The big food swap
health,diets,healthy eating,diet plans
Bowl of porridge
Eating a healthy, low-fat diet can be a minefield of hidden calories, saturated fats and carbohydrates. Despite all of your best efforts, that healthy-looking bowl of cereal could actually be teaming with sugar and that seemingly innocent salad sandwich packed with salt. From a takeaway curry to a quick lunch on the go, we\'ve done our research and named and shamed the fattening foods just waiting to add inches to your waistline and given you an equally convenient healthy alternative to make your already busy life that much easier.
Ditch: Dorset Cereals berries & cherries, 267 calories per serving
Eat up: Porridge, 110 calories per serving or Weetabix , 117 calories per serving (two biscuits)
Many of the big cereal companies have been in the news recently after Which? Magazine reported on the hidden fats, salt and sugar hidden in their cereals. Dorset Cereals berries & cherries cereal is no different with the bulk of this muesli being sugar-laden dried fruit with a few flakes thrown in for good measure. Swap this for some porridge which has a lower GI so will prevent you from reaching for the biscuit tin later or tuck in to some Weetabix with a chopped banana and skimmed milk.
Baked not fried
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Nairns oat bakes
Ditch: bag of Walkers Crisps, 164 calories (cheese and onion flavour)
Eat up: Nairn\'s Oat Bakes, 126 calories
You might think that the difference in calories between a packet of crisps and these filling oat bakes is not big enough to make you want to make a swap but, because Nairn\'s Oat bakes are (not surprisingly) baked, they only contain four grams of fat whereas your average bag of crisps is fried and contains twice as much fat at over eight grams making all the difference when you are trying to squeeze yourself into your skinny jeans.
Curry favour
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Takeaway curry
Ditch: Chicken korma, 669 calories and Pilau rice, 253 calories per portion
Eat up: Vegetable balti, 371 calories and boiled rice, 96 calories per portion
There\'s nothing wrong with indulging yourself with a satisfying takeaway after a miserable week but make the wrong choice and you could find that occasional treat results in you piling on the pounds. A vegetable balti is almost half the calories of a creamy korma and ditch the Pilau rice for boiled for a huge calorie saving.
Biscuit break
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Jaffa Cakes
Ditch: McVities milk chocolate digestives, 86 calories and 4.1 g of fat
Eat up: Jaffa Cakes, 46 calories and 1g of fat
OK, so you just can\'t live without your morning or evening biscuit dunked into a cup of tea. That\'s fine, we all need our guilty pleasures in one form or another but swap your digestive for a spongy Jaffa Cake and you can appreciate your break all the more knowing you\'re hardly consuming any calories and fat at all.
Takeaway lunch
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Pret sandwich
Ditch: Pret herb and chicken rocket sandwich, 456 calories
Eat up: Pret tuna salad bowl, 178 calories
Many of Pret a Manger\'s sandwiches are laden with mayonnaise which is what racks up the fat and calorie content. The seemingly innocent herb, chicken and rocket sandwich contains a whopping 456 calories which is as much as a Big Mac! Swap it for the much healthier tuna salad and you\'ll not only be saving yourself some calories for the rest of the day, but you\'ll be saving your love handles too.
Hidden calories
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glass of white wine
Ditch: A glass of white wine, 130 calories
Drink up: Vodka and slimline tonic, 58 calories
Yes, a vodka and tonic looks dull next to a glass of lovely wine when you\'ve had a particularly stressful day but look at it this way, would you feel happy having that drink if your favourite jeans were feeling a bit snug? And, let\'s face it; you won\'t know the difference after you\'ve had a couple anyway.
Breakfast on the go
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Starbucks oatmeal
Ditch: Large croissant, 320 calories
Eat up: Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal, 140 calories (with no additional topping)
We\'ve all been there, you slept in and didn\'t have time to brush your hair let alone sit down to a decent breakfast before work. Thankfully, after a lot of negative press, the big chains have started offering up healthy breakfast options for those on the go. A buttery croissant is not only laden with calories and fat but it will only keep you full for an hour at most due to the lack of nutritional benefits it provides. Instead, pop to Starbucks bypassing the full-fat lattes and unhealthy muffins (yes, even the ‘skinny\' ones) and have some granola. Low in fat and low GI it will perk up your energy levels and wipe out hunger \'til lunch.
Low-calorie Chinese
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Chinese takeaway food
Ditch: Sweet and sour pork, 711 calories and egg-fried rice, 127 calories
Eat up: Beef in black bean sauce, 359 calories and boiled rice, 96 calories
Neither of these options are a dieter\'s best friend but you can\'t be good all the time so if your cravings for a greasy Chinese won\'t quit, go for the healthier black bean option as opposed to the heavy, fried and sugar-packed sweet and sour choice.
Healthy fast food
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Leon cookbook
Ditch: Leon grilled chicken with aioli, 799 calories
Eat up: Leon original superfood salad, 310 calories (without vinaigrette)
London-based chain Leon prides itself on serving up freshly prepared healthy fast food but, like any other restaurant desperate to make its food taste better than its competitors; many of Leon\'s dishes are packed with fatty butter, oil and mayonnaise. A seemingly healthy dish of grilled chicken and aioli actually contains more calories than a McDonald\'s meal thanks to the oil and mayo so swap it for the equally delicious but far healthier superfood salad.
Sweet fix
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Innocent smoothies
Ditch: Minstrels, 211 calories
Drink up: Innocent Mango & Passion Fruit Pure Fruit smoothie, 52 calories
Tackle sugar cravings without setting yourself up for a huge energy crash with a healthy smoothie which still tastes deliciously sweet. Unlike chocolate which will only ever leave you wanting more, fruit contains enough fibre and carbs to fill you up too so you can feel satisfied and virtuous at the same time.
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