Thursday, January 21, 2010
Switching to eating a healthier diet and cutting calories doesn't need to be an "all or nothing" and can be easier than you think.Following are tips on how to save calories without giving up all your favourite foods, as well asideas on how to getmore nutritional value out of your meals.
Ten quick and easy ways to reduce fat and calories
Calculate how many of these changes you could make in your diet and how many calories per week you would save. Multiply your weekly saving by 52 and divide by 3,500: That's how many pounds you could potentially lose (or not gain) if you make these changes (3,500 calories equals a pound.)
1. Specialty coffee drinks are full of sugar, fat and calories.Opt for regular coffee and add 1% milk. Substituting a cup of black coffee for one specialty coffee can cut anywhere from 80 to 500 calories a day out of your diet. If you want a latte or cappuccino, ask for skim milk and get a small or medium size (substituting 8 oz of skim milk for whole milk will save 90 calories).
2. Soft drinks: Club soda has zero calories and zero grams of fat. Drinking a can of it instead of regular cola would save 144 calories. If you findthe taste of club soda too bland, add lemon, lime or a splash of cranberry.
3. Alcohol: Avoiding sugary mixes can reduce calories significantly (exactly how much depends on the size and type of drink).Drink light beer instead of regular and save 75 or more calories.
4. Substitute 4 oz of ground turkey breast (skinless) for 4 oz of ground beef and save around 150 calories and 10 grams of fat.Try turkey chili, turkey burgers and ground turkey in your pasta sauce instead of beef.
5. Instead of dipping raw vegetables in ranch dressing, use hummus. A 1/4cup of hummus has only 110 calories, 5 grams of fat and no cholesterol, compared to 296 calories and 15 grams of fat for the same amount of ranch dressing.
6. When making scrambled eggs or omelets, instead of using two whole eggs use 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites. This is 40 fewer calories, 4fewer grams of fat, and a lower cholesterol intake- 213 mgs instead of 426 mgs.
7. Trade 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise for mustard, and save 103 calories and 11.7 grams of fat. Plain yellow mustard has zero calories and zero grams of fat.
8. Instead of regular sour cream choose plain 1% yogurt(a 2-tablespoon serving will save 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
9. Skip the ice cream and satisfy your sweet craving with chocolate yogurt or a pure-fruit-juice Popsicle and save about 100 calories.
10. Opt for soft and skim-milk cheeses instead of hard: one ounce of hard cheddar or Monterrey cheese has about 110 calories and 9 grams of fat.The same serving of soft goat cheese has 75 calories and 5.5 grams of fat (light soft goat and feta cheeses are also available).Skim mozzarella, cottage cheese and light ricotta cheese are also good choices.
Ten quick and easy ways to reduce fat and calories
Calculate how many of these changes you could make in your diet and how many calories per week you would save. Multiply your weekly saving by 52 and divide by 3,500: That's how many pounds you could potentially lose (or not gain) if you make these changes (3,500 calories equals a pound.)
1. Specialty coffee drinks are full of sugar, fat and calories.Opt for regular coffee and add 1% milk. Substituting a cup of black coffee for one specialty coffee can cut anywhere from 80 to 500 calories a day out of your diet. If you want a latte or cappuccino, ask for skim milk and get a small or medium size (substituting 8 oz of skim milk for whole milk will save 90 calories).
2. Soft drinks: Club soda has zero calories and zero grams of fat. Drinking a can of it instead of regular cola would save 144 calories. If you findthe taste of club soda too bland, add lemon, lime or a splash of cranberry.
3. Alcohol: Avoiding sugary mixes can reduce calories significantly (exactly how much depends on the size and type of drink).Drink light beer instead of regular and save 75 or more calories.
4. Substitute 4 oz of ground turkey breast (skinless) for 4 oz of ground beef and save around 150 calories and 10 grams of fat.Try turkey chili, turkey burgers and ground turkey in your pasta sauce instead of beef.
5. Instead of dipping raw vegetables in ranch dressing, use hummus. A 1/4cup of hummus has only 110 calories, 5 grams of fat and no cholesterol, compared to 296 calories and 15 grams of fat for the same amount of ranch dressing.
6. When making scrambled eggs or omelets, instead of using two whole eggs use 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites. This is 40 fewer calories, 4fewer grams of fat, and a lower cholesterol intake- 213 mgs instead of 426 mgs.
7. Trade 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise for mustard, and save 103 calories and 11.7 grams of fat. Plain yellow mustard has zero calories and zero grams of fat.
8. Instead of regular sour cream choose plain 1% yogurt(a 2-tablespoon serving will save 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
9. Skip the ice cream and satisfy your sweet craving with chocolate yogurt or a pure-fruit-juice Popsicle and save about 100 calories.
10. Opt for soft and skim-milk cheeses instead of hard: one ounce of hard cheddar or Monterrey cheese has about 110 calories and 9 grams of fat.The same serving of soft goat cheese has 75 calories and 5.5 grams of fat (light soft goat and feta cheeses are also available).Skim mozzarella, cottage cheese and light ricotta cheese are also good choices.
posted by emedinfo
@10:04 PM
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