Quick & Healthy Eating Swaps
Swap your sugar filled cereal for some hearty oatmeal. Even if you think your cereal isn’t sugary, you could be unpleasantly surprised. Take a look at your nutrition label and see how many grams of sugar is in each serving as well as if there is added sugar listed in the ingredients list.
Make sure you eat protein! Whip up some eggs. Don’t skip out on the yoke entirely. I like to have one whole egg plus three additional egg whites. The fat in the yokes are great for you but everything in moderation!
Swap out your jelly. Chances are it is not natural and sugar is added into it. I suggest just mashing up your own berries to create some jelly for your toast. If you want to achieve more of a texture like that of a jelly or jam then mix your mashed berries together with chia seeds. Add a little liquid and let soak, you will notice that the chia seeds to absorb the water and expand. The texture will be like that of the berry seeds in a store bought jam.
Step away from peanut butter brands that we all know too well from advertisements. Those peanut butters typically have added sugar and high fructose corn syrup added to them. Find peanut butters or any other nut butter that has one if not just two ingredients. The nut and possibly a little salt if you like it a little salty. Any other nut butters with more ingredients than that, please step away. I guarantee and you may hate me later for how delicious they are but try almond butter or cashew butter! You are welcome!
No cereal bars or ready to drink protein shakes. There is nothing else to really say, they are processed and not good for you. The only swap I can recommend for those is making your own. That way you have complete control over the ingredients, how they are made, etc.
Want to make a sandwich for lunch? Are you going to add Mayo? No offense but the word itself makes me gag. Try spreading avocado on your bread instead. It will give you that creaminess you are looking for as well as a mouth full of flavor. Skip sauces, stick to mustard instead.
Going to order a salad? Ask for the dressing on the side or not at all. I typically don’t get the dressing at all. I used to ask for it on the side but then as time went by I started to notice that I wasn’t even putting it on my salad. There are tons of calories in dressing, also it completely blankets your salad and you are missing out on the flavors of the other components in your salad! Depending on the salad, I will use mustard here as well. Mustard is a great way to add lots of flavor and zero calories to a meal. Also vinegar works well with salad too!
Avoid any soup that says creamy in the title. Creamy means a lot of added fat and calories. Also soups are typically really really high in sodium.
Next time I will touch on Dinner and Dessert! Stay tuned!
