After my explanation the other day of my efforts to be more concscious of the sugar I’m eating, I wanted to share with you a few changes I’ve made. Most of the them are easy switches I’ve made which I know will benefit my overall health.
{1} Using natural peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter
I eat peanut butter sandwiches A LOT. And have you looked at the sugar content on regular peanut butter compared to natural peanut butter? Huge difference. But be sure to look at the sugar content of your natural peanut butter, too. There has been at least one kind of “natural” peanut butter I’ve picked up whose sugar content and ingredient list are almost identical to my regular peanut butter.
Also, if you have trouble liking natural peanut butter, take a few weeks and mix natural and regular peanut butter together, slowly decreasing the amount of regular peanut butter you use, until you are used to the flavor of natural.
{2} Eating healthier snacks instead of sweeter snacks
I’m a horrible snacker. I don’t snack a lot, but with Evelyn draining so much of my energy, I’m finding I usually need a little something in the afternoon. And I’m horrible about making it something sweet. So I’ve starting buying some of my favorite whole grain crackers and cheese for afternoon snacks, and making a healthier version of something sweet (like the peanut butter oat balls) for my inevitable sweet craving.
{3} No extra sugar in my oatmeal
I love making some quick instant oatmeal for breakfast in the morning, but I’ve always put extra brown sugar in it. This is a really easy habit to stop. I just slowly decreased the amount I added in over a couple of days until I stopped missing it.
{4} Eating brown rice instead of white rice
Brown rice is so much healthier than white rice (and is better for blood sugar levels), and I like it just fine. Yet I’ve always bought white rice without thinking twice about it. Getting brown rice instead is such an easy switch though. The only tricky part is remembering that it takes longer to cook, so I need to throw it in my rice maker a little earlier.
{5} Less dessert
Gerrit and I always have frozen yogurt in the freezer, and it is so easy to get into the habit of eating it nightly (especially with our new favorite–magic shell topping). I’m trying to be better about not eating it every night and just have a little piece of chocolate after dinner instead.
Any other ideas? I’d love more ideas of easy healthy changes!
We’ve made a lot of these changes, and even though I still like white rice better than brown, I eat that too! One thing that’s helped with my own nightly dessert craving is to drink mint tea after dinner, and sometimes have a small bowl of Greek yogurt with berries and a swirl of maple syrup.
Great simple ways to eat healthier!
Abby – I love the tea idea!
For frozen treat- freeze a banana, then peel and put I’m blender with skim milk and peanut butter! Add oats for some fiber!! Easy and healthier!