5 Simple Food Swaps for Weight Loss

Surprising new research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that diet soda can slow your weight loss.

In the study, 62 obese diet soda drinkers went on a diet. One group stopped drinking diet sodas and replaced them with water. The other group was allowed to keep drinking diet sodas (just one per day).

Subjects that drank only water lost more weight and lowered the levels of a fat storing hormone (insulin) better than the diet soda drinks.

Now just to be clear, the diet soda group still lost a LOT of weight (15 pounds). But the subjects that quit diet soda lost an extra 2-3 pounds over the 12-weeks.

If you can kick the habit, it’s worth it.

Those diet drinks… and many so-called diet foods, just aren’t worth it.

That’s the Catch-22 about most diet foods, and even a lot of so-called healthy foods.

They don’t actually work… and can actually hold you back.

Here are 5 diet food swaps that you need to make today.

1) Use CB’s Superfood Nut Mix to replace Granola Bars.

Granola bars are full of junk and NEVER fill you up. They just make you want to eat another one, right? So kick those to the curb.

Switch to one of these nut mixes:

• 1 oz. Raw Almonds + 3 teaspoons of Cacao Nibs
• 1 oz. Walnuts + 2 chopped up dates

Cacao nibs are even better for you than dark chocolate, and give you a little boost, like caffeine. But just make sure the cacao nibs are not coated in sugar.

2) Use CB’s Superfood Breakfast Smoothie to replace Breakfast Cereals.

Breakfast cereals are full of sugar and many other no-good ingredients. For example, Raisin Bran has 18g of sugar per serving. And because most people pour themselves 2-3 servings in their bowl, you end up with as much sugar as a Coca-Cola!

Use this CB Smoothie recipe instead. It’s my favorite:

• 8 oz. water + 4 ice cubes
• 2 scoops BioTrust vanilla protein
• 2 handfulls of spinach
• ¼ or ½ cup frozen blueberries (fresh are fine, too)
• optional: ½ banana

This will keep you full for 4-6 hours!

3) Use JB’s Homemade Yogurt Bowl to replace Store-bought Sugary Yogurt.

WOW! Did you know that most fruity yogurts have more sugar than a Twinkie?

Here’s a terrible offender: Yoplait Original Strawberry Fat-Free… it contains 26 grams of sugar. YIKES!

Switch to this recipe from world famous nutrition guru, Dr. John Berardi.

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop BioTrust chocolate protein
• ½ oz. of your favorite nut

Stir it up and enjoy as a sweet dessert treat.

4) Choose Natural, 1-Ingredient Foods to Replace Processed Health Foods.

You are better off eating a grass-fed burger with quality cheese served over a big spinach salad than you are eating a processed soy-veggie burger covered in high-fructose ketchup and slapped between a processed bun.

It’s a small sacrifice to give up the bun, I know, but totally worth it I highly recommend removing all foods with long labels and “misunpronouncable” ingredients from your diet.

5) Use CB’s Daily Energy to Replace Your Daily Juice.

I’m still shocked when I see people drinking orange juice at breakfast. One cup of orange juice contains almost as much sugar as Coca-Cola.

According to a study from the British Journal of Medicine, drinking juice RAISES your risk of diabetes. YIKES. It’s not as bad as diet soda, but it’s still bad.

Switch to this: The best drink for fat loss and health

BONUS SWAP But wait, there’s more… 6) Choose CB’s Burrito Bowl vs. a Regular Chipotle Burrito (or other fast food). A regular burrito at Chipotle can run you 1,200 calories… or more if you go ALL out. So do this instead… Get a burrito bowl, skip the rice, and have your meat, beans, vegetables, and even a side of their amazing guacamole – all for under 550 calories. Amazing! (I call that the “Ballantyne” burrito bowl, because it’s my go-to meal at Chipotle, and I always go with carnitas. Yummy!) NOTE: Don’t try and order it by saying “I’ll have the Ballantyne Bowl”… I’m not that famous… not even at Chipotle… at least, not yet. Ha! Alright. I’ve saved you hundreds of grams of sugar today, and plenty of calories, too. That’ll get you on the fat burning track for the rest of the week. Now if you need a fast-acting diet that shows you what to eat at every meal, get this:  >>>Free 6 week meal plan. Download it today! My good friend Dr. K has designed a plan to help you lose about ONE POUND per day, all the while improving your posture and cosmetically helping your body become more aligned and better looking. Take fast action on that today because research proves that the FASTER you lose the fat, the LONGER you keep it off! Taking care of your nutrition, Craig Ballantyne, CTT Certified Turbulence Trainer PS – Here’s a great reminder for the week…Have clarity of purpose. Know what you want, what matters, what doesn’t, what you will and will not do, and where you want to end up in this game of life. Be mindful of this at all times. Set your boundaries, stick to your vision, and live the right life for you and your family.