35 simple ways to cut more calories

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To lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than your body burns. However, reducing food intake can be difficult. Here are 35 simple and effective ways to help you cut calories in your diet, thereby making weight loss easier.

1. Count calories consumed

A simple way to keep yourself from eating too many calories is to count calories. Nowadays, with many modern applications, it is easier to track calories in the diet. Some apps also offer daily lifestyle tips to help you stay motivated to lose weight. This helps you form a healthy and lasting habit.

2. Use less sauce

Adding ketchup or mayonnaise to foods can increase the number of calories you consume. In fact, just 15ml of mayonnaise adds 57 calories to your meal. So if you're using a sauce, try eating a little less or none at all to cut down on the calories you consume.

3. Limit high-calorie drinks

Beverages are also a source of calories. Sugary drinks are linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. 1 bottle of Coca 475ml contains nearly 200 calories and 44g of sugar. One study found that drinking a lot of sugary drinks not only added more calories to the diet, but also increased feelings of hunger.
In addition, to control calories, you should also cut down on drinks high in sugar and many other calories such as alcohol, coffee, sugary fruit juices, smoothies,...

4. Do not add sugar to tea and coffee

Tea and coffee are healthy and low-calorie drinks. But just adding 1 teaspoon (4g) of sugar to tea or coffee will add about 16 calories to your diet. Therefore, in the weight loss menu, you should pay attention not to add a lot of sugar to the drink.

5. Self-cooking

When you buy ready-to-eat foods, you don't always know what they put in them. Even meals that you think are very healthy or low in calories can contain sugar and fats that increase the amount of calories you consume. Therefore, to cut calories into the body, you should cook at home.
MORE: What should you not eat when you want to lose weight?

6. Don't leave junk food in the house

If you keep junk food within arm's reach, it'll be much easier to eat them. You will tend to eat more when stressed or bored. Accordingly, to prevent the desire to find unhealthy snacks, you should not buy them.

7. Eat with a smaller plate

Compared to the 1980s, today's plates are on average 44% larger. Larger plates mean larger servings. That means people can overeat. In fact, one study found that people with large plates at a buffet ate up to 45% more food than those using smaller plates. Therefore, you should choose a smaller plate to keep the portion size consistent and limit overeating.

8. Eat more vegetables

Most people don't eat the recommended amount of vegetables. Therefore, you should increase the amount of vegetables in your weight loss menu, while cutting down on foods with a higher calorie content.

9. Drink water before meals

Drinking water before a meal can help you feel fuller and make you eat fewer calories. One study showed that drinking about 500ml of water before a meal will help you reduce your calorie intake by 13%. Thus, drinking water before meals can help you lose weight.

10. Appetizers with low-calorie dishes

Studies show that choosing low-calorie appetizers such as light soups or salads can help you eat less. In fact, one study found: Eating soup before a main meal can reduce your total calorie intake by about 20%.

11. Eat slowly, chew well

Spending more time eating and chewing slowly can help fill you up faster, which in turn helps you eat less. If you have a habit of eating too quickly, try putting down your spoon or chopsticks after each sip of food or counting the number of times you chew your food to control your eating.

12. Control the use of high-calorie sauces

Sometimes, even healthy and low-calorie dishes like salads can be high in calories. This is especially true if the salad is topped with a large amount of high-calorie dressing. And if you want to add dressing to your salad but still want to cut calories, you should add the dressing little by little instead of drizzling it all over the salad to control the amount of sauce you use.

13. Consider portion sizes

Faced with a large amount of food, people will tend to overeat. This is a problem that you often encounter at buffet parties. At that time, it is very easy to eat more than you intended. So, to avoid overeating, you can estimate how much food you want to eat or use smaller plates.

14. Don't be distracted while eating

The environment plays a huge role in how much you eat each day. Studies have shown that if you're distracted while eating, you're more likely to overeat, even at later meals. One survey found that people who are distracted while eating consume 30% more junk food than those who focus while eating. While eating, you are easily distracted by watching TV, reading books, using mobile phones, computers,...

15. Do not eat all the food if you feel full

Most people eat everything put in front of them. However, if you're not hungry, you don't have to try to finish all the food on your plate. Instead, eat mindfully. This means that we should pay attention to how we feel when we eat. You should only eat until you feel full, not until you have eaten all the food on your plate.

16. Eat sweets and desserts in small sizes

Many brands of ice cream, chocolate, ... have small and large versions. If you want something sweet, you can choose a smaller version of that dessert. Thus, you can both satisfy your preferences and control the calories you put into your body. If you eat out, cut back on portions by sharing your dessert with a friend.

17. When eating out, you can take half of the food home

Restaurants often serve huge portions, which contain more calories than you need. To avoid overeating, before serving, ask the server to pack half of your meal for you to take home. Or you can share your meal with a friend.

18. Eat with your non-dominant hand

This is a bit difficult to do, but if you want to lose weight, eating with your non-dominant hand can be very helpful. It slows you down and you eat less.

19. Every meal needs protein

Eating more protein is a useful method for weight loss or weight control. One reason for this is that protein can make you fuller than other nutrients. And the feeling of fullness keeps you from overeating. Therefore, you should include protein-rich foods in your weight loss menu.

20. Limit eating bread

When you're hungry, you can eat snacks and snacks even though it's not yet the main meal. However, this habit can add hundreds of calories to your meals, especially when you eat bread and butter. Therefore, you need to avoid eating bread and avoid eating a lot of calories before the main meal.

21. Eat 2 appetizers

Portions that are too large are the reason why we overeat. If you're eating out and know the restaurant specializes in serving large portions, you can order 2 appetizers instead of 1 entree and 1 main course. This way, you can enjoy both dishes with less calories.

22. There are healthier changes

One way to cut calories is to tailor your meals. For example, if you're eating a hamburger, you can remove the crust to cut 160 calories or more. You can also control calories in a sandwich by omitting 1 slice of bread. In addition, you should eat vegetables instead of french fries to reduce calorie intake.

23. Choose alcoholic beverages with fewer calories

Many people are careful about what they eat but drink alcohol in moderation. Therefore, with alcoholic beverages, you should choose lower-calorie drinks to avoid consuming too many calories.

24. Don't buy large servings

Sometimes, many people are often persuaded to buy large snacks or drinks when they are promoted with a small increase in price. However, consuming oversized foods definitely means adding more calories to the body and easily leading to weight gain. Therefore, you should buy medium-sized servings.

25. No extra cheese

The dishes in the restaurant often have the option of adding cheese or not. Even 1 slice of cheese can add up to 100 calories to your meal. So, to control weight, you should not order extra cheese.

26. Change the cooking method

Cooking for yourself is a great way to help you get healthy meals and control your calorie intake. Accordingly, there are certain cooking methods that may be better than others at cutting calories. Specifically, steaming, stewing, and boiling foods are healthier options than deep frying foods.

27. Choose ketchup instead of cream sauce

Cream sauces not only have more calories, but also contain fewer vegetables than ketchup. Therefore, if possible, you should choose tomato-based sauce instead of cream sauce to consume fewer calories and consume more healthy vegetables.

28. Read food labels carefully

Not all processed foods are harmful to health. However, many processed foods are high in fat and sugar. Therefore, to make healthy food choices, you should read food labels. In addition, you should also check the serving size and the number of calories on food labels to know how many calories you will consume if you eat it.

29. Eat whole fruit

Whole fruits are high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Therefore, they are great foods in the diet. In addition, compared to fruit juice, fruit helps you to feel full longer. Therefore, whenever possible, you should choose whole fruit instead of fruit juice. They keep you fuller for longer, have fewer calories, and contain more nutrients.

30. Eat vegetables instead of fries

If you like to eat snacks like chips while watching TV but want to cut calories, choose snacks from healthy vegetables.

31. Do not eat animal skins

Eating animal skins will add extra calories to your diet. A portion of grilled chicken breast without skin contains 142 calories, with skin on will contain 193 calories. Therefore, limiting the consumption of animal skin will help you better control your calories.

32. Don't eat another serving

If you eat a delicious dish, you may want to order it again. However, indulging in a second serving makes it difficult to gauge how much you've eaten, and this can lead to you consuming more calories than you intended. Therefore, you should choose a reasonably sized serving from the start, then don't order more.

33. Choose thin pizza crust

Pizza is a popular fast food that contains a lot of calories. If you want to enjoy pizza, keep calories to a minimum by choosing a pie with a thinner crust, lower calorie filling and sauce.
MORE: Intermittent Fasting During the Day: A Detailed Beginner's Guide

34. Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a popular weight loss method that can help you cut calories. This diet method is based on rotating your eating pattern between periods of eating and fasting. It is very effective for weight loss because it makes it easier to reduce your calorie intake over time.

35. Get enough sleep

Sleep deprivation is linked to obesity. In fact, people who don't get a good night's sleep tend to weigh more than those who are regularly well-rested. One reason is that people with insomnia are often hungry and eat more calories. So if you're trying to cut calories and lose weight, make sure you're getting enough sleep.
Losing weight is considered a challenge because it is easy to consume too many calories compared to the needs of the body. The 35 tips above will help you cut excess calories so you can achieve better body weight control goals.

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Reference source: healthline.com