Healthy Living

78 Ways to Cut Fat Calories from Your Diet

By Kate Grip Denon

Women's Health 

Calories can be cruel. Sweat through a 30-minute workout and you can torch 200. Take three gulps of a foamy frappuccino and you're right back where you started.But slashing those suckers can be as effortless as piling them on. We've found 78 ways you can cut 100 or more calories at a pop. From picking the right slice at Pizza Hut to skipping the whip on your latte, they'll add up so fast, you won't miss a thing—until poof! Your love handles are gone.

 

Cut 100 Calories...

 

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  At Breakfast  
  • Ditch the Pop-Tart for a slice of high-fiber toast with strawberry jam.
  • Gotta have carbs? Split a bagel with a coworker.
  • Drink your two cups of joe black. Or order a single espresso instead of your usual latte.
  • Swap OJ for the real deal—one fresh orange.
  • Trade a side of regular sausage for turkey.
  • Top your waffles with Reddi-Whip instead of syrup (or use sugar-free).
  • Skip the whip on any Caribou Coffee 16-ounce drink.
  • Eat your granola from a 4-ounce mug, not an 8-ounce bowl.
  • Lose the Yoplait Thick & Creamy and have a Yoplait Fiber 1.
  • Order pancakes, but hold the butter.
  • Scramble together 4 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs.
   
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• At Lunch
   
  • Leave the Swiss cheese out of your sandwich.
  • Slather your bread with mustard rather than mayo and save 80 calories per tablespoon.
  • Pass up croutons at the salad bar.
  • Use up to 10 pumps of ranch dressing spray instead of pouring 2 tablespoons from a bottle.
  • Devour a slice of Pizza Hut cheese pan pizza instead of the meat lover's variety.
  • Take your iced tea unsweetened.
  • Reach for a Snapple raspberry white tea instead of a Snapple raspberry iced tea.
  • Stuff chicken salad into a whole-wheat pita instead of between slices of multigrain bread.
  • Make your burger turkey, not beef.
  • Slurp minestrone soup instead of cream of anything.
  • Go bunless—shed your hamburger roll.
  • Use south-of-the-border savvy: Have a quesadilla made with two 6-inch corn, not flour, tortillas.

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  At Happy Hour
  
  •  
  • Nurse a single glass of wine instead of downing 2 beers.
  • Ask for your rum and cokes in a highball glass. Bartenders pour an average of 20 percent less liquid into taller tumblers, so you'll swig less per round.
  • Drizzle extra hot sauce, not blue cheese or ranch dressing, on your wings.
  • Ordering a cocktail? Make it on the rocks instead of frozen. Slushy fruit drinks tend to be made with bottled mixers that contain added sugar and syrups.
  • Blending your own? Have a daiquiri, not a piña colada.
  • Pop the cap off of an MGD 64 instead of a bottle of Killian's Irish Red.
  • Sip a glass of water between drinks—pacing yourself can help you cut back by a glass or more.
  • Dip your nachos in salsa rather than guacamole.
  • For automatic portion control, sip wine from a Champagne flute, not an oversize goblet.
   
  
• On Your Snack Break
  
   
  • Drink sparkling water instead of soda.
  • Move your stash of Hershey's Kisses at least 6 feet away from your desk—you'll dip in half as often.
  • Drain the heavy syrup from your can of fruit cocktail and then rinse the fruit with water before digging in.
  • Have 1/2 cup of fresh grapes instead of that little snack box of raisins.
  • Lay off the Lay's Classic potato chips and have a handful of Rold Gold pretzels.
  • Munch on a bag of Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop Kettle Korn, not Movie Theater Butter.
  • Chase down the ice-cream truck for a Good Humor vanilla sandwich, not a King Cone.
  
  
• During Dessert
   
   
  • Stop eating when you hit the crust. The edges and bottoms of baked goods are especially caloric because they absorb the butter used to grease the pan.
  • Fill your bowl with sorbet instead of ice cream—you can have an extra 1/2 cup of the former and still slash calories.
  • Next time a cocoa craving hits, ditch the dish of chocolate ice cream (about 3/4 cup) for a Fudgsicle.
  • Have sugar-free Jell-O instead of pudding. Better your nighttime treat jiggle than your thighs.
  • Go ahead and have that piece of birthday cake—just scrape off the chocolate frosting first.
  • Eat 5 meringue cookies instead of 2 chocolate chip ones.
  • Pass on the à la mode and savor that brownie au naturel.
  • Can the cone. Have your ice cream in a bowl.
  • Top your dessert with 1/2 cup of fresh berries instead of 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup.
  
  In the Kitchen
  • Substitute nonfat Greek yogurt for a serving of sour cream.
  • Use chicken broth (low-sodium is best) instead of oil to sauté meat and veggies.
  • Making homemade mac 'n cheese? Cut 2 tablespoons of butter from the recipe.
  • Replace the oil or butter in cakes with Sunsweet Lighter Bake prune-and-apple mixture or any brand of unsweetened applesauce.
  • Next time you make meatballs, meatloaf, or burgers, go half-and-half with ground beef and turkey.
  • When preparing packaged foods that call for butter or oil, like rice and stuffing, use a broth instead.
  • Swap low-fat cottage cheese for whole-milk ricotta when you make lasagna or stuffed shells.
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• At the Drive-Thru
  • Pass up a Wendy's baked potato with sour cream and chives and chow down on value fries instead.
  Amazing but true.
  • Have a McDonald's cheeseburger instead of a Quarter Pounder with cheese.
  • Downsize your drink: Trade a large fountain soda (with ice) for a medium.
  • Go for grill marks. Order a flame-broiled chicken sandwich rather than one that's breaded (and usually fried in oil).
  • Treat yourself to an ice-cream cone at McDonald's instead of Dairy Queen.
  • Crunch on one Taco Bell regular taco instead of a Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco. And all the hot sauce you want.
  • Slurp a cup of Panera Bread's low-fat chicken noodle soup instead of the cream of chicken with wild rice.
  • Make your daily pick-me-up at Starbucks a skinny vanilla latte, not a regular.
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• When You're Not Cooking
   
   
  • Request the lemon chicken with white rice, not fried.
  • Skip the crunchy noodles with your bowl of wonton soup.
  • Ask for an order of Szechuan Shrimp instead of your usual General Tso's.
  • Choose the pasta with 1/2 cup of marinara instead of 1/2 cup of Alfredo sauce.
  • Indulge your inner carnivore with beef stroganoff, not meat lasagna.
  • Go with the baked potato (butter only), not the mashed, as your side of choice.
  • Dip your dinner roll in marinara sauce instead of olive oil.
  • Avoid anything breaded. Flour and bread crumbs not only add calories but also absorb more cooking oil.