Diets often (understandably) fail because they set us up for big changes fast—and because these changes are typically drastic from the way we have been used to living and eating, the quick switch tends to be short as well. You’ve heard of healthy food swaps before, but trust us, you’ve never seen a list like this!
These 19 healthy food substitutions are small but mighty changes you can start implementing today. And because these food swap ideas are so simple, you’ll have no problem sticking with them and losing some pounds along the way.
Healthy Food Swaps For Weight Loss
Don’t think of this as a diet—these healthy food swaps are so easy to implement, you won’t even notice you’re changing anything at all in the way you eat.
Cut calories, carbs, and sugar with these healthy food substitutions to feel lighter, look slimmer, and just be all around healthier! These simple food swap ideas can be applied at home, when you go out, or when you just want to feel better about what you’re putting in your body.
Food Swap Ideas You’ll Actually Want To Follow
So, what are you waiting for? Get started with these quick and easy healthy food swaps and you’ll never have to worry about the dreaded “diet” word again!
1. Instead of a Breakfast Sandwich, Try an Omelette
Breakfast sets the tone for the rest of your day, and while a hearty breakfast sandwich to start your day off may sound like a good idea, often times those types of meals right when you wake up tend to make us sluggish and tired.
Try ditching the english muffin for an omelette instead. It can still be hearty, just pack in your favorite veggies and meats and you’ll be filled up in no time!
- What you’ll save: 246 calories, 25.6g of carbs
- Breakfast sandwich: 340 calories, 26g of carbs
- 3 egg omelette: 94 calories, 0.4g of carbs
2. Instead of a Starbucks PSL, Try a Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte
Coffee is an absolute MUST in the morning, so don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to swap it out for anything else, just something a little bit healthier. Pumpkin spice lattes are our absolute favorite, and honestly, we just don’t think it’s fair that Starbucks only gives it to us for a limited time!
We went ahead and created our very own PSL recipe that you can enjoy any time of the year, and as an added bonus, we included our collagen to make this a HEALTHY PSL!
- What you’ll save: 330 calories, 41g of carbs, 11g of fat
- Starbucks PSL: 420 calories, 50g of sugar, 52g of carbs, 18g of fat
- SkinnyFit PSL: 90 calories, 9g of carbs, 7g of sugar
3. Instead of Potato Chips, Try Carrot Chips
Not much can beat a good chips and dip snack, and before you know it, you’re reaching into an empty bag…
Carrot chips are a perfect alternative, and still give you that same satisfying crunch as a chip does. Not only that, but you’ll be getting your healthy veggies in for the day! Dip them into your favorite salsa and you’ll feel like you’re at a Super Bowl party!
- What you’ll save: 117 calories
- 1 oz of potato chips: 152 calories
- 1 oz of carrot chips: 35 calories
4. Instead of a Sandwich, Try Avocado Toast
Oh the things you can put between two slices of bread! A sandwich is no doubt our favorite lunch time go-to, but those two slices of bread pack some serious carbs.
Cut those carbs in half by opting for avocado toast instead. It’s just as delicious and a lot more nutritious! Add tomato, onions, and chopped bacon on top to spice it up!
- What you’ll save: 20g of carbs
- 1 sandwich: 38g of carbs
- Avocado toast: 18g of carbs
5. Instead of American Cheese, Try Cottage Cheese
In the mood for cheese? String, provolone, blue, you name it, we love it. But cheese has a lot of fat and doesn’t provide much in the way of benefits.
Cottage cheese is a healthy alternative and is packed with protein and vitamin B12. Not only that, but eating cottage cheese has been shown to help you lose weight and feel full quicker.
- What you’ll save: 5.7g of fat
- Cheese: 8g of fat
- Cottage cheese: 2.3g of fat
6. Instead of Regular Peanut Butter, Try Powdered Peanut Butter
When we’re craving something sweet, a big scoop of peanut butter is at the top of the list. Then one scoop turns into two, two turns into three, and, well, you get the idea.
Powdered peanut butter is just as delicious and without all the calories and fat. So when your third scoop turns into your fourth, you don’t have to feel bad about it! It’s perfect to throw into your favorite smoothie, too! Like our green meal replacement shake!
- What you’ll save: 145 calories, 14.5g of fat, 2g of sugar
- Regular peanut butter: 190 calories, 16g of fat, 3g of sugar
- Powdered peanut butter: 45 calories, 1.5g of fat, 1g of sugar
7. Instead of Croutons on Salad, Try Adding Nuts
A salad might sound like a healthy option, but don’t be fooled, those crunchy toppings that make your salad so delicious are costing you a lot of calories.
Try topping your greens with some nuts instead. You’ll still get that crunch you’re craving, but you’ll also get added fiber and protein instead of just the added calories that come with croutons.
- What you’ll save: 243 calories
- Croutons: 407 calories
- Nuts: 164 calories
8. Instead of Regular Tacos, Try a Taco Salad
We’ll be the first to admit, we use taco Tuesday as an excuse to chow down on some delicious carne asada tacos…and maybe a margarita or two. But this of course does not make our diets very happy.
You can still satisfy your Mexican food cravings, just without the carbs, when you swap out tacos for a taco salad. Put all your favorite taco toppings over a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce instead and you’ll be salsa dancing into your favorite skinny jeans in no time!
- What you’ll save: 10g of carbs
- Tacos: 22g of carbs
- Taco salad: 12g of carbs
9. Instead of Ice Cream, Try SkinnyFit ‘Nice’ Cream
What meal would be complete without dessert? None, in our opinion at least. We scream for ice cream! But we don’t scream for the unwanted aftermath…
Don’t worry, you can still have your sweet treat, because we figured out a way to make a no-churn ice cream that is not only healthy, but it’s only 3-ingredients!
What’s even better is that it’s boosted with the beauty benefits of SkinnyFit Collagen and comes in two different flavors! Click Here for the healthy ice cream recipe in both peanut-butter banana flavor and strawberry banana! Feel free to lick, and repeat!
10. Instead of Sour Cream, Try Guacamole
Speaking of tacos, we love a good dollop to top them off! Sour cream however has a high percentage of fat and doesn’t have much nutritional value.
Try guacamole instead. Sure, it has fat in it too, but avocado is actually a healthy fat you won’t feel bad about eating.
- What you’ll save: 20 calories
- Sour Cream: 60 calories
- Guacamole: 40 calories
11. Instead of Tater Tots, Try Broccoli Tots
When given the choice between fries or tater tots, we always bring it back to our grade school days and opt for some delicious, and greasy, tots.
Broccoli tots are a scrumptious alternative that are easy to make at home and are perfect for a keto diet! We found a ton of broccoli tot recipes online that only take a few ingredients to make.
- What you’ll save: 23.6g of carbs
- Tater tots: 26g of carbs
- Broccoli: 2.4g of carbs
12. Instead of Regular Pizza Crust, Try Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Don’t even get us started on pizza–the food of all foods! It’s simply devastating that is has to be so unhealthy. Maybe that’s why it’s so delicious….
Here as SkinnyFit, we knew we just had to come up with a solution, and we did! Our delicious, healthy pizza swaps out regular crust for cauliflower crust and the results are ones that you’ll want to repeat again and again. You can find our easy-to-follow recipe here.
- What you’ll save: 17g of carbs
- Regular pizza crust: 36g of carbs
- Cauliflower pizza crust: 19g of carbs
13. Instead of Regular Pasta Noodles, Try Zucchini Noodles
We tend to carbo overload when it comes to pasta, and who could blame us? There’s something so satisfying about twirling some delicious noodles around your fork.
You can still achieve that guilty pleasure without feeling guilty by swapping out regular noodles for zucchini noodles. This cuts your carbs in more than half and gets your veggies in for the day!
- What you’ll save: 39g of carbs
- Spaghetti noodles: 43g of carbs
- Zucchini noodles: 4g of carbs
14. Instead of Filling Up On An Entree, Order a Healthy Appetizer
Okay now this one isn’t exactly a swap, but more of a “get skinny quicker” tip.
We actually encourage you to order an appetizer at a restaurant. Now hear us out here – you may think you’re adding calories when you order an app, but studies have actually shown that when you order an appetizer, you are more likely to eat less of your main (and probably heavier) meal.
Bonus – you’ll have leftovers to take home!
- What you’ll save: Your appetite and some pounds!
15. Instead of Regular Lasagna, Try Eggplant Lasagna
There’s nothing like a delicious, cheesy, melty lasagna hot out of the oven. This dinner time staple is always a fan fave, but it also comes with some unwanted carbs.
Try swapping out the noodles for eggplant instead. Simply slice the eggplant into thin, long slices and you won’t even notice the difference!
- What you’ll save: 21g of carbs
- Traditional lasagna: 35g of carbs
- Eggplant lasagna: 14g of carbs
16. Instead of Sugary Cocktails, Try a SkinnyFit Cocktail!
Mention happy hour and we’re there! We love a good deal (especially when it’s on drinks!), but where you cut dollars you gain sugar.
Instead of loading up on sugar and calories with a regular cocktail, try a SkinnyFit cocktail instead! Our skinny cocktails are nearly half the calories (and half the sugar) than traditional cocktails! Now you can slim down while you’re winding down!
- What you’ll save: 11g of sugar
- Mixed cocktail: 21g of sugar
- SkinnyFit Cocktails: under 5g of sugar
17. Instead of a Milkshake, Try a Piña Colada Smoothie
Sometimes we just want to drink our desserts–that’s where a milkshake comes in handy! We don’t need to tell you how much sugar is in your typical milkshake…
We created this delicious Piña Colada smoothie as a healthy alternative so you can still get your dessert fix without feeling bad about it. We even put boost the health and beauty benefits by adding SkinnyFit Super Youth, our premiere collagen peptide blend. By adding collagen to any smoothie, you can improve your skin, hair, and nails all while feeling completely satisfied at the sip of a straw!
- What you’ll save: 14g of sugar
- Chocolate milkshake: 21g of sugar
- SkinnyFit Piña Colada Smoothie: 7g of sugar
Healthy food substitutions are a great way to slowly start changing your lifestyle. If hardcore diets scare you off, then these simple food swap ideas are ones you’re going to want to keep around!
So, What’s Our Favorite Food Swap?
Of all the healthy food swaps out there, our absolute favorite has got to be swapping traditional supplements with SkinnyFit products. SkinnyFit believes in creating all natural health and wellness products that have good-for-you ingredients. Every product is scientifically formulated to meet the unique metabolic needs of women and created by seasoned experts! You can count on SkinnyFit to provide only the most premium, high-quality healthy and wellness products out there.
