There are a ton of ways to cut calories, here are 48 tips to cut calories that will help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Are you dieting and feeling that you are on the edge of despair because you are not seeing the results you were expecting.
Well, you should know that there are many calorie cutting solutions that can help you succeed with your weight loss program. Calorie cutting is about making a few minor changes in your lifestyle that will help you reach your fat loss goal. With these calorie cutting tricks, you should be able to save over a hundred calories a week. One thing to remember when trying out these great calorie saving tips is that these tips will never replace a healthy balance diet that includes all the basic food groups and good fitness program.
1. Forget Using the Elevator
Take the stairs instead of the elevator, this will not only help you lose weight but will get you in better shape as well. Research has shown that people who replaced going to the office by eleveator with taking the stairs had a significant decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
2. Have a Healthy Snack before going to a Restaurant
Are you about to go out to your favorite restaurant, if so, try eating a healthy snack before. This will leave you feeling a bit full thus helping you not overeat at your favorite restaurant.
3. Brush Your Teeth
If you have a sudden urge to eat some munchies, try brushing your teeth. This is a surprising solution to relieving the feeling of hunger.
4. Turn on the Light
If you find yourself raiding the fridge at night with a case of the munchies then try doing so with the light on. A study done by the university of California showed that people who eat late at night with the lights on ate few total calories than those eating with the lights off.
5. Pinch your Ears
This trick is worth a try as many people who have lost weight swear by it. It is an acupuncture trick whereby you should pinch both of your ears for 30 seconds whenever you are feeling a sweet craving. According to acupuncture theory, this should help control the appetite and any sudden cravings.
6. Scented Candles
Studies have shown that lighting scented candles such as vanilla, lemon, orange, mandarin as well as cinnamon may reduce appetite. Try lighting up a scented candle next time you are feeling cravings.
7. Never go completely Hungry
Try to never get in a state of complete hunger. Studies show that people who ate when completely hungry ate 30% more total calories per meal than those who ate when a bit full. Try eating light snacks such as carrots or cherry tomatoes between meals to stay partially full throughout the day.
8. Make Sure to Eat Breakfast
After a good night’s rest your body will be experiencing a drop in blood sugar levels. Eating a healthy breakfast provides your body with vital sugars that will help concentration and other bodily functions. People that miss out on breakfast thinking they will lose weight by avoiding calories in the morning, generally replaced those missing calories with even more calories later on in the day.
9. Wear Tighter Clothes
Wearing tighter clothes will let you know you are overweight by leaving you feeling discomfort. Many overweight people wear baggy clothes to try to hide their obesity, but by simply wearing tighter clothes you will be placing a comfort limit on your clothes thus easily telling you when you gain and lose weight.
10. Eat Slowly
Research has shown that the brain releases chemicals telling the body that it is full only 20 minutes after the beginning of the meal. The studies have shown that people who eat at a slower pace lose weight much more quickly than those who eat quickly.
11. Eat from a Smaller Plate
Eating from a smaller plate will get you used to eating smaller quantities of food.
12. Go to Bed Early
Many studies have shown that people who go to sleep late at night used approximately 220 calories more than those who went to bed early. Now here is the catch – those people who did stay up late generally consumed more calories, especially carbohydrates. So going to bed earlier will make sure you eat fewer calories, especially at night.
13. Drink a Glass of Water before Dinner
Simply put, drinking a glass of water before a meal will create a sense of being full much quicker since this sense is only seen 20 minutes from the beginning of a meal.
14. Give up on the Alcohol
Alcohol is known as one of the enemies of a person’s diet. For example – a glass of wine contains approximately 150 calories, while some cocktails can even get to 400 calories.
15. Maybe you are Thirsty
Sometimes when we feel hungry, it is actually that we are thirsty. Next time you are feeling hungry try drinking a glass or even two of cold water.
16. Switch to Spray Oil
A teaspoon of oil contains approximately 45 calories, to save on these unnecessary calories try using cooking oil available in a spray. Spraying oil will only add 2.5 calories of oil and nearly no added cholesterol.
17. Soak up the Oil
If you decide to fry your food, try soaking up any extra oil from the food by placing it on a paper towel afterwards. This method has been shown to drastically minimize the amount of oil in fried food.
18. Prepare Veggie Snacks
Cut of some veggies and place them in the fridge. These snacks will be there for you when you are having a serious snack attack.
19. When Eating Deli Meat go for the Low Fat Deli Meats
If you are craving some smoked chicken breast in your sandwich then try going for the low fat versions. The low fat versions are 80 calories less than regular deli meats.
20. Try Eating Light Hummus
Hummus can contain a huge amount of fat. Try eating freshly made low fat hummus; it contains plenty of protein and dietary fiber that will benefit your body.
21. Light Chocolate
If you have decided you are going to break your diet and eat a piece fo chocolate, then make sure you eat a piece of light chocolate. Generally light chocolate is 50% lighter on calories than regular chocolate.
22. Read the Nutritional Table
Before you buy a food product, make sure to quickly read the nutritional table in order to see the nutritional value of the foods you are eating. Look out for the calories per serving amount to measure how large a serving is. Sometimes foods will place a smaller serving size on the packaging to make the number of calories look smaller.
23. Switch to Avocado
Avocado is full of healthy fat that will help lower cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. Try replacing butter or margarine with avocado for a healthy alternative on your toast.
24. Eat Egg Whites
If you find yourself eating eggs, then try to avoid eating too many yolks as they contain the majority of calories. Try using egg whites when making a delicious omelet; you will have the same amount of protein with less fat and total calories.
25. Low Fat Bread
Try eating low fat whole grain bread. Low fat bread contains complex carbohydrates and has only 75 calories. Eating whole grain bread will leave you feeling full longer due to the fact it is lower on the glycemic index.
26. Try Potatoes
A medium potato contains the same amount of calories as a piece of bread. What is important when eating potatoes is the way you prepare them. Frying potatoes will skyrocket the amount of calories they have, try to bake or boil them in order to keep the calories low.
27. Eat Carbohydrates to Avoid Depression
Carbs release insulin in the body which helps in the release of serotonin (a Chemical that has a beneficial influence on mood). Eating carbs will also leave you feeling full longer. Try eating complex carbs earlier in the day and try to avoid eating carbs at night.
28. Pick your Sweets Wisely
There are times in the day where your blood sugar drops and you actually need something sweet to give you a quick pick-me-up. Try eating a smart choice when choosing a snack to raise your blood sugar level, eat a piece of light bread with some organic strawberry jam instead of a brownie.
29. Toast does not contain fewer Calories
There is a myth that toasting your bread will help cut calories.
This diet myth is not true, so if you eat toast, do it because you like the taste and crunch of toast.
30. Be Careful with Rice Cakes
Rice cakes may be low calorie, but they will only leave you feeling full for a few minutes, thus being eaten over and over again. Try eating a piece of low fat bread or a banana instead of rice cakes as they will keep you feeling full longer.
31. Watch out for Sugar Substitutes
When trying to replace added sugar to your food, be careful which sugar substitutes you use as they can actually make fat loss harder. Try sugar substitutes that are recommended by your dietician.
32. Be Careful with Ice Coffee
Many café’s label their ice coffee as diet, when in fact they are full of fat and sugar. Try having a quick espresso with some nutra sweet instead.
33. Avoid Eating the Skin
Chicken is the perfect diet meat, but make sure you avoid eating the skin as it has a ton of unwanted calories that you just don’t need. Removing the skin can save you over 20% of extra calories from fat. This is one of the reasons you should avoid chicken wings when on a diet.
34. Be Careful when Eating Nuts
Try to avoid eating large amounts nuts as 100 grams of nuts can contain 700 calories. If you are eating nuts then go for half a handful of fresh nuts such as almonds or Brazil nuts as they are full of health benefits.
35. Do not Overdo the Fruit
Although fruits are amazing sources of vitamins and minerals, they are full of sugar. Try eating 2-3 servings of fruit a day to get the benefits of eating fruit while avoiding eating too much sugar.
36. Try Eating Apples
Apples are full of dietary fiber and pectin. Studies have shown that eating apples can help you lose weight. The actual reason that apples aid in weight loss is not clear but it has been thought that actually digesting an apple burns calories. Either way, apples are delicious addition to any meal.
37. Grapefruit Assists in Weight Loss
Eating half a grapefruit before meal aids weight loss by balancing insulin levels. Eating a bit of the grapefruit peel contains a huge amount of fiber which will keep you feeling satisfied as well as grapefruit contains a ton of vitamin C which has been shown to increase the pace that your body burns fat.
38. Go for a Nice Walk
If you have a hard time getting to a gym or if a gym membership is too expensive for you, you can always go for a nice power walk. Daily walking is a great way to lose weight as well as it is a good form of cardio.
39. Use a Step Counter (Pedometer)
Using a pedometer is a great way to measure your progress when following a cardio program involving walking. Measuring your daily walks will give you the motivation to beat your daily walking record and thus burn more total calories.
40. Public Gyms
Some cities offer public gyms as well as outdoor gyms that can really aid you in your fitness journey, Try walking to the gym and walking back to add some great light cardio to your workout.
41. Every Workout Counts
Regardless if it’s a huge weight lifting session, a long run or a peaceful walk in the park; you should always know that every workout counts and doing something in terms of fitness is always better that doing nothing. Studies have shown that people who workout daily have stronger muscles and suffer from fewer diseases compared to those who were sedentary.
42. Be a Busy Body
Break the habit of sitting on the couch while doing nothing. Get outside and get things done, whether it’s a workout, cleaning the yard or taking the dog for a walk, make sure to get you body moving, you will get more things done and fell better too.
43. How many Calories does it take to Lose a Pound
To shed one pound of fat, you will need to create a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. This does not mean avoiding this amount of calories over a week. Try creating this calorie deficit at a moderate pace as it will cause the weight to stay off longer.
44. Create Realistic Results
If you are trying to lose 20 pounds in a week, then continue dreaming. Only by losing weight in a moderate and steady pace can you be sure to lose weight while keeping it off for good.
45. Stop Feeling Guilty
If you are feeling guilty because you overate, then stop it right now. Instead of placing all that energy on feeling guilty for breaking your diet, use that energy to workout harder than ever to lose all those extra calories you just ate. Remember that actions speak louder than words.
46. Try Drinking Green Tea
Drinking three cups of green tea a day can help you lose weight and burn more fat by speeding up your metabolism. Make sure to steep your green tea for 5 minutes to get the best fat burning benefits.
47. Keep a Weight Loss Journal
Track down the calories you consume and the workouts you are doing by writing them down in a diet journal. This will help you see what changes you made and can make in order to get better weight loss results and the most out of your fat burning workouts.
48. Burn Calories at the Office
You can also burn calories while working at the office. Try standing up everytime you are on the phone or taking a walk during lunchtime. Make sure you drink water and green tea during the day.
Follow these great calorie cutting tips, they will definitely get you on your way to burning more fat and getting faster weight loss results.