DCN Weight Loss Group
Lose Some of Those Calories Tip Sheet

Losing weight doesn't have to mean a steady diet of lettuce. In fact, you'll increase your chance of success if you don't take such a drastic approach. Making a few dietary nips and tucks can mean a 10-pound loss over a year. Try these tips for trimming 100 calories from your diet.

Dieting doesn't mean saying no to pie. Shaving off the bottom crust decreases the damage by 100 calories and you won't even know it's missing. (Hint: This works with layer cake too.)

For Mexican meals, ask that your burrito be made with the the smaller taco-sized tortilla to subtract at least 100 calories. When having Japanese food, order the miso soup (30 calories) instead of the green salad (250 calories). If it's a Chinese dinner you crave, skip the crunchy noodles with your wonton soup for a 120-calorie savings.

Get the Scoop

The average deli bagel packs at least 300 calories -- and that's before you add butter or cream cheese. Hollow out the inside (about a third of the bagel) and you'll downsize by at least 100 calories.

Switch What You Won't Miss

Do your taste buds detect the difference between oil packed and water packed tuna? How about an omelette prepared with butter-flavored nonstick spray rather than butter? These simple swaps will net 100-plus calories in savings, but chances are you won't even notice the switch.

Lighten Your Liquids

Replacing an 8-ounce soda with seltzer saves you 100 calories a pop. Other substantial liquid savings: Substitute a glass of water and an orange for your morning OJ.

Thin the Skin

Pulling the skin from a serving of poultry instantly trims 100 calories. To keep your bird moist, do the peeling after baking or broiling.

Right-Size Your Carbs

The typical restaurant pasta meal is at least four times the recommended amount. Dole out a single serving -- about the size of a tennis ball -- and spare yourself hundreds of extra calories. Ditto for rice and potatoes.

Ban the Umbrella

Salt around the rim of a glass is usually a sign of pending calorie catastrophe. One beverage with two to five ounces of alcohol and a mixer equals 300 to 700 calories. Keep happy hour under control by sticking with chardonnay (90 calories for 4 ounces) or light beer (about 100 calories for 12 ounces) and heed the one-drink limit.

Soup Savvy

Abandon heavy, cream-based soups -- they can saddle you with 240 calories per cup. Stick with broth-based varieties, at roughly 150 calories a cup, and thicken them up by cracking a small egg into the soup while it's heating and swirl it throughout the pot. The egg makes the soup smooth and offers healthy protein while adding only 60 calories. You'll save about 30 calories, and about whopping 15 grams of fat per serving over the creamy soups.

Squash Calories

Spaghetti can cost you 200 calories per cup -- and that's before you top it with sauce. For pasta lovers, spaghetti squash is a vibrant alternative. When cooked, the squash flesh becomes thread-like,resembling spaghetti. At only 75 calories per cup and no fat, it makes for a healthy and tasty stand-in.
Slimmer Cocoa

A store-bought hot cocoa mix made with low-fat milk can add up to 250 calories per cup. Shave off about 115 calories, and some unwanted sugar, with this flavorful hot milk beverage: Heat 8 ounces of low-fat or non-fat milk with a cinnamon stick. Pour it into your mug and stir in one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

It's easy to overdo it with mayo in tuna salad. At 103 calories per tablespoon, you could easily add 300-plus calories to your dish. A lighter, tangy alternative to mayo? Toss canned tuna packed in water with lemon juice, onion, and capers and save yourself upwards of 100 calories. For an extra peppery flavor, add chopped watercress.


It's a Wrap

Put a new spin on the sandwich by doing away with the bread. Even two slices of the most dietetic versions can add 70 calories per slice. Place sandwich ingredients in buttery-soft bibb lettuce or the long leaves of romaine and wrap them up for a crunchier and much lighter meal.


Hold the Mayo

If bread is a must for a sandwich, skip the fatty mayo and use lower-in-calories pickles or relish to moisten it. If it's a sandwich with cheese, use only one slice, then skip the condiment altogether and heat the sandwich in the toaster oven to melt the cheese. It adds the moisture that the condiments would. Both tricks can save up to 40 calories per sandwich, and will spare you the 11 grams of fat per tablespoon of mayo.


Better Beef

Reduce your fat content and boost fiber by swapping cooked, ground lentils for some of the ground beef in a recipe. Ounce for ounce, lentils and ground beef have a similar calorie count. But 3.5 ounces of ground beef racks up 20grams of fat, while the same amount of lentils carries only 0.8.


Muffin Tips

Lighten up dense morning muffins. Trade whole wheat flour for half of the white flour in the recipe, and use unsweetened applesauce or pureed bananas for up to half of the oil. Both swaps can save you as much as 500 calories.

Salad Toppers

Take full advantage of the health benefits of your light salad by avoiding toppings like bacon bits and croutons. Crowning the dish with chopped red onion and herb mixtures like cilantro and mint, or dill and flat-leaf parsley will save you from the 60 calories or more the traditional toppings would normally add.