The art of the food substitution
Bacon butties are awesome. Let’s get that in there straight away. (Disagree? Still stick around. The point I’m leading to is universal to any diet.) What’s your method? Tomato sauce on a muffin? (or bun / cob / roll / barm / bap if you're one of those weird talking folk.) Brown sauce on toast? Maybe even a bit of lettuce, tomato and mayo if you’re feeling fancy.
My mouth just filled with saliva. Now if I said to you, you can never eat a bacon butty again. No way. Over my dead body. What are you going to crave? Bacon butty… plus a desire to volley me down some stairs.
But what if we never took it off the table? What if we looked at ways to upgrade your food. What if we introduced a few small substitutions here and there that will: A - Keep you sane and avoid / satisfy cravings. And B - Still be conducive with your goals and allow you to lose fat and build muscle. Sounds like witchcraft? Yup. Is it witchcraft? Maybe. Really? No, of course not you pleb. It’s actually really simple. Here we have your traditional bacon sandwich.
White bread
Back Bacon
Butter on both slices of bread
Tomato ketchup
Fried in the pan
Solid effort. The nutritional profile is: Calories: 537 Carbohydrates: 48.6g Protein: 21.8g Fat: 26.3g
But what if we made the following changes?
White bread. Wholemeal bread (extra fibre)
Back bacon. Lean Bacon Medallions (lower fat content, fewer calories, good protein source)
Butter both slices. Just butter one side, you greedy bastard.
Tomato ketchup. Reduced Salt & Sugar ketchup (Fewer calories, reduced sodium intake)
Fried in pan. Grilled & excess fat mopped up with kitchen roll before serving.
How does that affect the score cards? Calories: 336 (reduced by 201 calories) Carbohydrates: 33.8g (reduced by 14.8g) Protein: 23.4g (increased by 1.6g) Fat: 9.9g (reduced by 16.4g) "But it’s not the same." Yes, I know it’s not. It’s better. It’s been upgraded. The nutritional profile has significantly improved. Meaning, having a bacon butty is no longer a guilt-ridden shame-fest. By tweaking meals in this way, we make them healthier. And as a general rule: The more nutritional value you get from a meal, the more often you can have it. Obviously, this isn’t limited to the pork-based culinary arts. We can apply this to everything that passes your lips. Curries, Stir-fry’s, pasta, salads, snacks, drinks etc. Now, I'm not saying never treat yourself. But if we just play the game that little bit smarter... We can set ourselves up for long-term, sustainable results. Take it from somebody that constantly hears: "Ooh, should you be eating that?" By being that little bit more mindful... we don't have to deprive ourselves as much as you think.
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