10 Easy Ways To Cut Calories & Transform Your Body

We hate the idea of counting calories. Yet, it has helped many people lose weight and keep it off. We’ve learned it’s not about cutting out certain meals to lose weight. It’s about controlling your overall food consumption.

After all, health professionals advise against limiting your diet by eating too little or eliminating your favorite meals. In order to maintain your energy level and a healthy immune system, it’s vital that you don’t substantially reduce your calorie intake. Striving for a monthly weight loss of 2 to 6 pounds is recommended by many experts.

Instead, make healthy changes through increased activity and easy dietary adjustments. In other words, you don’t need to count calories in order to lose weight. Frankly, not all low-calorie substitutions are worthwhile.

Some people propose substituting zucchini noodles for spaghetti and lettuce leaves for burger buns. Others continue to consume carbohydrates in smaller amounts.

Let’s face it, by enjoying all of our meals, we have a better chance of maintaining results. Too much restriction and excessive monitoring can lead to eating disorders.

Here are ten things to you can do today to start cutting excess calories and improve your health:  

1. Sour cream can be replaced with Greek yogurt.

According to Healthline, sour cream can help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Some brands have probiotics that can assist with digestion.

Although yogurt contains a lot of saturated fat, it’s usually not a problem because most individuals don’t consume more than a serving.

If you want to increase your protein consumption while lowering your calorie intake, use yogurt instead of sour cream in meals like burritos. The taste profile is similar. Sour cream has 187 calories per 3.4 oz, while yogurt has 54 calories.

2. Instead of bagels, use bagel thins.

Bagel thins are just like bagels, only thinner. I know, pretty obvious. And they taste just as good. While an ordinary bagel has between 230 and 300 calories, bagel thins have roughly 130 calories, saving you 100 calories or more.

Substituting rice cakes for bread is a common suggestion, but rice cakes are rather unappealing to many people and thinner pieces of bread are more gratifying.

3. Replace pork and beef with poultry.

Ground turkey and chicken have less fat than beef and pork. When used for recipes requiring ground meat, you can make any dish healthier and just as tasty. Of course, you can also pick lower-fat versions of the other meats. Simply adjust the calorie intake accordingly. Ground turkey breast with 2 percent fat has 136 calories per 3.5 ounces, but 20 percent fat ground beef in the same amount has 273 calories.

Keep in mind that chicken breasts have fewer calories than thighs or wings. 3.5 ounces of breast has 165 calories, whereas thigh and wing meat respectively have 209 and 203 calories.

Turkey and chicken sausages are thinner than pork sausages, with roughly 160 calories for a couple rather than 340.

A slice of turkey bacon is just 34 calories, compared to 50-70 calories for an average piece of bacon.

Turkey meatballs have fewer calories than beef meatballs: Three beef meatballs have about 190 calories, whereas three turkey meatballs come in at approximately 125 calories.

4. Use egg whites instead of whole eggs.

Egg whites are low in calories, but you can try a combination of whites and whole eggs in frittatas, omelets, scrambles, and pancakes. However, you won’t miss the whole eggs in most dishes.

Three tablespoons of egg whites have 22 calories, which is nearly the same as one medium egg with 70 calories.

5. Try coffee drinks with skimmed milk.

If you prefer creamy beverages like lattes and cappuccinos, switching to skimmed milk instead of whole milk can reduce the number of calories in your drink by 100 or so.

6. Enjoy popcorn or low-calorie chips instead of regular chips.

When popcorn isn’t slathered with sugar, syrup or butter, it’s really rather low in calories. If you’re salivating for some chips, try mildly salted popcorn instead.

An individual-size bag of salted popcorn has roughly 84 calories, but a similar package of regular chips has around 123 calories. Popcorn is a high-volume light snack. A comparable piece of the same size usually weighs less.

Choosing a smaller quantity, such as a small container of popcorn rather than a big one, is one of the simplest methods for reducing caloric intake.

7. Fresh fruit is better than dried fruit.

A small bag of dried apricots contains 72 calories. A fresh apricot weighs nearly the same and has just 34 calories.

Dried fruit is much smaller than fresh fruit, making it easy to consume more. Fresh fruit is more filling due to the water content still in it.

8. Instead of using oil or butter, use cooking spray.

A well-balanced diet includes healthy fats. Cooking oils, such as olive oil, are high in unsaturated fats, which have heart-healthy antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Reduce the amount of butter or cooking oil you use or try low-calorie or no-calorie cooking sprays to make your meals lighter.

9. Enjoy low-calorie ice cream over conventional brands.

There are plenty of low-calorie ice cream products available nowadays. For example, a pint of sea salt caramel from Halo Top is only 300 calories. One of its sweeteners is stevia leaf extract, a sugar replacement that can be beneficial to your health in moderation.

Dieting doesn’t mean you can’t have ice cream. It just means you’ll want to aim for less frequent consumption or smaller portions. Low-calorie options might also help you achieve your objectives without feeling like you are missing out.

10. Trim your portion sizes.

Make a simple decision to reduce the portion sizes of the foods and beverages you’ve identified as guilty pleasures. Instead of three scoops on your ice cream cone, have one. Instead of a complete dessert, split half with a friend. Do you like eating a whole pizza? You’ll probably be just as satisfied with a couple of slices.

Larger than necessary portions are often the result of habit and rarely reflect our true caloric need or hunger. Simple changes are easy to make as long as you don’t focus on what you think you’ve given up.

Instead, think about the many health benefits you’ll start to see after cutting back on the extra scoops or slices.

You’ve got this!