Easy Ways to Cut 100 Calories at a Meal
Lose a Pound Every Week to Ten Days.

Trying to shed calories and pounds is a challenge for most people. Calories are easy to stack on because they are delicious. But they become increasingly harder to take off as we age and as we become less active.

Many diet fads come and go but the premise remains the same: you must create a caloric deficit in order to lose weight. Simply put, you must take in fewer calories than you expend throughout the day. It is that simple.

But it's not quite that easy now is it?

Guess how many pounds the average individual puts on between Thanksgiving iand New Year's Day? A ton, right?

Wrong.

On average, only one pound. That's right, only one. But the problem is most people do not bother to lose that one pound year in and year out, and instead allow them to accumulate.

Here are some tips that you can use to shave off 100 calories at each meal.

At Breakfast.

If you like pancakes, go with wheat and hold the butter.
Each or granola from a four-oz. mug, not and 8-ounce bowl.
Substitute fat-free cream cheese for regular on a bagel.
Instead of regular syrup, use whip cream or sugar-free syrup.
If you stop at a coffee shop, skip the coffee drinks with cream and go black or with non-fat milk instead.

At lunch.

Drink unsweetened tea instead of sugared sodas or teas.
Skip the cheese from the sandwich unless you use low-fat cheese.
Use a salad dressing spray instead of pouring it from the bottle.
Use whole-wheat pita instead of bread for a sandwich.
Use corn, not wheat, tortillas.
Skip the croutons at the salad bar.
Use mustard instead of mayo on a sandwich.
Pizza? Blot some of the grease off of it with napkins.

At Home.

Use chicken broth instead of oil to saute' meat and veggies.
Use a mix of turkey with your ground beef for dishes like chili, burgers, meatballs.
Buy tuna in water, rather than in oil.
With nachos, use Blue Corn chips and salsa rather than refried beans, cheese, and/or guacamole.
Put snacks at a place you're less habitually to get them (like the garage).
Substitute some baby carrots for pretzels, corn chips, or potato chips.
If you buy potato chips, buy the baked variety.

Out to Eat.

Drink one glass of wine instead of 2 or 3 mixed drinks or beers.
Skip the gravies and alfredo sauces for marinara sauce.
Avoid anything that's breaded...they soak up oil and add useless calories.

USE GOOD SENSE.

The most useful --and most underused strategy-- that you can use when trying to shave off calories is to READ THE LABEL on the packaging to see what it is you're putting into your mouth before you eat it.

Think portion control! Do you REALLY need to fill your plate at dinner or can you survive on a few fork-fulls less?

Drink a full glass of water 30 minutes before eating. It will take up room in your stomach and reduce hunger, making you less likely to gorge.

Supplement smart. If you know you don't have a balanced diet, you're likely robbing yourself of nutrients that would otherwise promote feeling and being healthy.

For better energy throughout the day, we've used Lifesource Nutrition's Multivitamin for eight years. We won't go a day without it. Once you try it, neither will you.

Cut 100 calories at a meal with these tips.

by Michael Rinaldi, PT - March 28, 2009

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