Easy Ways to Cut Calories!

Cutting just 100 calories a day will help you lose 10 pounds a year.  Increase your cuts to 250 calories a day and you will be down 26 lbs a year (half a pound a week!)  If you really want to lose weight, cutting 500 calories a day equals a pound a week.  You can cut 500 calories by eating 250 calories less, and burning the other 250 calories by exercise.  Not too bad!  

• Try a few of these tips for cutting a 100 calories painlessly:
• Trade 1/2 cup of premium vanilla ice cream for 1/2 cup of Breyers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.
• Ordering a cone? Make it the sugar, not the waffle, kind.
• Grab a Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt, not a low-fat, fruit on the bottom blend.  With the swap below you save 160 calories!



Dannon Light and Fit - 80 Calories

VERSUS



Breyers Fruit on the Bottom - 240 calories 

• Replace half the butter in cake, muffin, and brownie recipes with an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce. You'll save about 100 calories for every tablespoon you swap.
• Indulge in a slice of angel food cake drizzled with chocolate syrup rather than three chocolate chip cookies.
• Try reduced calorie bread, like Nature's Own or Arnolds, on your sandwich over regular bread.
• Skip the shredded cheese on your chili or slice of cheese on your sandwich.  In 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, you will find 110 calories.
• Toss your salad with unlimited balsamic or pomegrante vinegar and only 1 tsp of olive oil.  You will save around 100 calories compared to regular salad dressings.
• Top your burger (or turkey burger!) with onions, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard, skip the mayo.  Two tsp of regular mayo is about 100 calories.
• Switch from regular butter to spray butter (1 Tbsp of regular butter is just over 100 calories)

• Try these tips to cut closer to 250 calories:
• Trade a reduced-fat blueberry muffin for instant oatmeal topped with 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries. Bonus: You'll stay satisfied all morning.
• At the salad bar, reach for shredded Parmesan instead of cheddar and skip the bread.
• Having fajitas? Fill up one high fiber, low calorie tortilla rather than three, then eat the rest of your toppings with a fork, or rolled in lettuce.
• Opt for broccoli chicken over sweet-and-sour, and for steamed brown rice, not fried when ordering chinese.
• Sub black beans for refried and hold the side of Mexican rice.
• Switch to diet soda over regular, depending on how much you drink, for some people this saves close to 1,000 calories a day.
• Switch to a bagel thin topped with whipped cream cheese instead of a regular bagel with regular cream cheese.  Try Thomas' Bagel thins, LOVE them!

 

• Switch to crystal light instead of regular juice.  Again, this saves some people 100's of calories depending on how much you drink.
• Try turkey hot dogs instead of regular hot dogs.  Hebrew National makes an excellent reduced fat hot dog.
• Switch your potato side dish for green vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, or green beans are great options)

What have you found works as an easy swap to save calories for you?