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Super Easy Diet Changes To Propel Your Health Forward
Increase Weight Loss and Improve Your Health with These Few Tips
When trying to develop a healthier lifestyle, looking for alternatives can be exhausting, especially if you have a busy schedule. And trying to find whole recipes that are quick and simple can be even more of a task – so I’ve put together a quick substitute list to help assist you on your journey to healing your body. This list is inspired by the diet changes I have personally made over the last few years. You can take any of these items and add them to your favorite recipes/meals to make them much healthier.
Let's Dive Into The List:
Instead of This Meat (Protein) | Try This · Lentils · Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) · Hemp Seeds · Pumpkin Seeds · Hemp Powder |
Sugar | · Organic Agave · Date Sugar · Maple Syrup · Honey (do not feed to infants or toddlers) |
Potatoes | · Butternut Squash · Acorn Squash (bake like a sweet potato. yum!) |
Rice | · Quinoa |
Vegetable Oil | · Grapeseed Oil · Coconut Oil · Avocado Oil · Olive Oil (not healthy for high-heat cooking) |
Milk | · Almond Milk · Coconut Milk · Cashew Milk |
Eggs (for baking, pancakes or similar dishes that calls for eggs) | · Banana · Apple Sauce · Baking Powder substitute: 1 ½ tablespoons of oil 1 ½ tablespoons of water 1 teaspoon of baking powder mix together in a bowl then add |
Flour | · Spelt Flour (Spelt is a form of wheat. Use caution if you are gluten sensitive) |
Salt | · Sea salt · Pink Himalayan Salt |
Pasta | · Spelt Pasta (refer to spelt flour note above) · Zucchini noodles (find in the refrigerated produce section) · Spaghetti Squash |
Lettuce (good choice, but the alternatives are more nutrient rich) | · Spinach · Kale · Watercress |
Coffee | · Roasted Herbal Tea · Green Tea |
Where's The Cheese?
You probably noticed I didn’t mention cheese in the list. Cheese is still a challenge for me. Although, I’m very conscious of the amount I consume (which is sparingly), I have yet to completely break-free from dairy cheese.
I have tried some vegan cheeses. A few I liked, a few I didn’t like. In creamer dishes, it works because the texture is very melty – but on foods like pizza where I’m use to having the cheesy pull, I don’t like the vegan cheese in its place. Maybe one day soon, I’ll find a happy medium.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a cheese substitute you can try a vegan/plant-based cheese to see if you like it. There’s also a very healthy cheese flavor substitute called Nutritional Yeast. I’ve used it as a salad topper and it taste great. I’ve also added it to a plant-based alfredo sauce that I created from scratch. It blended really well and helped add that cheesy flavor I was looking for. (I’ll share the recipe, once I perfect it *wink* )
Get Creative With The Protein!
I’ve learned to get very creative with my protein. I’ve used chickpeas with a mixture of other beans to create tasty meals like chili, burgers, and tacos. I’ve used lentils in soup and have also added them to some of my salads. The hemp seeds, pumpkins seeds and chickpeas are also great as a salad topper. The hemp powder is my go-to for an added boost of protein in my smoothies. It blends excellent with other ingredients and is rather tasteless – so it doesn’t interrupt the other flavors. I love it!
Don't Forget The Water!
We’ve all heard how important it is to drink plenty of water (ideally, eight 8oz glasses a day ) – so I won’t spew a bunch of facts at you in this post. But I do want to remind you that natural spring water is the best! Avoid buying bottled watered that states “alkaline” on the label. These waters are not natural and have frequently gone through a process to have minerals and electrolytes added to them. Their label will usually state this. Look for natural spring water with a ph of 7.0 and above. Do your research and fact check! Also you can buy natural spring water and raise it’s ph level by adding alkaline rich foods such as strawberries, cucumbers, limes, oranges and other alkaline fruits to it. Try different variations and enjoy!
Be Proud Of Every Little Step You Take!
This substitute list is on the shorter side – but these foods and beverages are usually what we consume on a daily basis, so I thought it was still worth sharing. A little goes a long way – so be proud of any small step you take towards better health! Stay tuned for recipes that include some of these food choices.
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