Craving the
creamy, dreamy taste of mashed potatoes but can’t indulge because you are on a
diet? Or are you more of a sweet tooth type, thinking of the decadent sweetness
of a brownie but can’t indulge?
Well, with
a few quick and easy substitutions, you can still relish your favorite foods
without totally falling off the diet wagon.
Substituting Fats
When it
comes to making things taste good, fat does a really good job. Let’s take a
look at a some substitutes you can use when trying to reduce the impact of fat
in your weight loss journey.
Plain Greek
yogurt: many people don’t yet realize the versatility of this particular dairy
product. Thick, creamy and high in protein, nonfat or low fat plain Greek
yogurt is an excellent substitute for sour cream on your baked potato or in
your mashed potatoes. In casseroles, replacing cream of chicken soup with Greek
yogurt really knocks down the calorie count without sacrificing the creamy
texture or taste.
Applesauce:
this humble food is a terrific substitute for fat when making baked goods like
brownies. Most brownie and other bake mixes call for at least a 1/3 cup of oil
in the recipe. That’s over 330 calories just in the oil itself – not to mention
the whopping 34 grams of fat. When replacing oil with applesauce, measure 1/4
cup of applesauces for every 1/3 cup of oil. The best part of this substitution
is that your baked goods – either cakes or brownies – won’t have any flavor of
the applesauce whatsoever.
Low fat and
non-fat cheese: who doesn’t love a little cheese? But that cheesy goodness
comes with a price – high fat and calories. Thankfully, the dairy industry has
risen to the call of the dieters and has come up with tasty, lower fat versions
of its usual fat-filled fare. Substitutions are easy: use the low fat cheese
exactly the same as you would normal cheese in your casseroles, eggs, and other
foods. One word of caution: nonfat cheese doesn’t melt nearly as well as low
fat cheese and is best used for sprinkling in salads and on top of soups and
stews.
Substituting Sweets
There are
several substitutes on the market when it comes to replacing sugar with
something a little more low calorie. The artificial sweetener saccharin is good
for drinks and sprinkling on top of fruits, yogurts and hot cereals but it does
not do well in baking. Each individual serving packet has less than four
calories but contains the sweetness of two teaspoons of sugar. Sucralose,
another artificial sweetener, has the same sweetness as saccharin but can be
used in baking. Since it is not metabolized by the body, it has no calories.
Aspartame has the same sweetness level as saccharin and sucralose and can be
used in recipes, but they must be custom-made for aspartame use.