Among the many reasons I hate the concept of “dieting” is the connotation of deprivation. I don’t know about you, but I hear that word and I think of a giant list of what you cannot eat. People talk about mentally preparing themselves for going on a diet. Believe it or not, you can eat healthy and enjoy what you eat. This includes what we may think of as “treats” or foods that tend to be off limits in many diets. I’ve learned a ton of these in my lifetime of dieting. Today I am going to share some of my go-to food hacks and swaps that are good for you and will not derail your efforts.
Food is a major part of our daily life, and we want to enjoy what we eat. If you’re forcing down foods you either hate or merely tolerate because they “fit” your diet, then you aren’t likely to sustain that plan for very long. We can only “suffer through it” for so long. Plus, life is short and there are simply too many good foods out there and too many options to confine ourselves to chicken breast and broccoli for the rest of time. Believe me, I’ve tried.
As I’ve shared countless times, I’ve been dieting since I was about fourteen years old in some form or fashion. I’ve tried all there is to try. Being human, I would always find the “treats” I could have without stepping out of the bounds in each of the different diets. I used to think of them as the low-carb, low, calorie, low-fat, or whatever other diet term version of treats or deserts. Over the years though, I still use many of these hacks and swaps I am sharing with you. Depending on what you are doing for your eating approach, some may not fit as great as others, but my intention here is to help open your mind beyond the confines of the “diet plan” food list.
We all love things like pizza, pasta, burgers, fries, and, of course, desserts. When we get in the diet mentality we tend to think of these as off limits completely. The good news is that they are not off limits at all and there are plenty of hacks and swaps for nearly anything you love. You can still have meals you look forward to and stay on track for your goals.
Let’s start with some of the low-carb swaps, since these are the first ones I learned.
Pizza.
I thought pizza would be out of my life forever when I started low carb dieting ages ago. Then I discovered the low-carb tortilla and a ray of hope emerged from the heavens. Fortunately, now there are even more options, like flat-out or sandwich thins, which have a higher amount of fiber and are roughly half the amount of carbs as their counterparts. You can lighten it up even more with low-fat cheese and Italian ground turkey in place of sausage and/or turkey pepperoni. You can leave the meat off completely and make a veggie pizza. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can get some alternative lower-carb or higher fiber flours, like nut flours or whole wheat flour and make your own dough, which is almost always better.
Enchiladas.
There are a couple options here. Corn tortilla enchiladas are lower in carbohydrates than those made with flour tortillas. Corn tortillas are about half the amount of carbs than flour tortillas. There are also the low-carb flour tortillas that are lower, if you track net carbs, and they work great for enchiladas. My personal favorite are the La Tortilla Factory brand, but that’s me. Lighten them up even more with ground turkey breast instead of beef, or you can mix ground turkey breast and lean ground beef. Use lower fat cheese, or if you make them like I do, you only put cheese on top and you can use a pre-measure amount to keep it from getting too high on the fat content. You can also cut the carbs more by making a layered enchilada casserole, using more meat and less tortillas.
Pastas.
If you’re going stricter low carb, you can swap pasta for zucchini or other squash, like spaghetti squash. Honestly, spaghetti squash is a great pasta substitute in terms of texture. It does require more work because you have to roast it first. If you are just aiming for complex over simple carbs, swap out the type of pasta for a high fiber version. There are several options that have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
Sweets.
Deserts were a bit trickier for me when I did low-carb, but I did manage to find a couple great ways to satisfy my sweet tooth. One was sugar free jell-o. I almost always had that in my fridge and it’s like 10 calories a serving. I’d add sugar free cool whip sometimes to change it up. Berries was another thing I always had on hand, because they are about the lowest carb fruit option there is. So, I’d chop up strawberries and mix them with no carb sweetener and have a bowl of that with some sugar free cool whip or whipped cream to mimic a strawberry shortcake.
I also came across a low-carb cheese cake recipe that I still make occasionally because it was so ridiculously good. It is pretty high on the fat though, so it’s not too friendly to a lot of other eating approaches. It was super easy to make too. The crust was chipped pecans and zero sugar sweetener, baked with a bit of butter to toast it and set it. The filling was just sugar free cool whip, with cream cheese, whipped with zero sugar sweetener. If you’re not going super low carb, you could always swap the sweetener for honey or agave and lighten it up with lower fat cream cheese.
So those are some of the ones I lived by when I was doing low-carb dieting. I also picked up a number of others from low-calorie or low-fat diets as well as since I started using macro tracking.
Burgers.
As much as I love a traditional hamburger, they are crazy high in fat. Some of them can pack a good couple days worth of fat in them. So, if I am eating out, I always check if a turkey burger option is available, which many places will offer. If that’s not an option, I’ll look for a grilled chicken option. Otherwise, like many things, I’ll make my own lighter version using one of two options. One, all turkey breast seasoned to give it a beefier flavor, or two, I’ll mix lean ground beef and ground turkey breast. This way you get the beef flavor but half the fat. Sometimes I will use a whole wheat bun and other times I just use the sandwich thins, to cut down the amount of carbohydrates.
Breaded Chicken or Fish
As we know, frying can add quite a bit of fat due to the amount of oil you need to get that crispiness. There’s a couple different ways I do breaded chicken or fish. Sometimes, I opt for potato flour instead of white flour, particularly for fish, like Tilapia. It’s amazing how much better it comes out. In the case of fish, I’ll just toss it in a plate of the seasoned potato flour, no egg wash, no breadcrumbs. I use very little oil, enough to brush on the bottom of the fry pan for each side. It’s quick and easy to make and comes out so good. For chicken, I’ll do initial coat of flour, then egg wash, but I use one whole egg and the rest egg white instead. Then I do the breadcrumbs and put them on a cookie rack on a baking sheet and spray some olive oil cooking spray on top and back them.
Protein pancakes.
There are a few ways to do these and I think they are a God-send. The easiest is to find a protein pancake mix, like Kodiak cakes. You can also make your own and add protein powder to your pancake mix. This way you are getting protein in with the carbohydrates, which helps mitigate the spike in blood sugar and will help you feel fuller. Another thing I love to do is mash up ripe bananas, add some egg whites and mix with protein pancake mix. It is a great way to use those bananas, get in some potassium, and they are absolutely delicious. The kids will love these too!
Protein Cereal Treats.
I cam across this early in my macro tracking days and I absolutely love them. I use one of three cereals, depending on my mood: traditional rice cereal, fruity pebbles, or cocoa pebbles. You make them the same way, except you add protein powder. I like to use a birthday cake flavor protein as it usually has the best taste with the cereal.
Diet soda cupcakes or cake.
So if you’ve ever done weight watchers you might recognize this one. First it’s ridiculously easy. Two, it’s one way to have your cake and eat it too, when you’re on a diet. You take your box of cake mix and put it in a bowl. Crack open a diet soda and pour it in. Mix it and bake according to the instructions. No eggs or oil and it is still yummy and fluffy. Added tip, use diet ginger ale for spice cakes, diet colas for chocolate, diet cream soda for white cake, and diet lemon-lime for lemon cake.
So, these are a few of my hacks and swaps that have kept me sane and on track over my lifetime of dieting. Just goes to show what a woman on a mission to have her cake and eat it too can and will do. I hope you’ll give some of these a try and find these helpful on your own journey to a healthier, happier version of you.
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