Shedding those few excess pounds doesn’t have to be painful—there are a lot of little ways you can cut back on calories every day without having to deny yourself the foods you want (or having to run 90 minutes on the elliptical after dinner).
But first, some math: did you know that a pound is equivalent to just 3,500 calories? If you’re overweight, most experts say it’s safe to lose one pound every two weeks—so that means you only need to ditch 250 calories each day!
Here are a few easy tips for cutting those calories:
Coffee Watch
Most of us love our morning coffee, but the calorie cost of our favorite java jolt can be eye-opening. A grande (medium) pumpkin spice Frappuccino from Starbucks is 400 calories! (Nope, that’s not a typo.) For the same calorie count, you could eat an entire bagel with cream cheese. Even a regular coffee with cream and sugar can run you over 100 calories; start adding in flavored syrups and you’re up over 150.
So what’s a caffeine addict to do? Go for healthier options. Switch from cream to 2% milk and save yourself about 40 calories. Switch from cream to skim milk and save about 65! Instead of sugar, try Splenda, which will cut out another 30 calories if you normally have two teaspoons of sugar.
If you want extra flavor, there are all kinds of sugar-free syrups you can try, including hazelnut, vanilla, and raspberry. Play around and find a combination you like—it can save you almost 100 calories per day. Now how hard was that?
Lunch Munching
You already know that eating Doritos and Snickers bars for lunch are no-nos. But how about using reduced-calorie bread instead of regular bread in your sandwich? It saves you almost 100 calories. Swap in low-fat cheese, low-fat mayonnaise, or even mustard instead of mayonnaise, and you’ve just cut another 100 calories from that sandwich.
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