As the days are get darker and colder (sigh), it’s getting waay easier to reach for those comfort foods. But is comfort eating so bad? CLEO spoke to Shivaun Conn, Nutrition Expert for the Australian Institute of Fitness
, about giving comfort foods a makeover.
“Healthy food can still be comfort food and your traditional comfort food may just be in need of good makeover,” says Shivaun.
So, basically we don’t necessarily need to give up our fave snacks. We just need to switch them for something equally as satisfying. #WINNING
She suggests these super simple (read: genius) alternatives to popular comfort foods:
* Potato mash – instead use cauliflower mash *Burgers – ditch the bread and keep the fillings * Fried chicken – use macadamia crusted chicken breast *Nachos – use oven baked pita chips instead of corn chips, a sprinkling of cheese, and no fat Greek/natural yoghurt instead of sour cream * Pasta – swap spaghetti for soba noodles, they are higher in protein and lower in calories * Pizza – make your own pizzas with pita b
read and healthy toppings
Shivaun also suggests snacking away winter blues with these healthy comfort foods:
Air popped popcorn
Hot chocolate – make a healthy version with almond or low fat milk, cacao powder, cinnamon, vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon honey
Milk chocolate – swap it for 75-90% dark chocolate
Prepare wholemeal fruit muffins with no added sugar
Soup – choose vegetable soup, low salt with wholegrain toast
Baked vegetables – mushroom, asparagus, tomatoes, sweet potato rings with cinnamon
Seasonal binge = sorted.
Re-Published by Cleo Magazine on behalf of the Australian Institute of Fitness