Sometimes, the simplest way to lose weight when you are following a weight loss plan is not to just cut everything out of your diet – instead, you can make smart food swaps that still enable you to keep all of the flavour of your favourite foods but without the same fat or calorie content.
And to help you lose weight, the Lose Baby Weight team have listed 10 of our favourite food swaps that will help you on your weight loss plan.
Our top ten smart food swaps.
- Swap Olive Oil for Oil Spray – When cooking or baking, use oil spray instead of olive oil. Although olive oil is a heart healthy fat, it is full of calories and just one tbsp. of olive oil contains 4.5g of fat and 119 calories – whereas five sprays of oil spray contains 0.5g of fat and 5 calories.
- Swap Ice Cream for Granita – Ice cold and perfect for summer, granita is very low in calories when compared to creamy ice cream as it’s just made with water and your choice of flavouring – no eggs, milk or cream. A 100g portion of strawberry granita has around 60 calories with no fat, whereas a 100g portion of plain vanilla ice cream has around 210 calories and 9g of fat.
- Swap Tortilla Chips for Endive Leaves. This is a rather excellent swap – if you fancy a bit of salsa or another dip such as hummus, use a strong, sturdy salad leaf such as endive instead of tortilla chips and this will fill you up just as much. Tortilla chips have around 130 calories in just 28g, as well as 6.6g of fat – whereas 100g of endive leaves have only 17 calories and no fat.
- Swap Mince Beef for Extra-Lean Mince Steak – Mince beef is a brilliant ingredient for many, many different dishes, such as bolognese and chilli con carne. But it is quite high in fat – around 16.2g per 100g of beef, with a whopping 225 calories. Extra-lean mince steak, however, has 9.6g of fat and 174 calories. Using extra-lean mince steak instead of just extra-lean mince beef ensures you still get excellent meaty flavour, as extra-lean mince beef can be lacking a little bit in flavour. Alternatively use chicken or turkey mince to lower the fat content even further
- Swap Full Fat Cottage Cheese for Extra Low Fat Cottage Cheese – Cottage cheese can be used in numerous ways – it can be spread on crackers and used in salads, but you can also put it on top of lasagne and bake it for a speedy white sauce. Full fat cottage cheese contains around 115 calories and 5g fat per 115g serving, whereas low fat cottage cheese contains around 80 calories and 1g fat per 115g serving. For extra flavour, choose a cottage cheese flavoured with finely chopped onion and herbs.
- Swap Pork Sausages for Veggie Sausages – This swap enables you to eat more vegetables whilst also saving you some fat and calories – and with a dollop of ketchup, you’ll barely be able to taste the difference. This is also a great swap for children to get them to eat more vegetables. Veggie sausages usually have about 120 calories and 4g of fat per two sausages, whereas pork sausages have a whopping 12g of fat per 2 sausages and 146 calories.
- Swap White Rice for Mashed or Grated Cauliflower – Softly steamed and mashed cauliflower is a brilliant alternative to rice and is just as filling. For a similar texture to rice, grate the cauliflower and cook in boiling water for one minute. Serve it under chilli or stews to save 210 calories and 2g of fat per 200g serving – cauliflower only has 48 calories per 200g and no fat, whereas rice has 260 calories and 2.5g of fat.
- Swap Sour Cream for 0% Fat Greek Yoghurt – Fat-free Greek yoghurt is an excellent alternative to sour cream in things like soups or on top of curries. You could also use it to make a cucumber, mint and yoghurt dip to serve with crackers or crudités. Full fat sour cream has a huge 21g of fat and 214 calories per 100g, whereas 0% fat Greek yoghurt has 0g of fat and only 65 calories.
- Swap Tinned Products in Oil, Sauces or Brine Water for Tinned Products in Spring Water – Although tinned products such as tuna and pulses can generally be very healthy, especially when they are fresh or tinned in spring water, choosing a variety tinned in oil or sauce really bumps up the fat and calorie content even if you do your best to drain whatever liquid there is in the tin. For example, 150g of tuna tinned in oil comes to around 290 calories with 12g of fat, whereas 150g of tuna tinned in spring water has only 190 calories and 1.4g of fat – which is a massive saving.
- Swap Full Fat Milk for Skim Milk – Although full fat milk is good for growing children as it is full of vitamins and nutrients, it does contain more than twice as much fat as skim milk. Full fat milk has nearly 8g of fat in a 200ml serving, as well as 134 calories, whereas skim milk only has 3.6g of fat in a 200ml serving and 100 calories. After a few weeks of drinking skim milk instead of full fat milk, you won’t even be able to taste the difference.
About the 28 Day Challenge
A few key things to note are:
- The Challenge menu is FULLY customisable
- You have access to over 1600 exclusive recipes
- You have access to over 300 exercise routines
- Meals are family friendly and are made in under 10-20 minutes
You can also see some INCREDIBLE results from mums on the 28 Day Challenge here
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Results from mums on the 28 Day Challenge
Mums lose an average of 4-6kg (8-13 pounds) on our 28 Day Challenge and below are some of the amazing results from mums JUST LIKE YOU who are already using the 28 Day Challenge and losing tummy fat – make the change and join them today too!
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Claire Lost 26kgs* with the 28 Day Challenge
Claire says: “I started off my journey by participating in the Lose Baby Weight challenges. The food was amazing! Our daughter was one of my main motivations to get healthier and to completely overhaul our family’s diet.
I have now developed a love for exercise and aim to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes per day 5 days per week. I have lost 26kg to date and have gained health, energy, self respect, pride and confidence.”
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