As you read in “Eat Better and Move Better“, we try to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating whole foods and working out. We try to stick to it about 90% of the time. Yes, we still drink alcohol. Yes, we still go out to eat. Yes, we still have high energy carbs outside of our “window”. But most of the time, we try to be mindful of how and what we are eating. We have found that we can easily sub this item for that item, and we eat foods that are lower in calories and higher in nutritional value.
I wanted to do a post to explain a few things you can do in your kitchen to help yourself if you want to start a nutrition journey. These simple replacements are better for you and will save you some calories. So try to sub this for that and see how you feel!
It may take some time to get used to the new products, but once your palate is used to it, you won’t even notice the difference.
Please note, I am not a nutritionist. These are some things we have learned over the years that work for us so I wanted to share our knowledge.
- If it’s in the house, you are going to eat it.
- Moderation is key.
- You can still eat relatively healthy when you go out to eat (if you make good choices)
- Bad food decisions are usually made when you are drinking 🙂
- Food prepping helps tremendously.
First of all, you should go through your pantry and refrigerator and get rid of any food that may tempt you -aka that delicious bag of potato chips 🙂 Then plan out your meals for the week for each day. Six small meals a day is ideal. Make your grocery list. Shop and meal prep! If you don’t buy bad foods then you cannot eat bad foods. It all starts at the grocery store. Stay on the outskirts of the store where the fresh food is. Below are a few simple substitutions you can make.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Sub this…… for that
- liquid protein flavors for coffee cream/sugar or creamer (We like Quest Salted Caramel or Vanilla) (Premier Protein has some amazing flavors as well)
- avocado oil butter for butter
- unsalted grass-fed stick butter for salted margarine (Cabot)
- unsweetened almond, coconut, or cashew milk for cow milk
- Quest protein bars for other snack bars
- coconut sugar for white sugar and sugar substitutes such as Sweet and Low
- coconut or almond flour for white flour
- all-natural peanut, almond, or cashew butter for peanut butter
- cage-free, organic brown eggs for eggs (if you can get them straight from a farm or chicken even better)
- whole wheat instead of white bread
- Ezekiel muffins/bread is even better (made with sprouted wheat)
- water, tea, coffee, green tea instead of soda/pop/Coke
- extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil for butter or margarine for cooking
- dressings made with olive or avocado oil instead of creamy salad dressings (use sparingly)
- homemade balsamic even better
- avocado oil mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip or mayo
- Bragg’s liquid aminos for soy sauce
- cauliflower rice for rice
- quinoa for rice or noodles
- protein, veggie, or edamame noodles for white noodles
- vegan cheese for cheese or make your own cheese
- homemade Vegan Cheddar Cheese
- homemade Mozzarella
- low-fat cottage cheese for regular cottage cheese (2-4%)
- plain non-fat Greek yogurt (sweeten with honey and a flavored protein powder) for flavored yogurt
- cage-free egg whites for eggs beaters
- plant-based wraps or wheat wraps for flour tortillas
- mashed cauliflower for mashed potatoes
- sweet potatoes for white potatoes
- dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher) for milk chocolate (a small piece a day is okay)
- kettle-cooked potato chips for chips if you just can’t resist
- do not buy and please throw away any products with high fructose corn syrup in them, here’s why
I hope this helps. There is always a good, better, or best option. For example, fries are an option. Choosing sweet potato fries would be better. Subbing a side salad or a vegetable such as broccoli is best. So try to sub this for that and see how it goes. Let us know if you have found any other substitutes that you enjoy.
