Healthy (but Enjoyable Ways) to Cut Your Calories

Healthy (but Enjoyable Ways) to Cut Your Calories

If you want to lose some weight to improve your health and your physique, then cutting calories in a healthy way is the best way to achieve your goals. Exercising is a great way to make your body healthier too but to lose weight you need to look at your diet and how many calories you are consuming. In this article we are looking at healthy but enjoyable ways to cut calories. Below, you’ll find smart and healthy changes to reduce your calories while still enjoying life, so that you can lose weight without losing your mind.

• Choose Non-Alcoholic Options instead of Booze

As we come to the end of Dry January, why not continue with a reduced alcohol intake? Not drinking alcohol is a great way to reduce your calories intake as alcohol contains a whopping 7 calories per gram, making it a very concentrated source of calories. Only fat has more calories per gram, 9, while carbs and protein have just 4 calories per gram. Swapping your alcoholic beverage (or some of them) for non-alcoholic options like alcohol-free beers or non alcoholic champagne alternatives will quickly save you lots of calories while still being tasty and refreshing after a long day or when celebrating with friends.

• Choose Popcorn for a Savoury Snack

If you’re craving a savoury snack, then popcorn is a great option over crisps and other salty snack foods. Crisps are very high in both fat and calories and so more-ish too so easy to eat too many of. Instead, pop your own popcorn at home to enjoy as a snack in the day or in the evening whilst watching TV. Popping your own popcorn at home is quick, easy, and cheap – plus it lets you control how much fat you use and how much salt you add. You can even use a hot air popcorn maker if you don’t want to use any fat at all when making popcorn.

• Choose Crispbreads instead of Bread

Bread is delicious but can be high in both salt and calories. If you’re looking to reduce your calorie intake, try replacing some of your bread servings with crispbreads or cracker breads. These are delicious and can be enjoyed with a wide variety of toppings. They are usually tasty, low in calories, lower in salt and full of fibre.

• Choose Less Milk & Sugar

If you drink coffee or tea with milk and/or sugar, try to gradually reduce the amount of milk/sugar in your favourite hot beverages as that will save many calories each day. You can also swap whole milk for semi-skimmed or skimmed milk to reduce the calories further. It can take a while to get used to these changes but if you make the reductions gradually, your taste buds should be able to keep up!

• Choose to Make Your Own

When you cook from scratch at home, you can create dishes full of flavour but be in control of what goes into your meals. Instead of a greasy takeaway, make your own fakeaway next time you want a treat meal. I’m sure you will be impressed with how tasty your homemade pizza or homemade curry turns out and, since it will most likely include more fresh ingredients and less fat, it will be much healthier and lower in calories.

Life is meant to be enjoyed and even if you are currently looking to lose some weight, you should still enjoy tasty food. Hopefully some of the above ideas will be useful swaps for you to incorporate into your diet.

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