When the temperature drops, so too does our desire for fresh summer salads and slurp-worthy smoothies. Cue the inevitable winter cravings for carb heavy, calorie laden comfort foods. But step away from the lasagne! While these foods are totally fine in moderation (#balancebaby), reaching for a bowl of creamy pasta every night is not going to help you get the results you’ve been working so hard for. Here’s a list of smart low-carb food swaps!
Swap pasta for veggie noodles
While zucchini seems to be the most popular pasta alternative (just check out the #zoodle hashtag on instagram), there are plenty of other veggies that make an equally scrumptious substitute. Swoodles (sweet potato noodles), sqoodles (squash noodles), broodles (beetroot noodles), toodles (turnip noodles), poodles (parsnip noodles). Who would have thought that a veggie spiralizer was all you needed to make a delicious HYPOXI approved carbonara?
Swap milk chocolate for dark chocolate
As a general rule of thumb, the higher the cacao content, the better the chocolate for you. So next time those inevitable chocolate cravings strike, instead of reaching for the milk or white options, which offer no nutritional value, opt for a dark variety with at least a 70% cacao content. Not only is it packed full of antioxidants, but it’s much richer in taste, so you’ll be less likely to overindulge.
Swap burger buns for lettuce cups or portobello mushrooms
When life happens, burgers help! But instead of loading up on carb heavy burger buns that will leave you feeling sluggish and lethargic, try replacing them with lettuce cups, portobello mushrooms or eggplant instead. You can still load them up with your favourite delicious fillings like turkey patties, tomatoes, beetroot, avocados and cheese and serve them with a side of carrot or zucchini fries!
Swap rice for cauliflower
Actually, we should rephrase that. Swap rice, mash, pizza base and potato bake with one of the most celebrated vegetables in our eye… the humble cauliflower. Who knew that the cruciferous vegetable that was once nothing more than a bland member of the meat and three veg family, was so damn versatile?
Swap flour with almond or coconut flour
If a 3:30 sweet treat is something you can’t stand the thought of parting with, the good news is you don’t have to! If you’re like us and love to get your bake on, just swap out the traditional flour with almond or coconut flour to up the fat and lower the carbs. See, you can have your cake and eat it too!
