy, and actually implement it!
One of the easiest ways to get on track with eating healthier is to make simple substitutions or implement a few small changes. To get you started, here are 8 pain-free ways you can substitute healthier food choices into your daily life. Pick and choose the ones that might work for you.
1. Skip the Oil
Oil is the most nutritionally-deficient, calorie-laden food (dare I call it a food?). Yes, some proudly tout benefits of coconut and olive oil (and others). (and yes, we do need omega-3’s and omega-6’s). But most people tend to eat too much processed oil.
You can cut a lot of calories if you eschew oil altogether. Need to sauté onions or veggies? Use water! Need to use oil in a cake recipe? Substitute with applesauce or nonfat yogurt. Need to fry an egg? Use a nonstick pan without oil. Air fryers can be a great investment for those who love fried things. Need help choosing one? Here’s what I consider to be the best air fryer (affiliate link).
1 tbsp canola oil: 120 calories, 13.5g fat
2. Substituting the Drive-Thru: Keep Food Nearby To Avoid Last-Minute Grabs
If you have a tendency to stop at the drive-thru too often or grab whatever unhealthy food happens to be nearby, plan ahead. Keep healthy food on you at all times, and make sure it’s stuff you’d actually eat.
For example, a ziploc bag of almonds works for me. They’re filling and healthy (I just don’t overdo it). I also keep a Leafside meal in my car so that I have it if needed. They are quite filling – and healthy.
Choose something you’d like to eat that is satiating (i.e., good on protein and/or fiber) and keep it nearby as you go throughout your day. Then actually MAKE yourself choose that rather than that doughnut or pack of M&M’s.
1 Cheeseburger & Large Fries (McDonalds): 790 calories, 36g fat
23 almonds: 162 calories, 14g fat (unsaturated)
3. Substitutions for Chip Lovers
Love chips? Craving for something crunchy? Most commercial chips are laden with fat and calories, and it’s so easy to keep munching until the whole container is gone. (oops).
If you love chips, there are a few things you can do to substitute for something healthier. If you don’t mind spending time in the kitchen, you can bake your own chips – using potatoes, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes, or almost any kind of fruit or veggie.
Commercially, there are plenty of various 100-calorie packs. They’re not any healthier, but they can prevent you from eating a whole 1000-calorie bag. You can substitute air-popped popcorn instead of chips.
Other substitutions you might want to try include fresh fruits or veggies, dehydrated apple slices or other fruits, or even Bean Bada Boom’s roasted bean snacks (affiliate link)
1 can of Sour Cream & Onion Pringles (100 chips): 1000 calories, 60g fat
6 cups air-popped popcorn: 186 calories, 2.2g fat
4. Substitutions for Ice Cream
Frozen nonfat yogurt is one way to enjoy ice cream while reducing fat, sugar, and calories. But you can also make a cream-like dessert with bananas. Simply mash some bananas and freeze.
You don’t have to use bananas, though. You can make your own homemade sorbet with almost any kind of fruit. Cut up your fruit of choice, freeze it, then blend it in a blender or food processor. Voila!
2 cups Breyers Vanilla Ice Cream: 510 calories, 27g fat
Banana freeze (4 bananas): 420 calories, 1.6g fat
5. Substituting for Volume: Use a Pre-Meal Rule
One way to eat healthier and reduce how much you eat at a meal is to make a pre-meal rule that you can never break (That’s what I tell myself). Here are two:
I must drink 10 oz. of water before I consume any food- I must eat 1-2 cups of raw, chopped veggies before I eat my meal
It helps fill you up, gets healthy stuff into you, and you end up eating less of the more calorie-dense food.
1 can Progressive Clam Chowder Soup (18.5 oz): 410 calories, 18g fat
8.5 oz Progressive Clam Chowder + 10 oz glass of water: 188 calories, 8.3g fat
6. Substitutions for Rice
I love to make curry over rice, but white rice is pretty hefty on the calories and not so robust on the nutrition. Of course, you can substitute brown rice for white rice, but it’s chewy and not as flavorful (in my opinion).
Instead of rice, though, try using quinoa or farro to maximize nutrition and reduce carbs and calories. Farro has a similar calorie profile as rice, but farro contains complex carbs and plenty of fiber so it takes longer to digest which is better for weight loss.
For fewer calories, it’s best to substitute riced cauliflower or barley.
2 cups white rice: 412 calories, 1.2g fat
2 cups riced cauliflower: 50 calories, < 1g fat
7. Substitutions for Dips and Sour Cream
Instead of buying commercial white cream dips, add some chives or other herbs to nonfat Greek yogurt instead. Anytime you need to use sour cream, substitute it for yogurt. Plant-based yogurts are even better if you can find them near you. A cup of sour cream has about 445 calories, but a cup of Fage nonfat Greek yogurt has just 120 calories.
1 cup sour cream: 445 calories, 45g fat
1 cup Fage nonfat Greek yogurt: 120 calories, 0g fat
8. Bread Substitutions
Giving up bread entirely is difficult for many. There are low-cal or low-carb versions available at most stores, though.
Look at ethnic stores near you for some alternatives. For example, we have a Middle Eastern store nearby that sells 8-inch pita bread with just 40 calories each.
Alternatively, if you want to make a sandwich, you can switch out the bread for lettuce or cabbage instead. It can save you a couple hundred calories per sandwich.
2 slices White Wonder Bread: 140 calories, 1.5g fat
1 pita – Joseph’s Pita Bread (Amazon): 60 calories, 1.5g fat
Take Action
There are thousands of ways to swap out high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar foods for healthier ones. David Zinczenko, author of Eat This, Not That, has built a whole empire by telling people how to make healthier substitutions.
All it takes to cut out a significant amount of calories, sugar, and fat is the willingness to do a Google search to find some palatable ways to switch out the high-calorie/fat/carb foods you eat most often.
But just having knowledge doesn’t do anything. You have to actually DO it. Take the time to make the switch.
Be warned, though: sometimes you have to let your taste buds adapt for a couple weeks. When you switch from eating high-fat, high-sugar foods, the healthier ones taste bland. But carry on and don’t give up. After a week or two, you’ll learn to enjoy the simpler, healthier flavors.
What’s one thing you can make a substitution for today?
