Calorie Killers S 13 ways to turn your no-fuss man food into healthier meals without sacrificing the flavour ome blokes love to cook. Others, not so much. But no matter where you fall on that particular spectrum, the fact remains that you have to eat. Takeaway or home-delivered food is always an option, but there are times when even that seems like too much trouble – and all you want to do is throw something together in a couple of minutes and be on the sofa before the football kicks off.
Most guys will have a couple of quick and easy recepies up their sleeve – you know, the kind of thing you lived on when you were at university. Sadly those easy solutions are pretty grim in terms of nutrition. But they don’t need to be. With a few simple tweaks and substitutions, you can turn a colonstopping bowl of macaroni and cheese into a much healthier meal. It’s food you can enjoy without sacrificing your abs.
1Burger
Make it better: A good burger consists of one main ingredient: beef mince. And typically, the more fat the meat has, the tastier and juicer it seems. Does that mean you can’t make a tasty burger without a lot of fat? Absolutely not. Go ahead and buy the leanest beef available, then add a finely-chopped onion, a tiny dribble of olive oil and half a handful of low-fat cheddar cheese to give the meat that lovely greasy feel — without the huge amounts of fat that you’d usually be eating. What you’ll save: Low-fat Beef
Calories -96
Fat
11.1g
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2 Spaghetti
Make it better: Try out whole-wheat high-fibre pasta rather than the standard off-the-shelf variety you normally use. If the wholewheat is a little tough, try and find a wholewheat blend. Barilla Plus is one such brand, made up of a blend of grains. You’ll get a good blast of added fibre that you’ll hardly even notice once the sauce is on. Speaking of which, sauce out of a jar is often very high in sugar or highfructose corn syrup. Take a quick look at the ingredients listed on the label: if either of those sweeteners are in the first four ingredients listed, put it back and find yourself a healthier alternative. What you’ll save: Wholewheat pasta
Calories
20
Fibre +5.2g
3 Pizza
Make it better: Whipping up a slice or two at home is heaps better for you than dialling up a couple of family-sized, fat-laden stomach stuffers on a Thursday night. Start with wholemeal pizza bases, which you can buy at a supermarket if you don’t fancy kneading dough for an hour before you eat – although this is quite a good workout - you can work off the calories before you eat them. Make your own pizza sauce with fresh tomatoes, finely chopped onions and fresh basil. Dice the tomatoes and onions, cook in a pan until they break down, then leave to cool. Add the basil, stick the whole lot in a blender, season and blend. For toppings, avoid processed meats and stick to fresh veg. For inspiration, look at the vegetarian option at your local pizza parlour. Low fat cheese is a must. What you’ll save: Wholemeal pizza base
Calories Carbs 107 -28.7g
Fibre +10g
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What you’ll save: Adding skimmed milk
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Nachos
Make it better: Ditch the fried corn chips in favour of oven baked They’re much lower in fat. Next, make your low-fat cheese sauce. Just dump 1 cup of skimmed milk and 1.5 cups of low-fat shredded cheddar cheese in a pan, cook over medium heat, stiring until it’s melted. Top your nachos with fat-free sour cream, salsa and jalapenos — but not refried beans, which are often made with lard. For a leaner alternative, open a can of black beans and use a fork to mash them.
Protein Calories +8.8g +88
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Canned Tomato Soup
Make it better: Instead of adding water to your condensed soup, pour in an equal amount of either skim milk or plain soy milk. This will make it not only creamier but also higher in protein. To turn your bowl of soup into a meal, add some shredded cooked chicken or turkey. Or, if you like vegetables, try adding defrosted spinach, broccoli, or mixed vegetables. Instead of oily croutons, crumble whole-wheat crackers over the soup.
What you’ll save: Oven baked corn chips Cheese Sauce
Calories Fat -50 -10g
Calories Fat -40 -16.1g What you’ll save: Egg whites
Calories
76
Fat -10g
No butter
Calories
100
Fat
-12g
What you’ll save: 99% Fat free noodles
6 Two minute noodles
Calories Fat Protein -102 -14.9g +0.9g
Make it better: Turn this dry block into something worthwhile by adding vegetables and even some chicken breast. Give the chicken a quick fry in some light olive oil with a touch of garlic. Chop up some Bok Choy and a tomato, grate a carrot or add some mushrooms for more iron and put them aside. Put the noodles in the water and half the flavour packet, cook for one minute then add the other ingredients for 60 seconds more.
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Egg Omlette 7Three
Make it better: Try ditching a couple of the yolks from whatever you’re scrambling up. One yolk contains 55 calories and 5 grams of fat, while an egg white has just 17 calories and zero grams of fat. Invest in a good non-stick pan and coat it with a light spray of cooking oil. Your eggs won’t stick and every tablespoon of butter you avoid, you save about 100 calories and 12 grams of fat. Use low-fat shredded cheese and whatever veggies you have on hand such as frozen spinach, as a filling.
8Tacos
Make it better: A lot of home-made Mexican dishes end up tasting like dog food with sour cream, but you can make a great taco meal without getting bogged down with fatty food. For starters lean beef — as lean as you can get — is the basis for a good taco. Better yet, try finely diced chicken pieces — you can save up to 57 calories per taco that way. To keep the meat moist, add a can of tomatoes to the mixture and cook until it thickens. Avoid the high-calorie toppings life full-fat cheese and sour cream. Use the light options. A good tip with the fat-free cheese: it always tastes better hot, so add it to the meat just before you remove it from the heat. Be wary of store bought salsa (as with nachos, check the ingredients before you buy). For ultimate taco goodness, bin the fried taco shells and go for wholewheat flour tortillas — yes it’s no longer a ‘taco’ but the flavours are there. Calories What you’ll save: Low fat beef
Calories Fat -11.1g -96
Chicken
Calories -59
Fat -7g
Wholewheat tortilla
Protein Calories Fat -2.4g +2g +14
Protein +1.7g
9Chilli
Make it better: A few simple substitutions can transform a pot of chilli from a warm vat of fatty goo into lthy meal. Step 1: Drop the a good healthy vour of a tin of beans. It’ll meat in favour ur as well as fibre and add flavour protein, while reducing the amount of he meal. Then toss in a cup of fat in the corn — frozen or fresh, it doesn’t ter — for more fibre and better matter nch. Finish off your bowl of chilli crunch. th low fat cheese, diced onion and with xtra-light sour cream. extra-light What you’ll save: Beans instead of beef
Fat
-16.1g
Fibre +5g
Fat free sour cream
Protein Calories Fat -4.9g +0.6g -37
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What you’ll save: No butter
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11 Macaroni and cheese
Make it better: Switch from white bread to wholemeal, and pick up two grams of fibre per slice. Next: low-fat cheese. Regular cheese carries about 100 calories per slice — low fat is considerably less t and zero-fat cheese is even better — about 30 calories and no fat. That means you can double up on the cheese for a good gooey sandwich, and still save on the g the bread. calories. Olive oil in the pan is better than buttering
Make it better: You can eat leaner without giving up your Mac and Cheese in a box by changing the way you prepare it. Skip the butter for a savings of more than 300 calories and 30-plus grams of fat. Opt for skimmed milk over whole-fat. If you like your mac creamy, try pouring in an g righteous, g ous, add 1 cup of extra half cup. And if you’re feeling defrosted chopped broccoli for a boost of Vitamin C, folate, potassium, and fiber.
Grilled cheese sandwich
What you’ll ou’ll save: Wholemeal bread d
Fibre +2g
Words Tanya Zuckerbrot Photography Shutterstock
Adding broccoli
Protein Carbs Calories Fat -144 -16.2g +1.9g +5.6g
Protein Carbs arbs +1g -5g
Low fat cheese
Calories Fat -89 -10.3g
What you’ll save:
What you’ll save: Falaffel instead of meat
12Kebabs
Wholemeal Lebanese bread
Calories Fibre Calories Fat -20 -226 -25.8g +1.9g
Make it better: They might well be irresistible late at night, but you can make the equivalent at home. Replace the fatty meat with falafels. Tabouleh is continental parsley, tomato, cucumber, cracked wheat and lemon juice. For the falafels, buy a packet of mix, soak it in water and shallow-fry the patties in light olive oil. Hummus is chickpeas, lemon juice, ground cumin and a dash of olive oil in a blender. Use wholemeal Lebanese bread for fibre.
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Protein powder
13Milkshake
Skimmed milk
Protein Carbs Calories Fat -8.3g -70 +12.9g +12.7
Make it better: The average milkshake contains more than 200 calories per cup. Your average milkshake is 2-3 cups worth. Next time your craving hits, think highprotein mini-meal, rather than creamy snack. Start with skimmed milk instead of whole and add a scoop of protein powder for a nutrient boost. Fruit will really liven up a shake – bananas, berries or a combo of the two will boost the sweetness without breaking the calorie bank.