A Few Easy Switches To Make In Your Weight Loss Diet, To Get Better Results, Faster.

Losing weight is rarely an easy task to undertake, because our eating habits are largely controlled by our subconscious habits. These habits have often become so ingrained, that we’re used to eating the same kind of foods – which are usually unhealthy.

In truth, it’s okay to eat unhealthy foods occasionally. But when are diet becomes made up of too many of the “bad” foods, then you’ll gain weight. Sooner or later, you decide to go on a weight loss diet, which goes against everything you’re used to...

So what can we do to make weight loss diets easier? The key is to “substitute” your foods for healthier ones. This means you can gradually eat healthier foods, without making such a drastic change that any sane person would give up after a few weeks at the most.

To get you started, here’s a few healthy substitutions you can make in your weight loss diet.

Firstly, try to drink real fruit juice, instead of fruit drinks which are loaded up with sugar and often contain only a very small percentage of fruit juice.

Freshly squeezed fruit juice is a better choice than bottled juice (it’s also tastier, too).

However, the best thing to do for most people is to simply eat a piece of fruit instead of drinking the juice. The whole fruit also contains fiber which helps your digestion and satisfies hunger.

Another Substitution to make is to switch butter for margarine. Did you know that margarine is mostly made from chemically produced hydrogenated oils? These are more commonly known as “trans fat”. In fact, these trans fats have also been linked with weight gain, slowing of the metabolism, and an increased risk of heart disease and cancer. If that’s not a good reason to make this substation, we don’t know what is.

If you want to go an even healthier option, then use olive oil. Vegetable oils, especially olive oil, have also health benefits such as lowering cholesterol.

We all love potato chips – but we also know they are unhealthy. Instead of eating potato chips, try switching them for pretzels.

You see, potato chips are high in trans fat, salt and calories. Any nutritional benefit you may receive from a potato is long gone once it becomes a potato chip.

Pretzels, on the other hand, are far healthier. Why? Because they are baked and not fried. This means they are also much lower in fat. Unfortunately, they are still usually as high in salt.

A good idea would be to start checking the labels, and avoid anything with trans fat.
A much better option would be to eat unsalted nuts. They're loaded with protein and healthy fat, and they can be quite tasty, too.

Most people enjoy bread as part of our diet, but many of us prefer to eat the packaged white bread – which really isn’t very healthy. It’s much better to switch this for sour dough bread.

An added benefit of sour dough bread is that the substance which gives it the familiar tang also helps to slow down your digestion.

What does this mean?

This means you will not have as much of a blood sugar spike after consuming it. Otherwise, whole wheat bread is the best choice when it comes to bread, because it has plenty of fiber which slows down digestion. This kind of bread also has additional vitamins and minerals which you’ll never find in packaged white bread.

Another food which can be good to add to your weight loss diet is Iceberg Lettuce. This vegetable will satisfy your urge for something cold and crunchy, but it’s also very low in calories.

However, there’s no denying that lettuce lacks a certain something flavor wise. It’s also pretty low in vitamins and minerals. You can improve upon Iceberg lettuce simply by using it in a salad which contains dark green lettuces also.

If you’re not a fan of lettuce at all, that’s okay. You can lose the iceberg lettuce completely and go with something like escarole, romaine, or baby lettuce mix, the darker the green color the better – as it usually contains more vitamins.

Who doesn’t love fried chicken? Not many people dislike this food, but it’s also high in calories and fat – as well as the dreaded “trans fat”. This is fine to have occasionally, but if it’s a significant part of your diet – then you may want to work on changing that.

The breaded coating absorbs the frying oil and is usually made with white flour. If you love chicken, then try having it baked or roasted. Remove the skin of the chicken after baking but before eating. The skin protects the chicken and keeps it moist while it's cooking but it’s also very high in fat. You can gently lift the skin and put the seasonings directly on the meat, then replace the skin for protection.

Unfortunately, fried fish has similar disadvantages as fried chicken. Fish is certainly good for you, and is worth adding to any diet - but not fried fish. Baked or grilled fish is far better for you, nutritionally speaking. Try to pick fish which contain Omega 3 fatty acids. Fish which contain these helpful acids are salmon, tuna, and mackerel. These are all good choices if you’re looking to add more fish to your diet.

In conclusion, if you make these simple switches in your diet, you’ll find it much easier to stick with in the long run – and you’ll also get better results. It’s not uncommon to have more energy, and generally feel healthier in yourself once you’re eating healthier alternatives. After all, you are what you eat!