New Year Health Substitutions

Anyone who knows me will know my whole philosophy is based around long term sustainable health changes rather than extreme diets and quick fixes. I appreciate it’s the New Year and a lot of people want to be extra strict at the moment, but with any change you make to your diet I would make yourself answer the question ‘is it sustainable.’ If not, there is not a lot of point in doing it in my view. With this in mind I have put together 3 New Year health substitutions that will make you healthier, save you calories but also are changes that I hope you will be able to stick with on an ongoing basis rather than just for a few weeks.

1/Sugary Drinks

This doesn’t have to just mean soft drinks such as coca cola. It includes a lot of coffee shop drinks, fruit juices etc. Anything that spikes your blood sugar levels is not a good idea. These drinks are all full of sugar, spike your blood sugar levels and cost you a lot of calories. And even the ‘diet’ versions are full of artificial sweeteners which are equally bad for your body.
So if you go to these regularly you would be well advised to make a substitution. Instead of soft drinks try flavouring sparkling water. You can add fruit to it, lime, lemon, cucumber, whatever takes your fancy really. So you still get a fruity flavour and the fizz from it without all the sugar.

Instead of fruit juice try a mix of fruit and veg into your smoothies. So instead of just fruit, try an apple, couple of handfuls of spinach or kale, chunk of cucumber, couple of spoons of avocado, either some milk or some Greek yogurt. Even some oats if you want to make it into more of a breakfast. It will be super creamy and tasty and plenty sweet enough without going overboard on the sugar.

2/ Rice

If you are eating a portion of rice (even if its brown rice) in the evenings you are going to struggle to keep the calories and carbs under control. You really don’t need a lot of carbs in the evening, you are only going to sit around, then go to bed so the energy from the carbs won’t be used and may well be stored as fat. So try cauliflower rice instead. You can either steam or bake it, and served on the side of a curry or stir fry with lots of flavour, you will hardly know the difference.

3/ Pasta

Not only have you got the same issue controlling carbs and calories as with rice above, you have the added issue of the ‘bloating’ effect of the gluten. So try substituting pasta for a pulse such as lentils, chickpeas or beans. You can serve them on the side of a dish or mix them through a stir fry for example.

Or try zen b pasta. I have a separate blog on it. If you are doing something like a bolognaise, i.e. with sauce that you can mix it through I don’t think you will be able to tell the difference. And its 100% peas, nothing else!

Side Note – You may notice I haven’t included bread here. That’s because I don’t think any of the bread substitutes are worth it (and I have tried various products trying to find one!) If you like bread you just need to moderate your intake, but I don’t believe there is really a decent substitute.

Conclusion – New Year Health Substitutions

I think these 3 changes can make a big difference to your health (and weight potentially) without having to change your lifestyle or affect the taste significantly. So give them a go!