7 Food Swaps for a flat belly

So many people think that dieting to lose weight means cutting the enjoyment out of eating. Wrong!

Don't cut out the things you enjoy, just make smart food swaps to slash the calories.

Here are 7 of the easiest food swaps you can make to cut calories from your diet.


Food: Regular Mince

Smart Swap: Lean Mince

Smart swap number one is changing your regular mince to lean. Regular and cheaper minces are higher in fat, with some being more than 30% fat.

By swapping to lean mince, you're cutting out nearly half the calories and for only a couple of extra dollars.


Food: Yoghurt

Smart Swap: Natural Greek Yoghurt

Greek yoghurt is a fat loss superfood due to its high protein content. It is also high in calcium and potassium and has half the sugar of regular yoghurt.

When choosing Greek yoghurt, go for natural, tradition types as some can contain added sugars.


Food: Soft Drink

Smart Swap: Sparkling Mineral Water

This swap can be difficult for some people, but it's where you'll see the biggest changes. Soft drinks are extremely high in sugars and are thought of as empty calories - a can of coke has 170 calories and 40g of sugar.

Smart swap to sparkling mineral water and add lemon or lime to flavour.


Food: Cooking Oil

Smart Swap: Cooking Spray

By swapping cooking oil to an oil-based cooking spray, you can cut out 90% of the calories per serve.

While there are arguments for the nutritional value of oils and their healthy fats, one serve of cooking oil has ~120 calories, while one serving of spray has just 12 calories.


Food: White Bread

Smart Swap: Wholegrain Bread

Swapping out your bread type is an easy way to avoid high GI carbs from white bread.

Choose grain or wholemeal varieties, and look to low GI options or wraps to cut down calories and leave you fuller for longer.


Food: Potato

Smart Swap: Sweet Potato

Potato is the versatile superstar of vegetables, but sweet potato reigns supreme in the nutrition department.

Swapping out potato for sweet potato is so easy to do, and it tastes great!

 

Food: Potato Chips

Smart Swap: Popcorn

If snack cravings hit, reaching for popcorn instead of chips will save you more than half the calories per serving, and you can eat twice as much because popcorn is so light.

Chips are high in fats and calories, while air-popped popcorn is extremely low in calories.

Look for the healthy options that are lightly salted and free from artificial flavouring, and avoid the buttered or flavoured varieties.