Healthy Food Swap Ideas!

One of the most common comments I hear when discussing healthy eating, particularly when giving up sugar is “Sugar is in everything! What would I eat?” Most people feel that it’s way too hard to avoid sugar so why bother. I am sure I probably thought this as well.

More often than not, making changes  in our lives comes with huge resistance. In fact it’s something I always tell people to expect. Normally around week 3-5 of giving up sugar or making healthy changes the resistance creeps in with a vengeance. I remember around this time I got sick with a virus and I seemed to be feeling really unwell all the time. So of course I whined and  thought ‘What’s the point I am eating healthy and I still get sick”. I wanted to throw in the towel because I expected that my body’s immune system would automatically be revved up after just a few weeks of eating healthy! It can take years to erase many years of poor eating! Not to mention the detox process you’re body goes through, so expect some funky days!

In regards to the “sugar is in everything” suggestion. Sure it is, but there is also plenty of things you can be eating without it. If you look at your diet and say that sugar is in everything it would indicate to me that you are living off processed foods so that would be the first thing to cut down on.

We have become so accustomed to eating poorly that we don’t even recognise the faults in our diets! We can’t even see that we are so limited in nutrients and we have become so lazy that our excuse for eating processed foods is always that we don’t have time to cook. I can assure you there is time. Cooking a nice piece of meat or fish only takes 10-15 mins and you can team this with steam veggies (even microwave ones of you like) or cut up some raw broccoli while your meat is cooking.

If giving up sugar is too extreme than why not just make small changes. You don’t have to give it up completely just reduce the amount you are consuming and be aware of what you’re eating. The less sugar and processed food we eat the more our taste buds come alive! You will really learn to enjoy every bite of your meal!

Here are a few simple changes you can make to reduce your sugar intake

Breakfast

 You’ve been eating

Toast with jam/jelly or honey,  commercial cereal, yoghurt and chocolate milk  ( E.g milo, ovaltine, sustagen)

Swap with

Pancakes (egg, banana and almond meal) with coconut butter and cinnamon or natural peanut butter, greek yoghurt (no sugar) organic oats with chia seeds, coconut shreds, cinnamon and banana or eggs on spelt toast, raw cacao in rice/almond milk

Lunch

You’ve been eating

Microwave meals, white bread sandwiches, Fast food burgers, fish and chips, pies, pizza, quiche, Cesar salad

Swap with

Large salads, spelt or rye bread with salad and meat fillings, brown rice with tuna and veggies, brown rice sushi rolls, grilled fish and salad, leftovers of healthy dinners

Dinner

You’ve been eating

Microwave meals, steak and chips,  creamy pasta,

Swap with

Grilled fish/meat with veggies, Quinoa and vegetables, zucchini pasta with veggie’s garlic and crushed tomatoes, home made burgers (egg plant buns, turkey, lean meat or veggie patties), vegetable lasagna

Snacks

You’ve been eating

Chips, Chocolate, Cake, Cookies, muesli bars, protein bars

Swap with

Natural popcorn, 85% organic dark chocolate, dates, fruit, veggie sticks with humus, natural peanut butter, home-made sugar-free (stevia) cakes, bars, cookies, raw nuts – there is so many things you can make!

When cooking swap Sugar with stevia, date paste, coconut sugar, organic maple syrup, raw organic cacao, apple sauce and fruit! Some of these still contain fructose so if you are totally fructose free stick with stevia.

These are all just very basic suggestions and I am happy to put meal plans together for anyone that need a little help. The point of  showing the examples is to demonstrate that there are plenty of things to choose from if you really think about it and make better choices! First step is to cut down on the obvious like soda and sweets as well as packaged meals and snacks.

I probably eat more now than ever and find there are so many choices.  Take a look at my recipe page for lots of suggestions!