Five Ways To Fix Your Diet
By: Alex Mazzella
When I first started to weight lift, I will admit, my diet was garbage. I’d come home from a session and eat fast food, chips, and cookies, but always made sure to supplement these “bad” foods with “good” foods, which must balance itself out, right? Later that winter, I was stuck after a track practice waiting at the high school with my coach, and this man happened to initiate a conversation with me about his friend who was a competitive body builder. The one thing I truly recall from the conversation was when he stated, “80% of the work is in the kitchen”. Although I shoved off this “dad talk” initially, I soon decided to transition to cleaner calories, but not actually changing the amount I’d eat, just to see what would happen. I switched fast food for fresh food, chips for fruits, and cookies for vegetables. Shockingly, my energy, muscle definition, and strength skyrocketed. Turns out, eating whole — nutrient dense calories throughout the day DOES produce great results, meaning just a little bit of a lifestyle change really does lead to a whole lot of self improvement. Let’s discuss five easy switches in one’s diet that will sway one in the right direction, while simultaneously not forcing an individual to swap every meal for kale:
- Swap White Rice For Brown Rice

There are various kinds of rice, white rice, yellow rice, brown rice, hell, rice seems to be the rainbow of the grain community. However, brown rice is the best muscle builder, as not only does the grain contain more micronutrients per serving (magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium), yet has a lower glycemic index (GI) as well. What this means is that brown rice not only will make you feel fuller and abstain one from overeating, yet will provide one with more energy in throughout the day, as the lower the GI, the greater the lasting energy. Consequently, a brown rice swap will provide you with a lasting drive to exercise, a great carb source for a post workout, and a waist slimage all in the mix!
2. Sour Cream becomes Greek Yogurt

I will confess, I was the biggest sour cream addict to walk the face of the earth. However, once my cousin suggested to try Greek yogurt in place of my cherished topping, I cringed. How could she disrespect sour cream like that? Turns out, however, that Greek yogurt tastes exactly like sour cream, and is WAY better for your body! Coming from a recovering addict, I cannot stress how indifferent both the toppings taste. Furthermore, plain unsweetened Greek yogurt (whether you prefer it fat free or whole is a personal decision based on one’s dietary goals) is a nutritional saint. Packed with crazy amounts of vitamins, probiotics, and about ~15 grams of protein per serving, your body and your tastebuds will thank you for such a humble switch.
3. Diss the Nutella

A couple of years back, the world went Nutella crazy. Shelves and shelves of the peanut butter imposter racked the aisles of family super markets and wholesale clubs -and who could resist? It had the taste of an angel, and shared all the nutritional aspects of peanut butter with just a tad more sugar, right? Well, not quite. Turns out, peanut butter is far superior compared to its Nutella counterpart. With less calories per serving, more protein, greater amounts of unsaturated fats (good fats), and less carbs, peanut butter is far superior to this hazelnut blend, and is here to stay. If the taste of Nutella sways you in the wrong direction, mix some peanut butter with dark chocolate, which leads me to my next point…
4. Dump the Sweets

We all have a favorite candy bar. Mine is the Twix bar, it’s a cookie and chocolate bar combined! However, sugary drinks, candies, and cookies although aren’t super high in fats, will ultimately make you fat. When we eat sugar, since it is not a natural nutrient to the body, it gets converted by the liver into fat, regardless the “exotic” sounding name (fructose, glucose, sucrose, the list goes on). In fact, the American Heart Association has declared that men should limit their added sugar intake to 36 grams, and women should limit their intake to 25 grams. Although this seems like plenty, a standard twix bar has 28 grams of sugar, ONE Oreo has about 5 grams of sugar, and a bottle of Gatorade boasts 32 GRAMS OF SUGAR! These absurd sugar levels take atrocious tolls on one’s waistline, and literally six Oreo cookies can jeopardize the results of a whole cardio workout! Instead of ruining your efforts because of your selfish sweet tooth, there are always alternatives. For instance, instead of milk chocolate, try dark (meaning above 80% cacao) chocolate. Dark chocolate is significantly lower in added sugars and bares various nutritional benefits for the body and the brain, yet still should be eaten in moderation due to a high saturated fat content. Although it is an acquired taste, it won’t take one long to adjust. Furthermore, diss the sweets for fruits. Although fruits have moderate sugar levels, these amounts are naturally occurring, and aren’t manually or artificially inserted into the fruit, meaning that your body will have a better time digesting and processing the sugar more efficiently. Moreover, fruits are high in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and low in calories, meaning that by quenching your sweet tooth with a fruit, your caloric intake will drop, thus dropping the extra pounds as well. Nevertheless, fruits, like anything with sugar, should still be consumed in moderation. Finally, just swap the sports drinks and soda for water. Yes, the taste of water is “boring”, but after a while of strictly drinking water, your taste buds revert to their natural form, and you will start to wonder how you ever chose liquefied sugar as a beverage over nature’s finest. Plus, if it’s the carbonation that draws you back to the dark side, seltzer is a great and healthy alternative.
5. Swisstch your Cheese

Even though that was an awful pun, I cannot stress it enough. For starters, “American” cheese, such as the infamous Kraft cheese, is so fake and unnatural that it isn’t even qualified as a “cheese” anymore. It is called a “single”, or in English, a processed cheese product. I don’t think we need to delve into what can be wrong with that. However, regarding real classics like provolone, muenster, and cheddar, the nutrition isn’t optimal either. These forms of cheese are high in saturated fats, and low in protein. However, not all cheese is bad! In fact, Swiss cheese, mozzarella, and feta are among the healthiest cheeses in the game, so healthy that one can eat without feeling guilty. Plus, these choices taste pretty damn good too! With a substantially lower saturated fat count and a dramatically higher protein content, these branches of the cheese world boast nutrient-dense calories, and are a great source of calcium as well. So, next time you find yourself in a Taco-Tuesday situation, swap the Four Mexican for some mozzarella!
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