6 Breakfast Swaps To Save Unwanted Calories

Chewy bagels with gooey spreads, creamy milk, sweetened coffee, fluffy eggs, and juicy sausage – what is a girl to do when the typical American breakfast involves such calorie-dense options? Make the most of your breakfast with these six healthy swaps to save unwanted calories while keeping the good taste:

1. Cooking Spray: Use a fat-free cooking spray and save the calories you would otherwise use in cooking with butter, margarine, and oil. This can save you 125 calories depending on the swap!

2. Healthy Spreads: Try swapping out your full-fat butter or cream cheese, or your sugary jelly or jam for the following spreads:

• Coconut oil: While 5 grams of coconut oil has more calories (43 calories) than 5 grams of butter (36 calories), a little coconut oil goes a long way. Use half the amount of coconut oil rather than a full 5-gram serving and save 14 calories while reaping the oil’s health benefits.
• Fat-free cream cheese: Save 83 calories by topping your bagel with a serving of fat-free cream cheese rather than the original version.
• Natural fruit spread: Save at least 20 calories by swapping a tablespoon of natural fruit spread or apple butter for jam or jelly sweetened with sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

3. Milk: Choose skim rather than whole milk and save 60 calories in an 8-ounce serving. Unsweetened almond milk can save you 115 calories over whole milk per serving.

4. Sweetener: Choose the natural, zero-calorie sugar alternative Stevia instead of granulated sugar and save 16 calories per teaspoon.

5. Eggs: Egg protein is a superior source of protein and nutrients. Instead of eating two or three whole eggs, eat one whole egg and two egg whites to still gain the nutrition in the yolk and the protein in the egg whites. Save 64 calories per egg white.

6. Sausage: Opt for turkey sausage over pork sausage and you could save 120 calories for two patties or links!

 
This is a Guest Post submitted by Tracey Carlton, a fitness nutrition specialist with On-Point Nutrition.
Tracey Carlton is a proud mother of two beautiful children and a wife of a devoted, wonderful husband. If you were to know her personally, you would both witness and feel her passion for good nutrition and exercise and her belief that both should be fundamental in our lives rather than something we fit into our hectic daily schedules. While she has enjoyed her career as a journalist and educator (both in the physical classroom and online), she also has enjoyed learning about nutrition and fitness and how to apply them to her and her family’s lives. She is a certified fitness nutrition specialist and owner of On-Point Nutrition, providing nutrition consulting to individuals and restaurants. She is currently studying for her personal training certification.

Through On-Point Nutrition, Tracey aims to help others find peace with their bodies and their nutrition, and in turn gain a sense of control over so many aspects of life — from health and wellness to relationships with others. Tracey feels a profound excitement and peace in her heart, hearing and seeing the effects of good nutrition and fitness in her clients’ lives.