Switching Foods

I think every knows that to lose weight or maintain a certain weight you have to have a good mix of exercising and eating right. Obviously we all have our off days and treats are most definitely allowed, I'm not giving up cake for anyone!! But I've found switching certain foods definitely helps when it comes to not only my weight but my general well being too. So this week I thought I'd share with you just five of switches that I've made in my diet.

Oils

Cooking foods and baking can be made a lot healthier if you switch normal oils for coconut oil. I use coconut oil when making cakes, frying any foods etc. The difference is that this oil contains a lot of the good fats instead of those bad ones. This oil can also be great if you suffer with dry skin conditions too.

Bread

Bread is something that I have always loved, I eat a lot of toast and sandwiches and in recent weeks I've discovered that the best bread to eat isn't wholemeal/brown like most people tell you, it is infact rye bread. I find this to be a little bit more doughy in texture but it has definitely stopped the bloating affect I always got after eating bread and because the loaves tend to be smaller, you end up eating less of it too.

Milk

Another thing I 've switched up is milk. Now I've never been a huge fan of milk but since changing my diet at the start of the year I use it a lot in porridges and smoothies. However instead of using semi skimmed, these days I opt for almond or coconut milk. These provide great added flavours to foods and are brilliant if you have problems with things like lactose.

Sugar

I don't use a lot of sugar but I do like to put a couple of spoonfuls in my coffee. The best alternative I've found to this is sweetener. I now use only one tsp of this in my coffee compared to the two tsps I was using of sugar. Another good alternative to sugar is honey or maple syrup.

Spreads

I mentioned I like to have a lot of sandwiches and toast, I also like to have a lot of smoothies. Something that I use in these is spreads. Now instead of chocolate, jam etc, I opt for nut butters such as peanut butter or almond butter or cheese alternatives such as cottage cheese or quark. All of these are full of protein, great to eat pre or post workout to help build muscles and also help them recover.

So there are just a few ways I've tried to improve my diet, I'd love for you to comment with any other tips you have.

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