An extra 100 calories here and there may not sound like a big deal if you are
watching your weight. Yet if over the course of one year you saved yourself
this number of calories each day, you could save 36,500 in total, which
equates to dropping 10lb in weight. Do the opposite and overeat by 100
calories a day and it is easy to see how weight gradually creeps on.
Check out our top 20 easy ways to lose at least 100 calories from your daily
intake without feeling at all deprived.
Breakfast time
SWAP CEREAL AND TOAST FOR MUESLI AND FRUIT
Swap a 50g bowl of crunchy nut (or other sugar-coated) cereal with milk and a
slice of buttered toast and marmalade, 485 calories, for a 65g bowl of
sugar-free muesli with semi-skimmed milk, topped with a chopped banana, all
for only 385 calories. The latter is low GI and will be digested more
slowly, keeping you fuller for longer. Also it is harder to chew the muesli
and this helps to trigger appetite centres in your brain, leaving you
feeling more satisfied after eating. With this breakfast you also get one of
your five servings of fruit and vegetables for the day.
HAVE A SCONE, FRUIT SALAD, COFFEE AND YOGHURT INSTEAD OF A MUFFIN
If you grab a blueberry muffin on your way to work, allow 520 calories.
Instead you can go for a fruit scone (preferably a wholemeal one), a fruit
salad and a skinny cappuccino with 326 calories, leaving another 100 for a
yoghurt mid-morning. Not only are you eating more and saving 100 calories,
but the scone gives 3g of your daily 18g of fibre; the fruit salad supplies
a host of super-nutrients and the whole of your 40mg vitamin C needs for the
day and the skinny cappuccino over half of your daily bone-building calcium.
A muffin is high GI and you’ll feel hungry again within an hour or so.
DITCH THE CROISSANT FOR POACHED EGGS, TOMATOES AND TOAST
A leisurely continental-style breakfast of croissant, thinking you are being
healthy by skipping butter and jam, will still pack in a surprising 373
calories and 20g of fat. Instead you can tuck in to two poached eggs on
toast with grilled tomatoes with 249 calories and 12g of fat. Not only do
you save 124 calories but research indicates that breakfasting on two eggs
helps you to eat less at lunchtime and leaves you with a 400-calorie-a-day
deficit compared with those who eat a solely carbohydrate-based breakfast.
You also get two servings of your daily five fruit and vegetables with this
swap.
MAKE A BACON SARNIE WITH LEAN BACON, TOMATO AND KETCHUP
Bacon sandwiches do not have to be off your breakfast agenda. A traditional
bacon sarnie using two slices of grilled streaky bacon on two slices of
buttered bread with ketchup has 440 calories. If you opt for two slices of
lean grilled back bacon on bread with no butter but still have the ketchup,
and also add some slices of tomato, you reduce the number of calories to 340
for a still tasty, filling breakfast. The lower calorie version also has a
quarter less total fat (7g compared with 28g), and your total saturated fat
falls from 14g (a woman’s daily limit is 20g and a man’s 30) to only 2.5g.
Out to lunch
SKIP SHOP-BOUGHT BAGUETTES AND MAKE YOUR OWN PITTA POCKETS
A chunk of French stick from a typical sandwich shop weighs in at 200g, which
gives you 526 calories before you even start thinking about filling it with
anything. Opting for pitta bread gives you 200 calories, which will save you
more than 300 calories in one fell swoop. Also, while the French stick is
high GI, the pitta bread is low GI. Although fillings slow down digestion of
the high GI French stick, it is still wise to go for a low-GI carbohydrate
option to help you feel fuller for the afternoon ahead.
HAVE A BAKED POTATO WITH BEANS AND SALAD INSTEAD OF CHEESE AND BUTTER
Having a baked potato with butter, baked beans and a sprinkling of grated
cheese gives you 600 calories, compared with the potato with just the beans,
a big salad with French dressing and a piece of fruit, such as a peach, for
pudding, all of which comes to 500 calories. This swap also cuts fat from
20g to 9g and the total amount of saturated fat from 12g (a woman’s daily
maximum is 20g of saturated fat and a man’s 30g) to only 1g. The salad and
fruit also add vitamins, minerals and protective super-nutrients to your
lunch.
AVOID MAYONNAISE-RICH TUNA SANDWICHES AND MAKE YOUR OWN
Rather than grab a tuna mayonnaise sandwich from your local store, get up five
minutes earlier and throw together a simple tuna salad sandwich. While the
shop-bought version easily packs in 400 calories, you can make one at home
using two slices of wholemeal bread, spread lightly with reduced fat
mayonnaise, and filled with 45g of tuna canned in olive oil, drained and
mixed with balsamic vinegar, and topped with slices of tomato for only 300
calories. It is quick, easy and a lot lower in fat with 9g in total,
compared with at least double this amount to be found in a commercial
mayonnaise-based sandwich.
CHOOSE MINESTRONE OR GAZPACHO INSTEAD OF FATTENING SOUPS
A bowl of soup from a high street coffee shop makes a filling lunch. If you go
for cream of tomato with basil, lentil and bacon or bean soup with a chunk
of bread expect about 400 calories in a standard serving. To cut the
calories, opt for a minestrone or a big serving of chilled gazpacho with a
chunk of granary bread. Both options lower the calories to 300 because they
contain more liquid than the filling bean or lentil and bacon soups.
Chocoholics
COAT TOAST WITH CHOCOLATE SPREAD FOR YOUR PAIN AU CHOCOLAT FIX
If you love pain au chocolat, bear in mind that one serving gives you 380
calories. Instead toast two medium-sized slices of multigrain toast and
spread over a heaped teaspoon (20g) of chocolate spread. This chocolate
treat comes with 280 calories and you get the benefit of 3g of fibre in the
bread along with other nutrients including the antioxidants selenium and
zinc, and some energy-boosting iron, B vitamins for healthy nerves and a
little vitamin E. If you also top with a few sliced strawberries, you add
virtually no calories but get a good slug of vitamin C needed for
great-looking skin.
MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH MILK BUTTONS INSTEAD OF A SLAB OF CHOCOLATE
Wolfing down a quick 54g bar of Dairy Milk notches up 280 calories and 17g of
fat. Instead, grab a mini pack of Cadbury’s milk chocolate Buttons with just
169 calories. Eating them one by one makes the chocolate experience last
longer. If you can bear it, let each one melt in your mouth for a more
intense chocolate experience and you may even find that you do not need to
finish the whole packet. Even if you do, you still save 111 calories.
HAVE A KIT KAT WITH TWO SERVINGS OF FRUIT INSTEAD OF A MARS BAR
Swapping a Mars bar with 308 calories for a four-finger Kit Kat with 220
calories leaves you room to indulge in a big punnet of raspberries and a
juicy nectarine. Not only have you saved calories, you have notched up two
servings of super nutrient-rich fruit to boost your summer health.
LOW-FAT MOUSSE WITH BISCOTTI FILLS THE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE VACUUM
A chocolate brownie will pack in at least 260 calories per serving when bought
from a typical high street coffee shop or sandwich bar. If you nip into a
supermarket and search out their healthy eating ranges, most now sell tasty
low-fat chocolate mousses with 80 to 100 calories per serving. You could
indulge in two of them and still save yourself 100 calories or have one
serving with a couple of tiny crunchy chocolate biscotti and be 100 calories
in hand.
Snack attack
REPLACE SALTED PEANUTS WITH A RAISIN AND PEANUT MIX
If you sit and nosh your way through a typical 50g handful of roasted, salted
peanuts, you will rack up 301 calories, not to mention 27g of fat. Opt
instead for a 45g bag of peanuts and raisins and the calories drop to 195
and the fat to 12g. You also save on salt. The salted peanuts also give you
a 0.5g of salt (our upper daily limit should be 6g), but the peanuts and
raisin option is almost salt-free.
SNACK ON OLIVES AND GIVE HOUMMOS AND CRUDITES A MISS
If faced with a choice of hoummus and cucumber sticks or a plate of olives, go
for the latter. In just three tablespoons of hoummos, you will have wolfed
down 168 calories. You can, however, eat 20 olives for 68 calories, saving
100 in total. If the olives have been stored in oil, stick to 15 in total.
If they are stored in brine, make sure that you have a glass of water close
to hand so you don’t end up knocking back an alcoholic drink quickly to
quench your thirst.
SKIP THE TORTILLA CHIPS AND CHOOSE A TZATZIKI VEGETABLE DIP
A bowl of tortilla chips is always tempting. A 50g serving (equivalent to a
normal-sized bag of crisps and easy to get through over a drink or two)
packs in 230 calories. Instead go for a bowl of tzatziki. You can have 150g
(the amount that would fit into an individual yoghurt pot) with lots of
vegetable crudités for 130 calories. You will feel far fuller, more virtuous
and you’ll have saved 100 calories.
FORGET THE FLAPJACK AND TUCK IN TO A JAM AND CREAM SCONE
If you usually reach for a mid-afternoon flapjack thinking that this oaty,
honey-packed snack is a safe choice, think again. For each 100g flapjack
expect at least 493 calories and 27g of fat. You would be better off with a
fruit scone, spread with a teaspoon of jam, and a tablespoon of whipped
cream. In total this gives you 197 calories and 7g of fat. This saves
virtually 300 calories and 20g of fat and yet seems like a far naughtier
treat and is a lot more fun to eat.
Having a drink
TURN YOUR WHOLEMILK CAPPUCCINO INTO A SKINNY CAPPUCCINO SNACK
Swap your traditional large cappuccino using whole milk with 207 calories and
11g of fat per serving for a medium-sized skinny cappuccino. Made with
skimmed milk, it has 96 calories and virtually no fat. While you lose more
than 100 calories and drop 11g of fat with this choice, you lose none of the
bone-building calcium. You lose a small amount of vitamin A, but few of us
go short on this vitamin. Always count your liquid calories when totting up
your daily total. Make these drinks count as a snack instead of tucking into
biscuits or chocolate.
TAKE HOT DRINKS WITH SMIMMED MILK AND WITHOUT SUGAR
Two mugs of tea or coffee using whole milk and two sugars together give you
134 calories. If you change to semi-skimmed milk and drop the sugar, your
calories nose-dive to just 27, saving more than 100 calories in two mugs.
You also reduce your sugar intake by 24g a day. An average woman eating
2,000 calories a day should be having no more than 50g of sugar (from sugar,
glucose, honey and fruit juice for example) a day and a man no more than
62g.
SWAP A SMOOTHIE FOR THREE PIECES OF FRESH FRUIT AND DRINK WATER
Rather than grabbing a “thickie”-style smoothie, with 300 calories per 250ml
bottle, buy three pieces of your favourite fruit. You could choose a banana,
a couple of satsumas and a tub of prepeeled mango and pineapple and pick on
it during the day. This will count towards three servings of fruit (compared
with just two in the smoothie) and it will help to stop you picking on other
snacks during the day, as well as saving you 100 calories, all in one go. To
quench your thirst, just have water.
CUT WINE MEASURES AND ENJOY A LONG SPRITZER DRINK
A typical bar and pub-size glass of wine comes in a 250ml serving giving you
185 calories per glass of medium white wine. Go back to the original 125ml
size glasses and instantly you drop to 85 calories. If you feel this does
not look a generous measure, have a big glass, but top up your wine with
sparkling water. You will get a long, refreshing spritzer with all the
volume, but cutting 100 calories. When it comes to shorts, opting for
low-calorie mixers instead of the sugar versions saves you 100 calories with
each double you order.
Find more about Amanda Ursell at www.amandaursell.com
