Trying to lose weight can be a long and difficult journey, particularly as we go into winter and might start to crave more calorie dense foods. For some people, the longer darker evenings can trigger emotional eating to reward the brain with a glucose hit. This may temporarily lift a gloomy mood, but the wrong food choices can soon undo months of dieting.
However, it’s still possible to enjoy healthy comforting foods during the winter without piling on the pounds. Here are a few simple swaps that can help you to continue to enjoy delicious meals without big sacrifices.
Many of these dishes can be prepped in advance or batch cooked at the weekend if you do not have time to cook from scratch on weekday evenings. You may wish to use a meal prep delivery service that uses fresh high quality ingredients for convenience.
Swap chips for sweet baked potato wedges
Most of us know that chips aren’t particularly good for our health, but they are delicious and can be difficult to resist when we are craving a mood booster. Starchy potatoes fried in oil are high in fat and calories, and have low nutritional content. We also tend to add unhealthy amounts of salt or condiments with hidden sugars, such as tomato ketchup.
Instead of chips, go for sweet potato wedges. These are less starchy and have a higher nutritional value than regular potatoes, helping you to feel fuller for longer. Bake them in a little olive oil rather than deep frying them.
Swap red meat for lean turkey
Red meat contains high levels of saturated animal fats, which heightens the risk of obesity and heart disease. Certain cooking methods, including grilling and frying, can also release damaging chemicals that may heighten the risk of bowel cancer. The government guidelines recommend that we eat no more than 490 g of red meat per week for these reasons.
If you are trying to lose weight and cut down on your red meat consumption, but don’t want to go vegetarian or lower your protein intake, try switching to lean turkey instead. It makes a good substitution for beef steaks, meatloaf, and curries.
Switch white pasta and rice for chickpeas, lentils and beans
White carbs such as pasta and white rice spike our glucose levels, followed by a crash. This can leave us feeling tired and trigger further hunger cravings and so we gain weight. Try swapping pasta for protein-rich pulses and beans, such as chickpeas, red lentils and kidney or black beans.
These release energy more slowly, helping to satisfy the appetite and banish snack attacks.
Swap processed cereals for porridge
Even processed cereals that are advertised as healthy tend to contain hidden sugars and other additives. Instead, try making porridge from whole jumbo oats, which are filling and nutritious.