Our Top Healthy Food Swaps
Making small, simple changes to your diet is a great way to achieve a healthier lifestyle and we know it can feel overwhelming at first.
We’ve recommended some slimming-friendly swaps that will help to reduce your overall intake of saturated fat, sugar and salt.
These top healthy food swaps prove you can enjoy versions of your favourite foods that are better for you, without compromising on taste!
Take a look at our list of top healthy food swaps that show you don’t need to dramatically overhaul your diet to see a positive difference.
Need a way of organising your next shopping list? Our food planner is a great tool for this and allows you to set out your meals for the week ahead and includes a handy shopping list.
Dairy
Whether it’s in tea or coffee or over cereal and porridge, swapping your whole milk for semi-skimmed, 1% fat or even skimmed milk is a great swap to start with!
You will usually find that skimmed milk has a slightly less creamy taste to whole milk but has the same amount of protein and vitamins and a trace of fat.
You’re not just limited to cow’s milk either: supermarket shelves are full of dairy free alternatives like almond milk, coconut milk and even oat milk!
We love the variety, and use these milks in recipes like our Chai Rice Pudding as they’re typically lower in fat and calories.
Rich, cheesy and creamy sauces sound like they should be a thing of the past when you’re watching what you’re eating, but that’s not true!
You don’t need to use piles of full fat cheese, try swapping for reduced fat cheddar or low fat cream cheese.
Our Creamy Garlic Chicken caused a stir in our Facebook Group when we first published it because it’s cheesy and indulgent and still low in calories!
Cottage cheese is a tasty alternative too, and can be used to top jacket potatoes, crackers or in salads.
We recommend using a microplane grater like this one for hard cheese – you’d be surprised how much further your cheese goes!
You can also use it for grating chocolate or zesting lemons.
For cooking and spreading, try swapping butter for a low fat spread.
Low fat spread can be used in the same way but is lower in saturated fat so it’s one of our favourite top healthy swaps.
Do you use butter for frying? Try low calorie cooking spray instead!
It’s great for frying and baking and you can even get butter, garlic and chilli flavours.
From Bacon and Maple Blueberry Pancakes to Strawberry Souffle Omelettes, low calorie cooking spray is one of our essential swaps.
Yoghurt
Full fat natural and Greek yoghurt is a rich and silky addition to sauces, curries and dressings.
A simple, healthy swap is to switch out the yoghurt for a fat-free or low fat version.
We use fat free natural yoghurt in many of our recipes, like Potato Salad, but you can also find them in fruity flavours or chocolate flavours for a sweet dessert.
There’s no need to reach for a sugary chocolate bar for an after dinner treat!
Drinks
The calories from sugary fizzy drinks can really add up during the day: one can of Coca Cola is 139 calories!
It’s easy to see why they’re not the best choice when following a slimming-friendly plan.
Try swapping to diet cola which has less than one calorie and contains no sugar.
Diet cola isn’t just for drinking, you can even use it in our Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken for a savoury fakeaway style dinner!
If you enjoy a teaspoon or two of sugar in your tea or coffee, you can quickly fill your daily sugar allowance just by getting your caffeine fix!
By swapping to stevia, you can still enjoy the sweetness without the sugar, and you can find it in powdered or handy tablet form for your office desk or handbag too.
Why not try green tea or a fruit tea to replace one of your daily cups?
The healthy swaps don’t stop with the daytime tea breaks: swap beer and wine for a lower calorie cocktail made with sugar free fizzy drinks or cordial, like our Elderflower Gin Fizz!
Bakery
By swapping stodgy white bread to wholemeal versions, you increase your fibre intake for a healthier digestive system.
It’s just as tasty and can be stuffed with your favourite fillings.
Swap your lunchtime sandwich for a Caramelised Cheese Onion Toastie that’s crunchy and delicious.
Forget the coffee shop style muffins and croissants that can rack up hundreds of calories before the day has even begun!
Swap out the blueberry muffin for homemade, nutritious Banana and Peanut Muffins.
By taking just 25 minutes to prepare these muffins, you can have fluffy, light muffins ready to eat when you find yourself craving a slice of cake.
If you’re a fan of pastry, try our Cinnamon Swirls for an easy breakfast or dessert at only 34 calories each!
Meat
Look for leaner cuts of meat that have less visible fat on them for example using bacon medallions over streaky bacon.
You still get the smoky, salty bacon flavour but without the extra fat!
Bacon medallions can often be more expensive, so you can get back bacon and cut off the fat with scissors before cooking.
Try it in our fresh and filling BLT Pasta Salad.
Always try to cut off visible fat from larger cuts of meat like joints and steaks.
Cheaper cuts like pork shoulder and oxtail are perfect for slow cooking and usually less expensive too. Pulled Pork is one of our faves!
What’s your favourite healthy food swap? Be sure to let us know over in our Facebook Group!
We have nearly 1m members ready to inspire, support and motivate you on your slimming journey so if you’re not already a member, you can join our community and let us know!