Favorite Easy Healthy Diet Changes?

[beaners]

Could we list some of these? I've noticed quite a few exercise and healthy diet threads lately and I thought this would be a nice addition to that.

 

I'm looking for things that are very small changes that can add up without making a major overhaul to your lifestyle. Nice little things that don't require work, so they are easy to implement. Does that make sense?

 

Here are a couple I use all the time.

 

When I am making sandwiches, I always use mustard instead of mayonnaise or oil or dressing. It has far fewer calories but keeps the sandwiches from being dry.

 

Instead of frying my eggs in butter, I softboil them when I want a soft yolk. No extra fat, and the pot is easier to clean than a frying pan.

 

Instead of ranch or an oil and vinegar dressing, I water down some cider vinegar and sprinkle that with some salt and pepper on my salads.

 

 

I eat more than enough "real" fats already, so these are easy ways for me to cut out a bit of the extra without noticing it. What do you guys do?

[StephanieZ]

Do not drink calories. Skim milk, unflavored, the only exception. (sports drinks also ok only for endurance exercises longer than an hour.)

 

No artificial sweeteners.

 

Serve raw vegetables, possibly with a small amount of healthy dip such as hummus, natural peanut butter, or a yogurt based dip, as an appetizer 30 min prior to meals.

 

Replace processed foods with unprocessed. Roasted potatoes, brown rice, etc instead of things out of boxes, etc.

 

Serve two or more vegetable dishes with meals. High starch veggies (corn, potatoes, etc) do not count as a veggie; they are a starch.

 

Serve only one starch with a meal. Bun for burgers count as a starch, as do any other starches or breads.

 

Serve a raw salad as often as possible with dinners and lunches.

 

Use dark greens for salads - baby spinach or romaine lettuces.

 

Make your own salad dressing and do not use mayo or processed ingredients. Use olive or flax seed oil.

[Xuzi]

I have a huge bowl that I keep full of salad in my fridge. The ingredients are:

3 hearts of romaine, chopped

1 bag of pre-washed baby spinach

1 diced cucumber

1 bunch radishes, sliced

 

I also buy a package of chicken breast and cook it on the stove, then slice it and keep it in a separate large container. When lunch time rolls around I fill a salad bowl with a couple handfuls of the salad mix, top with some of the pre-cooked chicken breast, and a drizzling of salad dressing, and BAM! Instant healthy lunch. :D

 

1 bowl of the salad and one package of the chicken breast (usually a 2.5lb bag) provides me with lunch (for myself) for a week.

[AuntieM]

Swap colors...

 

 

Brown rice for white rice

Brown bread for white bread

Sweet potatoes for white potatoes

Dark chocolate for any other treats

 

And when your sugar runs out, just don't buy more. Honestly, half the battle is won if I just QUIT BUYING stuff that shouldn't be in the house to tempt me.

[Ferdie]

I switched to coconut oil for sautees.

 

I also started using whole wheat blend pasta and brown rice. It took my family a few months to get used to the switch, but it was worth it.

 

I try to bulk up my meals with veggies. I add grated carrots and zuchinni to everything - spaghetti sauce, casseroles, baked goods, pancakes (peel the zuchinni so they don't see the green part). I also bulk up my lunch and dinner with homemade veggie soup, broccoli slaw or a salad. For diet coleslaw dressing I use 1 T Marie Calendar and 2 T Walden Farms FF coleslaw dressing. My family doesn't even notice the differnce and it saves alot of calories.

 

We got rid of fruit juices and added more fruit to our diet.

[joannqn]

Add spinach to things: scrambled eggs, spaghetti sauce, smoothies, etc.

 

Blend cooked sausage in the blender. Use in scrambled eggs for flavor. Two ounces is enough for 8 eggs is enough for a family of six when paired with a few servings of fruit.

 

Go dairy free. You save a lot of fat and calories when you aren't eating copious amounts of sour cream, cheese, milk, and ice cream. :D

[Jane in NC]

Create a weekly personal food challenge. Buy kale, chard, lentils, something that is not part of your regular diet, and then find a recipe using it.

[beaners]

 

Go dairy free. You save a lot of fat and calories when you aren't eating copious amounts of sour cream, cheese, milk, and ice cream. :D

 

Oh, that reminds me of another one! You can substitute plain yogurt for sour cream in a lot of recipes. We are a low-dairy family because my husband can't have it, but I still like something in my burritos.

[snickelfritz]

Measure out sugar, instead of just adding to coffee.

 

Use berries (fresh or frozen) to sweeten plain oatmeal or Uncle Sam cereal. You can add 1/2 a cup for very few calories and lots of flavor.

 

Use whole grain flatbread instead of regular bread. It makes all the portions (including bread portion) smaller.

 

Spicy mustard (pardon me, do you have any grey poupon?)

 

Laughing cow divided light Swiss.

 

Keep water with sliced lemons/limes in a pitcher.

 

Frozen, steam in the bag, veggies. I get these in small servings and will make a lunch or snack out of it. They are lightly sauced, so no effort.

 

Raw nuts. I tried several times and figured out that 1 handful of almonds is 11 of them, for me. I keep them put away, so I don't randomly snack.

 

Count/journal. At least for new things and often enough to keep you honest.

 

Make veggies the bigger part of the meal. I've tried at breakfast and it is icky. But for lunch and dinner, I do this.