7 Food Swaps That Will Help You Slim Down Smart Substitutions for Healthy Weight Loss Spet. Trying to figure out how to get skinny? Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to resort to a calorie-crash diet or exercise two hours a day to see results quickly. Instead, start making smarter substitutions, cutting out starchy breads, pasta, and potato products for low-carb replacements that are often much healthier and tastier. Food Swaps That Can Help You Slim Down Cabbage or Collard Greens Instead of Bread Summer means quick and easy sandwichesâless time in the kitchen and more time outside enjoying warm-weather activities! Avoid a postlunch energy crash by ditching your standard two slices of bread and instead wrapping your sandwich ingredients in a raw cabbage or collard-green leaf. Carbs Avoided: 24 More Health Perks: Cabbage and collard greens promote healthy cholesterol levels. These cruciferous veggies also contain potent anticancer compounds. The 10 Healthiest Food Pairings Summer Squash Instead of Hash Browns Summer squash is a readily available, affordable substitute for carb-heavy potatoes. To prep, grate summer squash (zucchini or yellow summer squash), mix in an egg as a binder, work into patties, and fry in olive oil. Carbs Avoided: About 15 grams per hash-brown patty More Health Perks: Summer squash is a solid source of magnesium, a mood-regulating mineral that also protects heart health and reduces disease-promoting inflammation. Spaghetti Squash Instead of Pasta Switch out spaghetti for the noodlelike flesh of spaghetti squash and you'll enjoy the same consistency without the excess carbs. Carbs Avoided: 30 grams per cup More Health Perks: Winter squash is chock full of cancer-fighting antioxidants like alpha- and beta-carotene. Cauliflower Instead of Potatoes Potatoes are full of simple carbs that cause an unhealthy spike in blood sugar. Instead of mashed potatoes, try steaming fresh or frozen cauliflower, adding a bit of butter (the kind from cows raised on pasture is the healthiest), a bit of milk, and puree. Carbs Avoided: 30 grams per cup More Health Perks: Cauliflower is from the cruciferous vegetable family. People who ate just four servings of these vegetables a week slashed their risk of dying by 26 percent, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. 8 Surprising Things That Are Making You Fat Lettuce Instead of Hot Dog Buns Don't let a starchy bun weigh down your summer cookouts! Instead, wrap your hot dogs in a nutrient-packed outer leaf of red- or green-leafed lettuce. Want extra crunch? Choose romaine. Carbs Avoided: 19 grams More Health Perks: Lettuce is loaded with isothiocyanate, lutein, zeaxanthin, and isoflavones, healthy compounds that protect against Alzheimer's, lung cancer, and macular degeneration. Oatmeal Pancakes Instead of Flour Pancakes Pancakes are a breakfast staple, but if you indulge in these refined-carb patties too often, you're likely to feel zonked by noon due to the food's energy-crashing effects. Instead, use a mixture of whole-grain oatmeal and protein-packed cottage cheese to create your own healthy pancake mix. Mix together half a cup of old-fashioned oatmeal, a quarter cup of low-fat cottage cheese, two eggs, and a dash each of vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Process in a blender until smooth. Cook the mixture like a regular pancake. Carbs Avoided: 45 grams per pancake More Health Perks: Add a tad of 100 percent pure maple syrup (not the kind sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup), and you'll be able to enjoy a pancake-light treat that also reduces inflammation and fights enzymes that can lead to diabetes. The Dark Side of "Healthy" Wheat Portobello Instead of Pizza Crust Forget that floury crust that wreaks havoc on your waistline and trade it for a nutrient-packed Portobello mushroom as a crust! Carbs Avoided: 20 grams per slice More Health Perks: Portobello mushrooms are bursting with selenium, a nutrient vital for immune-system health. Like this? Sign up for The Daily Fix, Rodale.com's free newsletter, and get even more tips about organic and local food in your inbox every day.