{"id":3587,"date":"2012-04-30T21:40:34","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T21:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/?p=1522"},"modified":"2012-04-30T21:40:34","modified_gmt":"2012-04-30T21:40:34","slug":"sneaky-food-swaps-to-cut-875-calories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/sneaky-food-swaps-to-cut-875-calories\/","title":{"rendered":"Sneaky Food Swaps to Cut 875 Calories"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

We found this great post on Eating Well<\/a> and just had to share it.<\/p>\n

Sneaky Food Swaps to Cut 875 Calories<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Click picture for Skinny Guacamole recipe<\/p><\/div>\n

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Even though (or maybe because) I\u2019m a registered dietitian and associate nutrition editor of\u00a0EatingWell<\/em>Magazine, I think that healthy diets should leave room for indulgences. (Small treats won\u2019t break your diet and may even help you stick to an overall healthy eating pattern.) That being said, I think there are plenty of tasty ways to substitute healthier ingredients for higher-calorie foods without feeling like you\u2019re making a big sacrifice taste-wise. Here are some of my favorite swaps.<\/p>\n

Try them all and you can save 875 calories<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Swap: Some of the avocado in guacamole for zucchini\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Save: 100 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

The monounsaturated fats in avocado\u2014the main ingredient in guacamole\u2014may be heart-healthy, but they also pack a calorie punch. A typical avocado-heavy guacamole delivers 200 calories per half cup. For the May\/June 2012 issue of\u00a0EatingWell\u00a0<\/em>Magazine, the\u00a0EatingWell<\/em>\u00a0Test Kitchen came up with an amazing (and surprising) substitution for half the avocado\u2014cooked zucchini! This is some of the best guacamole I\u2019ve had\u2014and the swap shaved 100 calories off the real deal.\u00a0Get the recipe for slimmed-down guacamole and more healthy Mexican dips.<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Swap: A hamburger bun for an\u00a0English\u00a0muffin<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 120 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

As grilling season kicks into high gear, beware the burger bun. A typical bun delivers 236 \u201cempty\u201d calories\u2014mostly from white flour\u2014without adding much taste or nutrition. Save 120 calories simply by swapping that burger bun for an English muffin. If you want to really pump up the nutrition, choose a whole-wheat muffin, which will give you added fiber, helping you feel more full from your meal. No English muffins at your friend\u2019s cookout? Scoop out the inside of a regular hamburger bun and you\u2019ll save 60 calories.<\/p>\n

3. Swap: Premium ice cream for blended frozen banana \u201cyogurt\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 170 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re really craving ice cream, go for it (sometimes I find that just a spoonful will satisfy me, or measure yourself a half-cup serving and enjoy). But if it\u2019s just a cold, creamy treat you\u2019re after, this skinny swap is surprisingly satisfying: put some slightly thawed frozen bananas in the blender and blend until they\u2019re creamy, the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Sprinkle in cocoa powder if you want a chocolaty version. A small banana is 90 calories; a half-cup serving of premium ice cream is 260 calories.<\/p>\n

4. Swap: Mayonnaise for low-fat mayo
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 45 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mayonnaise\u2014made primarily from oil and eggs\u2014is not surprisingly a calorie bomb (a tablespoon of the stuff packs 90 calories). It may seem like a no-brainer, but swapping low-fat mayo for full-fat is one switch that EatingWell\u2019s Test Kitchen cooks consistently find worth it. Of all the variations on mayo\u2014light, no-fat, reduced-fat\u2014they\u2019ve found that low-fat mayo tastes the best and has only half the calories (just 45 calories per tablespoon).<\/p>\n

5. Swap: Some ground beef for grated vegetables
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 30 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ground beef is chock full of healthy iron and zinc, but its saturated fat can lend extra calories (that\u2019s why it\u2019s always good to look for lean ground beef). To sneakily lower calories without sacrificing portion size or flavor, try bulking up your beef with shredded or chopped vegetables\u2014mushrooms, peppers, zucchini and even carrots work well. (You might recognize this trick from all those cookbooks on sneaking vegetables into children\u2019s diets, but it works for adults, too\u2014in fact, it\u2019s another trick the\u00a0EatingWell<\/em>\u00a0Test Kitchen uses often to cut calories, boost vegetables and make recipes healthier.) We recommend adding up to 1 cup of chopped or grated veggies to a pound of ground beef when making meatloaf, chili and other dishes. Doing this may help you stretch that pound of beef from four servings to five\u2014and trim 30 calories per serving.<\/p>\n

6. Swap: Chicken for tofu
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 100 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

You might think of tofu only as a replacement for meat or chicken when you want to eat vegetarian, but when you\u2019re looking to save calories it\u2019s also a great choice. Ounce for ounce, it has fewer calories than chicken or beef, saving you up to 100 calories per 3.5-ounce serving of chicken breast. (Try it yourself in this Tofu Parmigiana and more delicious tofu recipes.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7. Swap: Sour cream for plain\u00a0yogurt<\/span><\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 30 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rich and creamy plain yogurt adds tang and texture similar to sour cream for baked potatoes, burritos or black bean soup. Go for nonfat or lowfat yogurt for the biggest calorie savings (and an added dose of calcium). You\u2019ll save 30 calories per 2 tablespoons.<\/p>\n

8 Swap: Potatoes for cauliflower
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 100 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason cauliflower has a reputation as the skinny \u201cstarch.\u201d Boasting only 29 calories per cup (compared to 130 calories in a medium potato), it also delivers almost a day\u2019s worth of vitamin C. It\u2019s a versatile vegetable that\u2019s delicious mashed, blended into a \u201ccreamy\u201d soup or roasted. Celery root is another good swap for mashed potatoes\u2014just replace some of the potatoes with boiled celery root.<\/p>\n

Recipes to Try:\u00a0Creamy Mashed Cauliflower and More Easy Cauliflower Recipes<\/a><\/p>\n

9. Swap: Spaghetti for spaghetti squash
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save: 180 calories<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I first discovered spaghetti squash I was thrilled\u2014I baked it and used the spaghetti-like interior as a base for my favorite homemade pasta sauce and instantly doubled the amount of vegetables I ate at that meal. But this swap not only ups your veggie intake, it slashes calories while letting you enjoy the flavors of your favorite noodle dishes. Spaghetti squash has only 42 calories per cup\u2014180 calories\u00a0less<\/em>\u00a0than a cup of cooked spaghetti! If you\u2019re not a fan of spaghetti squash, you can still lighten your pasta by using less pasta and bulking up on veggies in the topping.<\/p>\n

We want to hear from you! What sneaky substitutions to you use to save calories?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are plenty of tasty ways to substitute healthier ingredients for higher-calorie foods without feeling like you\u2019re making a big sacrifice taste-wise. Here are some of favorite swaps.
\nTry them all and you can save 875 calories!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[68,679],"tags":[102,1010,1011,73,74,1012,1013,1014,201,1015,1016,81,933,82,83,1017,1018,1019,1020,1021,449],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90Iz0-VR","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}