You Should Have Started Doing This Yesterday

Everyday Trade-Offs for a Healthier You

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5 Everyday Health Hacks

Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by no-compromise trade-offs. Even as a young kid, I thought, "Why don’t ‘they’ just put healthy stuff in everything we eat?” I was always frustrated that Coke has 1,000,000 grams of sugar and, more recently, that everything is filled with high fructose corn syrup instead of other more natural and lower glycemic impacting alternatives.

If you're in this same category of people and give a damn about what goes into your body, stay tuned for five useful and weird “this-for-that” tradeoffs with food and other everyday items we use or consume. In our journey to living a more fulfilled and reframed life, I would encourage you to educate yourself on the foods and chemicals you put into your body from a macro and micronutrient perspective.

Let’s jump in!

My Top 5 This-for-That List

🌮 Trade-Off for Taco Lovers: If you’re like me, tacos are best eaten with everything you can get your hands on. That includes guacamole, sour cream, onions, rice, cheese, beans, lettuce.. you get it. What if I told you that you could swap out a dollop of sour cream for a nutrient-dense alternative?

Introducing our first this-for-that tradeoff: Sour cream → Plain Greek Yogurt

You get no noticeable taste difference and a helluva lot more protein. Trust me on this one—I ran an experiment at my office, and the only person to notice the difference between the two was a Greek kid. He even admitted that he wouldn’t have noticed the difference if he wasn’t on the lookout for it.

There are also significant gut benefits, given the amount of live bacterial cultures in yogurt.

🍚 For the Hispanics and Rice-Lovers: I’m half-Colombian, so I’ve eaten enough rice in my lifetime to keep the rice industry in business for about five years. Rice has caught some flak for being highly processed, having a high glycemic index, and having a lower nutritional value than other carbohydrate sources.

Here are some healthier alternatives for those who culturally depend on rice or just down-right can’t or don’t want to give it up!

1. Cauliflower Rice: Cauliflower rice is a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate alternative rich in fiber and vitamins. (my least favorite of the options)

2. Bone Broth Rice, aka Rice+: Cooking rice in bone broth can enhance its protein content, potentially offering benefits for skin, joint health, and overall protein intake without significantly altering the taste or texture of the rice. (Higher protein content gives this the win for me)

3. Brown Rice: Brown rice is a whole grain with higher fiber content, essential nutrients like B vitamins and minerals, and a lower glycemic index than white rice. This supports better digestive health and blood sugar control.

A Dozen Cousins makes my favorite bone broth rice and is available everywhere. (No affiliation, just trying not to gatekeep)

🍳 Replace your non-stick pans with ceramic or stainless steel pans: If you’re thinking about ditching your non-stick pans, consider switching to ceramic or stainless steel. Ceramic pans are great because they don’t have any “forever chemicals” like PFOA or PTFE (prevalent in non-stick pans) and can handle high heat without a problem. Stainless steel pans are super sturdy and awesome for cooking anything, whether searing meat or simmering sauces. I do think stainless is a little harder to keep clean, so I prefer ceramic, but some people swear by stainless steel.

🍝 Pasta, too? Fuhgeddaboudit Swapping out traditional pasta for zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, or Banza noodles is a fantastic way to lighten up your meals. These veggie alternatives are lower in calories and carbs, making them ideal for weight management and supporting a healthier lifestyle. Plus, they bump up your daily vegetable intake. My fiance makes a killer spaghetti squash meal, and I sincerely look forward to these special meals. I don’t consider them a “replacement” for pasta, but an actual staple in my diet.

Another good “traditional” pasta replacement would be to make your pasta with Banza noodles. Banza noodles are a brand that makes pasta out of chickpeas, which are packed with more protein and fiber, are lower in carbs, and are gluten-free. I always eat these, so it’s a win-win-win across the board with good taste and a better macronutritent profile.

Pair these meals with “fit wine” (lower sugar or sugar-reduced wines) and you will still be living the “good life” while trying to stay on top of your health and fitness goals.

🚰Saying Goodbye to Single-Use Water Bottles: Although I don’t follow this rule 100% of the time, I do try to follow this rule most of the time. I drink water from my stainless steel bottle whenever I travel, work out, or am home.

It’s 2024, so drinking water from a reusable or non-plastic container at your home should be the new norm.

The Owala free sip is my go-to because I can chug or sip. Again, no affiliation - this is actually what I use! Owala uses Eastman Tritan plastics, which are BPA and phthalate-free.

Additionally, I recommend a souped-up water filter that filters out PFAS and lead. I use a Brita Elite filter, which claims to filter out 99% of lead and reduces the amount of microplastics in the water up to 3X greater than the normal Brita filter. This isn’t foolproof, but I think microplastics are a legitimate health hazard, and minimizing single-use plastic water bottles is the right thing to do.

What are your thoughts on today’s content?

Looking for more health hacks like this? Shoot me an e-mail, and I’d be happy to share some of my other favorite health hacks I use on the reg. I don’t gatekeep!

-In Health, Your Chief “You can have your cake and eat it too” Officer - Daylan Skidmore 🙂 

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