Healthy food swaps

The year is at an end, and summer is here again. No longer can we hide behind bulky woollens! Another year and we’ll be making another resolution to start eating healthy meals. So in the spirit of making good, healthy choices in the New Year, let’s try and do something different.

Instead of not eating or starving, lets try and swap a few foods around, and see if we can maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s easier than you think…

Breakfast

• Swap full cream milk with low fat milk
• Swap a teaspoon of sugar on your cereal with a topping of fresh or dried fruit, and some seeds
• Swap butter on toast with salt reduced margarine or avocado
• Swap sugar laden cereals with porridge or rolled oats
• Swap fried eggs with poached or boiled eggs

  

• Swap white bread with multigrain or wholemeal
• Swap regular peanut butter for the low-fat salt-reduced version
• Swap a toasted croissant for a toasted raisin toast
• Swap toasted muesli with untoasted muesli
• Swap coffee and tea whiteners with evaporated low fat milk
• Swap a glass of juice with a piece of fresh fruit
• Swap paranthas with plain chappatis, besan pura or missi roti
• Swap vadas with vegetable idlis
• Swap plain poha with vegetable poha

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Main meals:

• Swap white bread, bagels, and muffins for multigrain or wholemeal varieties
• Swap a ham and cheddar cheese sandwich with light ham and reduced fat white cheese
• Swap the cheesy and creamy sauces in curries and pastas with tomato and vegetable based sauces
• Swap mashed potatoes with butter and full cream milk to mashed potato with low fat milk and margarine
• Swap potato with sweet potato
• Swap bacon with lean cuts of meat
• Swap chicken wings with chicken breast
• Swap a side dish of chips with a side dish of saladREAD ALSO: Waste not, want not

  

• Swap unhealthy salad dressings for fresh herbs, lemon juice, Balsamic vinegar and olive oil
• Swap mayonnaise and coleslaw with low fat yoghurt
• Swap a Caesar or potato salad with garden or bean salad
• Swap full fat yoghurt with fat reduced yoghurt
• Swap fried and battered fish with grilled fish and fresh herbs and lemon
• Swap sausages with lean meat and lean mince
• Swap fried chicken with chicken breast
• Swap bacon with turkey breast
• Swap a meat pizza with a vegetarian or feta cheese and spinach pizza
• Swap tuna in oil with the spring water version
• Swap commercial high fat sauces with homemade tomato and vegetable based sauces
• Swap high fat burgers with turkey burgers
• Swap white rice with brown rice or quinoa
• Swap fried rice with boiled rice

  

  READ ALSO: How to turn leftovers into healthy new meals
• Swap butter and ghee for polyunsaturated and mono unsaturated fats
• Swap ladles of oil with an oil spray
• Swap puri with plain chappati
• Swap pickles for mint coriander chutney
• Swap the frying pan for the grill
• Swap the pan for a pressure cooker

Sometimes even a few changes in our food choices have a far greater impact and help us achieve a healthy lifestyle. Why not give it a try?