Snack Swapper

Ok, so Ramadan has passed and as we enter Eid, I am sure many of us are wondering how to get back into a healthy eating habit!  Sure, it would have been nice to lose a few pounds during all that fasting, but unfortunately many traditions, at least in the arabic countries, is to eat too much as well as serve an endless supply of sweets.

What to do?  You’re first step…  Find an alternative to the things you love but are packed with fat and calories.

if you’re craving…

biscuits

Be smart and swap it for: oatcakes
Biscuits using high quality ingredients are not necessarily all bad, but most commercial biscuits are pretty awful. If you are looking for the ‘munch factor’ oatcakes can be spread with a healthy sweet topping such as low-fat cream cheese with a scrape of apricot jam, or savoury such as a spread of marmite. Oats help to balance blood sugar, reducing cravings, and are full of fibre essential for digestive health

cake

Be smart and swap it for: wholemeal banana bread
The trouble with most commercial cake is that it uses white flour, lots of sugar and is loaded with preservatives. If you can bake, or find someone who bakes, banana bread, date or raisin bread, with high quality ingredients (the banana, raisins or dates substitute for quite a lot of sugar) you can slice this and keep it in the freezer for times when you crave a ‘hit’. A bread making machine makes cooking it easy.

chips

Be smart and swap it for: stuffed baked potato
Chips are greasy and have a particularly acute effect on blood sugar. A baked potato is virtuous and fat-free until you add fillings, but make wise choices and you are home and dry. Best fillings are: baked beans (relatively low calorie, low fat and full of fibre), tuna canned in brine mixed with sweetcorn (low fat, high protein plus additional fibre from the sweetcorn), low-fat plain yoghurt, or grated Edam (half the fat of cheddar).

fizzy drinks

Be smart and swap it for: 100% juice diluted with sparkling water
Fizzy drinks are mostly a nutritional disaster area loading you up with empty calories from sugar, or artificial sweeteners and other chemicals. A serving of juice counts as one of your daily portions of fruit, and diluting it with sparkling water gives it some zing. If you have to buy a fizzy drink, make it one of the fizzy 100% juice options, such as Appletize, available rather than a cola.

ice-cream

Be smart and swap it for: frozen banana
When you’ve tried this once you’ll never want anything else again. Cut the banana into sections, put it back in its skin and freeze. The skin will be black but the banana will be delicious. Take the banana sections out and combine with a little low-fat natural yoghurt. It is nutritious, low in sugar, low in calories and fat – just the opposite of ice-cream! You can even add a little muesli for a crunchy topping.

cappuccino

Be smart and swap it for: skinny latte
At around 50 calories a skinny latte will save around 100 calories on a regular cappuccino. If you want to get a bit more bang for your buck avoid the flavoured syrups which are a sugar-disaster, but add an extra shot of coffee and chocolate sprinkles on top won’t add calories but will add ‘buzz’ – just don’t do this late at night if you want to sleep

pizza

Be smart and swap it for: a tortilla wrap
While pizzas are loaded with fatty calories from cheese and ingredients such as salami, tortillas are low in fat and easy to use. Assemble some low calorie ingredients such as lean chicken strips, grated Edam or other low-fat cheese, spring onion, sliced tomato, cucumber or pickle. Warm the tortilla for 1 minute in a dry pan, and fill to the brim with delicious fillings for satisfying and healthy meal. If you have to have a pizza, double the tomato, go easy on the cheese and choose low-cal toppings such as prawns and mushrooms.

sweets

Be smart and swap it for: chocolate or xylitol chewing gum
When you have to have a sweetie it is the sugar you are craving. Apart from playing havoc with your blood sugar, your teeth will suffer. High quality chocolate is a much better option and does not particularly damage teeth. Xylitol is a sugar-alternative which, for once, actually has health benefits in modest amounts, and in particular it reduces tooth decay. Many chewing gums include xylitol these days, just look out for the information on the pack.

peanuts

Be smart and swap it for: fresh nuts and dried fruit
Salted or honey roasted versions are no good, but nuts in their natural form are. While they are quite high in fat these are unsaturated healthy fats good for nerves and skin. Reduce the fat ratio by eating them with dried fruit such as apricots or raisins, which are high in iron and antioxidant vitamins.

 

Did I miss your favourite snack?  Check it out… lots of new ideas to reduce your intake of fat and calories, subhanAllah… just try it and see the difference in your waistline!  Who would have thunk it!