Dieting Doesn’t Have To Be Dull

When most people think of the word ‘diet’ they don’t think of exciting foods. Instead they think of bland bowls of salad served with a glass of tap water.

The truth is that whilst many of the tastiest foods are unhealthy, there are still many healthy foods out there that are just as fun and delicious.

It’s all a case of thinking outside box – there’s more to healthy eating than salad. Here are just a few ways to eat a healthy diet, whilst still stimulating your tastebuds.

Spice it up

Spices can bring incredible flavours to ordinarily bland dishes. Not only that, many are extremely healthy for us and can help with weight loss. Chilli lowers blood fat levels, cardamom speeds up metabolism and turmeric reduces the development of fat tissue.

There are plenty of healthy curries that can be created using these spices as found on sites like olivemagazine.com. You can also use spices to jazz up soups, stews, rice dishes, pasta dishes and all manner of other healthy meals.

Switch to sweeteners

Sugar spikes our hunger levels and is often converted into fat when we eat too much. Although giving up sugary snacks and drinks can be difficult for those with a sweet tooth, it is worth considering  switching to artificial sweeteners.

This would allow you to carry on drinking soft drinks and eating sweet snacks without having to worry as much about your waistline. Some foods with sweeteners in are still fattening due to high dairy content or high refined carb levels, which is something to consider (look out for cakes and soft drinks that are also advertised as low fat).

Shake it off

Shakes are an exciting way to get your fix of fruit and veg. By buying a blender, you can make your own smoothie concoctions and experiment with flavours. You can also add spices such as ginger, cinnamon and chilli to help with weight loss.

Sites like shakethatweight.co.uk have some recipes and diet plans involving shakes. You may even be able to come up with your own signature smoothie. Also ask yourself, can a diabetic drink it?

Dip into new ideas

You can also make vegetables exciting by using dips. Carrot sticks may seem boring on their own, but try dipping them in chilli hummus or black bean salsa and you’ve suddenly got an exciting snack.

If you fancy a sweet snack, you can also dip apple slices in yoghurt and cinnamon cottage cheese (the latter one doesn’t sound so appealing, but give it a try and you’ll think otherwise).

Go bananas

Bananas are great sources of healthy nutrients such as potassium and vitamin B6, which are great antioxidants. They’re also low in fat and sugar. Their versatility when it comes to creating sweet snacks makes them a great fruit to stock up on.

If you fancy an ice cream, simply freeze a banana in tinfoil and you’ll be left with something very similar in taste and consistency. You can also bake bananas with cinnamon and low-fat honey for a delicious and healthy hot dessert. On top of this, you can put banana on toast with peanut butter for a mouth-watering morning snack.

Call in the cauliflower

Cauliflower is a vegetable that on its own can be very boring. However, it can be a vital ingredient when creating many healthy alternatives to tasty unhealthy foods.
Cauliflower can be ground up and used to create bagels, pizza base, nachos, lasagne and even pancakes. This does involve getting your baking gloves on and taking time to create each meal, but could be worth if it means being able to eat all those unhealthy foods in healthy form. You can find a list of cauliflower recipes at thedecoratedcookie.com.

Go cold turkey

Many meats are full of fat and it can be difficult for meat-lovers to cut back on them. Fortunately, not all meats are full of calories.

Turkey breast is one such option – it has only 1g of fat per 100g portion. Compared to lamb which has 9g per 100g portion, turkey is practically a superfood. This meat can be used in curries and rice dishes and all kinds of other meals. It’s also a great way of making the boring bowl of salad a lot more interesting.