Follow this easy guide to swap out unhealthy choices with more nutritious selections.
|
Instead Of |
Choose |
Dairy Aisle |
|
| Butter or hydrogenated margarine | Trans fat-free butter or margarine substitutes |
| Regular cheddar cheese, whole-fat mozzarella cheese, cream cheese | 2% cheddar cheese, part-skim mozzarella cheese |
| Mayonnaise or sour cream | Plain or Greek yogurt |
| Whipped cream | Chilled and whipped evaporated low fat or fat-free milk |
| Whole milk ricotta cheese | Low-fat ricotta or whipped tofu |
| Whole milk | Low fat milk |
Meat, Poultry, and Fish |
|
| Oil-packed tuna | Water-packed tuna or salmon |
| Salami, pastrami, bologna | Lean roast beef or turkey deli meat |
| Chicken thigh | Chicken breast |
| Fish sticks | Bread your own fish with whole-wheat bread crumbs, olive oil, and lemon juice, then air or oven fry |
| Regular bacon | Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, or soy bacon |
| Regular ground beef | Extra-lean ground beef, lean ground white meat turkey or chicken |
| Pork or Beef sausage | Turkey or chicken sausage |
| Porterhouse steak or chuck | Beef tenderloin or top round |
| Pork chops | Pork tenderloin |
Convenience/Take Out Food |
|
| Cream-based soup | Vegetable or broth-based soup |
| White rice | Brown rice or quinoa |
| Egg rolls | Steamed vegetable dumplings |
| Sour cream or cheese on nachos or baked potatoes | Salsa or low-fat sour cream, Greek yogurt |
| White sauce | Red sauce |
| Pasta sauce containing sausage or cheese, or cream-based sauces | Marinara sauce or tomato sauce. |
Snacks and Desserts |
|
| Potato and tortilla chips | Baked potato or tortilla chips |
| Fruit juice | Fresh fruit |
| Ice cream | Frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbet |
| Ice cream bar | Portion controlled low-calorie ice cream treats |
| Pound cake with strawberries | Angel food cake with strawberries |
| Prepared potato-chip dip | Fat-free sour cream and onion soup mix |
| Prepared chocolate-cream pie | Chocolate pudding made with skim milk in a graham- cracker crust, topped with low-fat whipped cream |
| Shortening in pie crust recipes | Nonfat cream cheese and lite trans fat-free spread |
| Cookies or sweet crackers | Flour tortillas coated with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkled with sugar substitute and cinnamon |
Beverages |
|
| Coffee creamer | Fat-free half-and-half or low-fat milk |
| Hot chocolate mix | Cocoa powder and artificial sweetener |
| Margaritas, pin? coladas, or daiquiris | Gin and tonic, or wine spritzer |
Condiments |
|
| Gravy | Fat-free broth, thickened with cornstarch |
| Regular maple syrup | Light maple syrup |
| Hot-fudge ice-cream topping | Chocolate syrup |
These and other dietitian-approved tips available at Vida180.com. Eating healthy couldn’t get any easier!