10... no... 12 healthy substitutions

Here are some healthy food substitutions for you. You'll hardly notice the difference - except maybe on your waistline!

1. Instead of sweetened, full fat yoghurt rather have plain unsweetened fat free yoghurt with chopped fresh fruit or berries.
2. Instead of pasta with creamy cheese/white sauce rather have wholewheat pasta with tomato based veg sauce - top with a scrape of parmesan.
3. Instead of canned fruit in syrup rather have fresh fruit or drained canned fruit packed in juice.
4. Instead of deep-fat fried french fries rather have oven-bake chips.
5. Instead of cream cheese rather have low-fat or fat-free smooth cottage cheese (the low fat is really rich – you can even top your fruit salad with it!).
6. Instead of snacking on crisps rather have pretzels, popcorn (no butter!) or raw, unsalted nuts. Chick peas make a great snack, too.
7. Instead of pancakes with sugar and cinnamon rather have wholewheat pancakes with berries.
8. Instead of sweetened cereals (most of them are) rather have rolled oats, weetbix or bran flakes. Cheerios are a good whole grain alternative.
9. Instead of neat fruit juice rather have 1/2 fruit juice and 1/2 still or sparkling water.
10. Instead of tea or coffee rather have an herbal tea or plain water.
11. Relegate your cooking oil to the fridge for infrequent use and buy a non-stick, low-oil cooking spray, such as Spray'n'cook Olive oil.
12. Put your dinner ware back in the sideboard and buy smaller dishes - a smaller plate makes your portion look larger and fools your brain into thunking you've had more.