8 Easy Ways to Cut Calories

If you are having trouble losing weight, you need to get moving with a solid fitness routine but you also need to cut calories. For many people cutting back on calories seems impossible. But there are many painless, nearly effortless ways to cut back.

Skip the Soda
Replace your soda with water or at least with diet soda. The calories in soda really add up, particularly if you are always sipping something while at work. Increasing your water intake will also make you feel full, so you’ll eat less.

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Pick Fruit Instead of Juice
An orange has 50-60 calories while a cup of orange juice normally contains over 100 calories. It takes longer to eat and fills you up with less calories.

Cut Out Alcohol
Alcohol is just empty calories. If you don’t want to give it up altogether, switch to light beer or wine instead of full calorie beer.

Eat Salad
Munch on a salad before lunch and dinner. You’ll eat much less. Just remember, don’t overload your salad with high calorie dressing, croutons and cheese. Use the no-calorie variety of dressing or just a squirt of lemon on your salad instead.

Hold the Mayo
Mayonaisse and other condiments can pack on the calories without you even noticing. Switch to non-fat mayo or skip it altogether and opt for mustard instead. One tablespoon of yellow mustard is only 11 calories, while a tablespoon of mayo is about 100 calories.

Skin It
Remove the skin from chicken and other poultry. You’ll trim 100 calories off a typical portion. Wrap the meat in foil or use a marinade when cooking to keep it juicy.

Never Eat from the Box
Never eat from a box of cookies or a bag of chips. You won’t realize how much you are eating and you’ll be stuffing yourself with extra calories. If you must have these types of snacks, eat the 100-calorie packs or split it into small portions in Ziploc bags, so you’ll know how much you are eating.

Keep a Food Diary
You probably don’t realize how much you are eating. If you put it down on paper, you’ll find it easier to cut down. Make it a habit to mark down everything you eat into a notebook or food diary.