Eat this, not that: 10 food swaps for weight loss

Written by Martin Ebner,
Last updated October 2026

Losing weight doesn’t require you to replace every enjoyable meal with cauliflower pretending to be something else. I’ve never met anyone whose life was improved by receiving courgetti when they wanted pasta.

Food substitutions can help, but only when the replacement reduces calories without ruining the meal or leaving you hungry an hour later. If the supposedly healthier option makes you miserable and sends you back to the kitchen, it hasn’t worked.

I don’t give clients strict meal plans. I usually ask them to record what they eat for a week, then we look for a few deliberate changes that won’t make normal life unbearable.

These are the food swaps I’d consider first.

THE SWAP HAS TO SOLVE A REAL PROBLEM

A useful substitution should do at least one of three things. It should reduce the calories, make the meal more filling or improve its nutritional value without increasing the portion beyond recognition.

Healthy and lower-calorie aren’t interchangeable. Nuts, avocado and olive oil are all nutritious, but replacing something with them doesn’t automatically help with weight loss. Calories still count, even when they arrive wearing a health halo.

One reason some substitutions work is energy density. Foods containing plenty of water, fibre or air tend to provide more volume for fewer calories. In a one-year clinical trial on food energy density, people following an energy-restricted diet lost weight across every group, with lower-energy-dense foods helping them eat a greater volume.

You still need to enjoy the result. Nobody wants to spend six months eating a disappointing impersonation of dinner.

1. DRINK FEWER CALORIES

Liquid calories can disappear remarkably quickly. Fizzy drinks, juice, alcohol, sweetened iced tea and enormous coffees can add hundreds of calories without doing much for hunger.

Water is the obvious replacement, but it isn’t the only one. Sparkling water, sugar-free soft drinks, unsweetened tea and lower-calorie mixers can all help.

A six-month randomised trial found that replacing caloric drinks with water or diet drinks produced modest weight loss. That doesn’t make a diet drink a health tonic. It makes it a useful substitute when the alternative contains a lot of sugar and calories.

You don’t need to ban every drink you enjoy. Start with the ones you consume regularly without caring very much about them.

2. CHANGE THE COFFEE, IF THE COFFEE ISN’T SPECIAL

Coffee itself contains very few calories. The milk, syrups, cream and sugar are where it starts becoming a snack with a lid.

If your morning latte is one of life’s great pleasures, keep it. If it’s something you buy automatically and barely notice, try an Americano, a smaller latte or one made with less milk and no syrup.

The size matters more than whether the milk is technically full-fat. A small coffee you enjoy is often a better solution than a joyless black coffee followed by three biscuits.

3. CHOOSE PORRIDGE OVER MOST GRANOLA

Granola looks wholesome, but it’s often a combination of oats, oil, nuts, dried fruit and added sugar. None of those ingredients is automatically a problem. Together, they can make a fairly small bowl extremely calorie-dense.

Porridge usually gives you more volume for the calories. Add fruit, cinnamon and some Greek yogurt for flavour, protein and a bit more staying power.

Read the label and watch the additions. A bowl of porridge can become just as substantial once you add a generous spoonful of peanut butter, honey, nuts and half the contents of the kitchen.

4. TRY AIR-POPPED POPCORN INSTEAD OF CRISPS

Crisps are delicious, but they’re very easy to eat and very reluctant to fill you up. The bag can disappear before your brain has registered that the event has begun.

Air-popped popcorn gives you more physical volume for the calories. Add salt, paprika, chilli or another seasoning you enjoy rather than drowning it in butter or sugar.

This isn’t because popcorn is pure and crisps are sinful. Popcorn simply contains more air and usually less fat, which means you can eat a larger portion for fewer calories.

If you want crisps, eat crisps. Put a sensible amount in a bowl rather than allowing a family-sized bag to make the decisions.

5. BUILD CREAMY SAUCES AROUND GREEK YOGURT

Mayonnaise, sour cream and creamy dressings can add a lot of calories to a meal without adding much volume.

Greek yogurt makes a useful base for dips and sauces. Mix it with lemon, garlic, herbs, mustard or spices and you can create something that tastes like part of the meal rather than a punishment for enjoying food.

You don’t need to remove mayonnaise permanently. Try using less of it, combining it with yogurt or saving it for the meals where it makes a noticeable difference.

Replacing mayonnaise with avocado, as the old version of this article suggested, isn’t necessarily a weight-loss swap. Avocado is nutritious, but it still contains plenty of calories.

6. USE LEANER MINCE OR MIX IT WITH LENTILS

Choosing a leaner cut of beef, turkey or chicken can reduce the calories while keeping plenty of protein in the meal.

Another option is to replace part of the mince with lentils, beans, mushrooms or finely chopped vegetables. This works particularly well in chilli, Bolognese, curry and shepherd’s pie because the sauce carries the flavour.

You get a larger portion, more fibre and a meal that still resembles the one you intended to cook.

You don’t have to remove red meat or pretend lentils taste identical to beef. Use enough of both to make the meal satisfying.

7. CHOOSE A PROTEIN SNACK WHEN PROTEIN IS THE POINT

The old article suggested replacing a protein bar with almonds. That may improve the ingredient list, but it doesn’t necessarily reduce the calories or provide more protein.

Nuts are nutritious and worth eating. They’re also calorie-dense and surprisingly easy to overdo. A handful is a portion. Repeatedly returning to the bag is a different event.

If you want a higher-protein snack, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, lean meat, a protein shake or a sensibly chosen protein bar will usually do the job more directly.

Protein can help a meal feel more substantial and supports muscle while you lose weight. I’ve explained the numbers in Protein for fitness goals: how much do you need?

8. MEASURE THE OIL RATHER THAN POURING IT

Extra-virgin olive oil is a perfectly good food. It also contains roughly the same number of calories as other cooking oils and butter.

A generous free pour can add far more than you intended. Measure a teaspoon or tablespoon, use a spray where it makes sense or cook with a small amount and add more only if the meal needs it.

The bottle doesn’t know you’re trying to lose weight.

This applies to nut butter, pesto, dressings and tahini as well. They can all stay. They simply deserve slightly more attention than spinach.

9. KEEP THE CARBS AND CHANGE THE SERVING

Potatoes, rice, bread and pasta aren’t stopping you from losing weight. The portion, cooking method and everything added to them are more likely to be the issue.

Boiled or roasted potatoes with a measured amount of oil can be very filling. Chips covered in oil are a different meal. Pasta with lean protein, vegetables and tomato-based sauce behaves differently from a huge bowl covered in cream and cheese.

Rather than replacing pasta with courgetti and pretending nothing has happened, use a slightly smaller portion of pasta. Add a useful serving of protein and enough vegetables to make the plate feel generous.

Carbohydrates fuel training and make meals enjoyable. They don’t need to disappear.

10. EAT A SMALLER AMOUNT OF THE TREAT YOU WANTED

Some diet substitutes are excellent. Others taste like building materials with artificial sweetener.

If you want chocolate, a smaller amount of good chocolate may be more satisfying than an entire box of diet biscuits that never quite reaches the target. If you want ice cream, put a portion in a bowl and enjoy it rather than eating a disappointing frozen protein creation followed by the ice cream anyway.

A controlled trial found that people ate substantially more calories when given an ultra-processed diet, even though the available diets were matched for several presented nutrients. That doesn’t make every processed food bad. It shows how easy some foods are to eat quickly and in large amounts.

Keep the foods you love. Decide when they’re worth it, serve an amount that fits the goal and pay enough attention to enjoy them.

THE BEST SWAP IS THE ONE YOU BARELY NOTICE

Weight loss becomes much harder when every meal reminds you that you’re dieting.

Start with the calories you won’t miss. Change the drink you consume automatically, measure the oil, make the sauce lighter or adjust the balance of the plate. Leave the foods that matter to you alone until there’s a reason to change them.

Small deliberate changes aren’t as dramatic as banning carbohydrates or announcing a new diet to everybody you know. They’re far more likely to survive the month.

If you need more help making the diet itself sustainable, read 11 steps to stick to a diet without losing your mind.

If you’ve ever replaced butter with avocado and wondered why the calories didn’t disappear, Check It Oot is where I sort useful fitness and nutrition advice from the ideas that merely look healthy on Instagram. One email once or twice a month, written by me and delivered straight to your inbox.