Recently for my Mom’s birthday, my grandma brought over a dark chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. Being the health freak I am, I enjoyed a small slice and it was delicious. I would have never known that instead of being made with flour and oil like a normal cake, it was actually made with ground up black beans. Going back for that second slice of cake didn’t make me feel guilty when I knew it was actually decent for me. Using the black beans did not alter the enjoyability or the taste of the cake at all. That one slice of healthy chocolate cake inspired me to look at all the small substitutions that someone can make in their life to set them down a healthier path.
One of the substitutions that I make most often is at my beloved Starbucks. In recent years, I started ordering my drink of the day with non-fat milk. Using non-fat milk instead of whole milk can cut as much as 100 calories from every given drink. Even better, if the drink you’re ordering is available with sugar-free syrup, that substitution can virtually cut the calorie load in half. When going through the Starbucks line, people can just ask them to make it as skinny as possible and their body will thank them.
The other healthy choice that I make every morning before school is using egg whites instead of the whole egg. It is good to keep one yolk in one’s daily diet seeing as that is where most of the nutrition comes from, but for substance, extra egg whites are way lower in calories and fat than the whole egg. For those who enjoy vegetable or cheese omelets in the morning, using only one yolk each time is a good idea. Eggs are nature’s super food, and the whites are low calorie yet still nutritious options.
Substituting healthier options for daily commodities are not limited to food items. Simply taking the stairs instead of an elevator when going up floors can be beneficial to one’s health. Of course if someone has an appointment on the 6th floor and they are currently wearing heels, taking the elevator is the obvious answer. For those people that only have to go to the 3rd floor, are currently wearing sneakers, and still refuse to use the stairs, they are simply being lazy. Though it’s not much, walking stairs will get the heart pumping more than standing stationary while a machine does the work.
Living a healthier lifestyle is really an easy thing to do. If this is something that a person desires, they should stay informed, read up on the latest health foods, and be conscious of always making sure the decisions they make are the healthy ones.
