To lose weight, you have to cut calories, or exercise more, or a combination of the two. If you plan to cut calories, we rounded up 20 ways you can use to reduce your caloric intake through smart substitution and portion control.
Smart Substitution to Reduce Calories
By making small, but smart swaps, you can reduce your calorie intake substantially. For instance:
- Swap out a bagel for an English muffin and avoid eating 220 calories.
- Trade 10 ounces of whole milk for skim and avoid another 70 calories.
- Make an omelet with one whole egg and two egg whites instead of three whole eggs. Calories saved – 125.
- Try turkey sausage instead of pork and save another 125 calories.
- Instead of mayonnaise, use hummus or mustard on your roll and cut 200 calories.
- Trade your french fries for a salad and save 300 calories.
- Try tortilla chips with salsa instead of potato chips dipped in a sour cream-based dip; it’ll save you 109 calories.
- Try replacing oil in your favorite baked dessert with applesauce; four tablespoons of applesauce is 40 calories while two tablespoons of oil is 200. Plus you’ll add more flavor to your dessert.
- Use 4 ounces of fat-free half-and-half in your coffee instead of regular cream and save 88 calories.
- Eat 1/2 cup of oatmeal instead of a full 1-cup serving; calories saved: 150.
- Substitute 1.5 ounces of raisins for fresh grapes and save 98 calories.
- Snack on baked potato chips instead of the fried ones; save 90 calories for a 1-ounce serving.
- Put 3 ounces of mozzarella cheese on your sandwich instead of Swiss and save 108 calories.
- Swap out Alfredo sauce for marinara sauce- 129 calories saved.
- Eat 1 cup of frozen yogurt instead of ice cream.
- On your salad, eat either croutons or cheese, but not both and save over 100 calories.
- For something different, eat 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries topped with 2 ounces of fat-free whipped cream instead of 1/2 cup of strawberry ice cream and avoid eating 102 calories.
- Portion Control: The size of your plate makes a big difference on the number of calories you consume. Trick your mind into thinking you have more food than you do by using a 9-inch instead of a 12-inch plate. On average you can save up to 500 calories.
- Do you tend to go back for another helping when finished with the first? You still can, but first wait 20 minutes. Most likely won’t go back and if you do, you’ll take less.
- When eating out, it is harder to control portions, however, not impossible. Because restaurant portions are significantly larger, eat smart by leaving a fourth of your meal on your plate. Look up the nutritional information before leaving the house. Studies found people ate 52 fewer calories when they knew the nutritional information before ordering.
Cutting calories is easy when you know how to make intelligent substitutions and control portion size. Take charge of your eating with these suggestions.
