Healthy Mexican Food - Dieting Tips When Eating Mexican Cuisine

Oh no, it's Mexican tonight. All that sinful rich food brimming with fats and starch, now what..... I am on a diet? But I love Mexican!

If this sounds familiar then you are not alone. There is a fine line between taste and reasonable meal planning. There is nothing wrong with eating rich foods once a week as a treat but if you are on a diet and really cannot afford to take in that sour cream, fried beans, corn chips and guacamole then think again. I am going to tell you a few things about modification.

Being that I am on a 'diet' all year (on season, off season, bulking, leaning) I have learned how to be creative when needed. Of course I indulge, big time, and I can afford it since I train so hard and keep disciplined for the most part but there are those times when you just have to work around the richer foods and find alternatives without sacrificing the overall enjoyment.

Salsa is a safe Mexican condiment which should be homemade for when you are on a diet especially. Many store bought salsas will include sugars and horrendous amounts of sodium. All you need is onions, peppers, and tomato with lime, lemon, white vinegar, salt and pepper. If you like it hot then add some chillies too.

Sour cream is another mainstay for Mexican and used in all the dishes to add smooth rich relief to the hot versions of the meal. There is no fat sour cream but you can also cut the sour cream with non fat yogurt or just use yogurt itself. I like to sprinkle some Cheyenne or paprika to liven it up.

Guacamole is actually very healthy with its fat being a good one. Of course you should limit the amount in a sitting but do not eliminate it and also make this at home. A little lime juice and some finely chopped onion and tomatoes will dilute the avocado puree so that you are not getting as much of the avocado alone allowing you a bit of a larger portion.

Corn based chips, taco shells and wheat tortillas can also be replaced with tortillas made from other grains such as kamut or spelt. The tacos shells and chips can also be made or cut with other grains so that you are not getting so much fatty corn in at one sitting.

Beans are excellent, and refried style is wonderful but do not fry, do not use fat, puree it and viola. Black beans are usually used whole and those are tremendously healthy for your diet.

For the protein you can use tofu, meat alternative to ground, or if you like meat then go for ground turkey or chicken. Same taste pretty much from ground beef to ground poultry other than being a lighter in flavor than beef. This is a much healthier option and takes nothing away from the dish.

So next time its Mexican night, try to plan ahead with some of these alterations to the meal and most people will not notice nor taste a difference but will go away much less bloated with a lower calorie intake and much lower fat intake.

By Linda Cusmano