Healthy Substitutions to Your Reduce Calories and Fat Intake

Trying to watch your weight (no, not watch it go up but stay the same or go down)?
Having a hard time staying on your diet?
Are you getting diet food boredom?
If you can make the right choices most of the time you can afford to splurge on that high calorie dessert.

When you’re trying to lose weight, every calorie counts.  The problem is that sometimes it can be hard to reduce calories without sacrificing taste.  Below are some great ideas for healthy substitutions that can help you reduce calories and fat but still enjoy great flavor:

- Fat Free  Milk
Whole milk contains approximately 160 calories and up to 9 grams of fat per 8 ounce glass.  Compare that to 85 calories and one-half gram of fat per serving for skim milk; and 105 calories and 2.5 grams of fat for 1% low fat milk.

That may not seem like a huge difference, but if you were to drink just one 8 ounce glass of milk per day over 7 days, you would take in 1,120 calories and 63 grams of fat from whole milk, and just 595 calories and 3.5 grams of fat from skim milk.  Over time those calories really add up!

If you can’t stand the taste of skim milk, see if 1% or 2% are more to your liking.  Another option is to use whole milk but dilute it with water so you still get the richer flavor but consume less of it (this will also reduce the amount of vitamins and calcium you get, so it may not be the best way to go).

- Lean meats for sandwiches
Many cold cut sandwich meats available today are loaded with sodium and preservatives.  For a healthier and more delicious option, consider cooking your own lean meat, slice thinly and use it for sandwiches.  A serving (3.5 ounce) of lean, skinless chicken breast has about 150 calories and 5 grams of fat (or less, if you buy lower fat varities).  Three and a half ounces is a decent serving so you could probably use half of that amount for a sandwich, especially if you load on some good veggies too.  (For your sandwich bread, whole grains are a more nutritious choice than white.)

- Yummy Veggies dippers
Is one of your favorite snacks potato chips and dip?  Unfortunately they aren’t good choices when you’re trying to cut down on fat and calories.  There are healthier alternatives, however.  One good option is to slice low-calorie vegetables like radishes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers and use them as dippers in place of potato chips.

But what about the dip?  There are low calorie and reduced fat dips available – but here’s an even better option:  hummus!  Hummus is made from ground chickpeas, and it comes in a range of fantastic flavors like garlic, sweet red pepper, spicy cayenne pepper, roasted eggplant and more.  Only 25 calories and 1 gram of fat per tablespoon – it’s a perfect low calorie choice for dipping.

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