Here are two hundred easy ways to slash calories, burn calories, boost self-control, and slim down.
1. Stop thinking that breakfast equals baked goods. Scramble two egg whites with 3 ounces chopped chicken breast and ½ cup spinach instead of eating a 350-calorie whole-wheat sesame bagel to cut nearly 160 calories and boost your focus.
2. Try 1 cup cooked quinoa with berries instead of your favorite sweetened cereal to boost protein content and keep you feeling full longer. You’ll eat fewer calories throughout the day.
3. Ditch the chocolate frosted doughnuts (540 calories for two) and get smart by making veggies a part of your breakfast. Put spinach, celery, and broccoli in a blender with 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder to cut nearly 400 calories.
4. Use 2 tablespoons fruit-only, no-sugar-added jams instead of regular jam for bagels or toast and save about 20 calories. This also helps to get rid of the extra sugar.
5. Replace two slices of regular bacon (80 calories) at breakfast with two slices of fat-free turkey bacon (40 calories) to cut 40 calories.
6. Indulge in modified French toast. Use ½ cup unsweetened almond milk and 2 egg whites instead of whole milk and eggs to trim about 150 calories. Use sprouted grain bread instead of white bread to boost fiber and nutrient content.
7. If you love pancakes, use oat flour or brown rice flour and ditch the syrup, which costs 104 calories for two tablespoons. Top with ½ cup of sliced fresh strawberries and ½ cup of blueberries instead and save at least 40 calories.
8. Eat breakfast every day. People who skip breakfast are four times more likely to be fat than people who don’t skip breakfast! The National Weight Control Registry, which includes people who have maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for at least one year, reports that 78 percent of its members eat breakfast every day.
9. Don’t reach for the all-American breakfast special (two slices of bacon, two fried eggs, and two pancakes with butter and syrup), which can add up to more than 800 calories in some restaurants. Rather a 200- to 300-calorie protein-blueberry shake is a good brain healthy way to start the day.
10. Top your steel-cut oatmeal with 1 cup unsweetened almond milk instead of whole milk to save 110 calories.
11. When you scramble or fry eggs, use cooking spray, which usually costs less than 10 calories per one second spray, rather than butter or margarine at 100 calories per tablespoon to save 90 calories or more.
12. Eat two poached eggs instead of fried eggs and save about 100 calories.
13. Try my favorite butter substitute: Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread with Olive Oil. It has no trans fats, less than half the saturated fat of real butter, and 20 fewer calories per serving compared with real butter or margarine.
14. Eat only the egg white and toss away the yolk to trim about 60 calories.
15. Substitute 1% or fat-free cottage cheese for 2% and save at least 60 calories per cup.
16. Skip the cheese and Italian sausage in your omelet and add spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, or bell peppers instead and trim more than 300 calories.
17. Replace 1 tablespoon regular mayo (90 calories) on your turkey sandwich with 1 tablespoon of reduced-fat mayo to cut 40 calories. Or save about 80 calories with 1 tablespoon of fat-free mayo.
18. Add more vegetables, such as cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, and onions to a sandwich instead of extra meat or cheese and save about 200 calories.
19. Accompany a sandwich with salad or fruit instead of chips or French fries and cut anywhere from 150 to more than 500 calories depending on serving size.
20. Choose vegetable-based broth soups rather than cream- or meat-based soups. With one famous soup brand, you’ll save at least 100 calories per cup this way.
21. Stop putting butter, margarine, or mayonnaise on your sandwiches. Use mustard instead and save up to 95 calories per tablespoon.
22. Use water-packed tuna instead of tuna packed in oil. A 5-ounce can of tuna in oil costs 220 calories whereas the water-packed tuna is only 100 calories.
23. Prepare tuna with nonfat mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise to trim 80 calories from your sandwich.
24. Skip the slice of cheese on your sandwich to save about 100 calories.
25. Say no to the free chips and soda with your deli sandwich to trim about 250 calories from your meal.
26. Use a 6-inch or 8-inch taco-size sprouted grain flourless or brown rice tortilla instead of a 10-inch burrito-size flour tortilla and save 40–100 calories.
27. Switch to a 6-inch corn tortilla instead of a 10-inch flour tortilla and save 165 calories.
28. Steam veggies instead of sautéing them in 2 tablespoons butter or oil and cut 200 calories.
29. Switch to four boiled shrimp instead of 4 ounces of sirloin steak on shish kebabs to trim more than 100 calories.
30. Broil or bake foods instead of frying them and cut hundreds of calories.
31. Try lemon juice to flavor vegetables instead of oil or butter and save about 100 calories per tablespoon.
32. Change your thinking. Think of vegetables as your “main dish” rather than your “side dish.” You’ll eat fewer calories that way.
33. Modify recipes to reduce the amount of fat and calories. For example, when making chili, load it up with shredded vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, and spinach and use just a small amount of ground white meat turkey instead of beef. You’ll cut a couple hundred calories per serving.
34. Use 95 percent extra-lean ground beef rather than 70 percent ground beef to cut more than 100 calories per 4-ounce serving.
35. Eat sweet potatoes, which contain cellulose and hemicelluloses, insoluble fibers that help you feel full faster so you eat less.
36. Using fresh herbs and garlic instead of one tablespoon of butter or oil adds a lot of flavor and saves about 100 calories.
37. Brown and basmati rice are a good carbohydrate fix because as little as a half cup is very filling and has a higher nutritional value than white rice as well as a lower glycemic index factor so you get more bang for your buck.
38. Mix ½ cup pinto beans with ½ cup brown rice to create a complete protein and a low-calorie alternative to meat. Adding fresh herbs, garlic, and salsa or low-salt Italian diced tomatoes is delicious and adds up to less than 250 calories.
39. Swap quinoa for white rice. Quinoa is a complete protein and contains more protein than any other grain with 9 grams per 1 cup of cooked quinoa. It is much lower on the glycemic index than white rice, which helps you avoid a spike in blood sugar. This can improve self-control and reduce the calories you consume for the rest of the day.
40. Trim the fat from all meat and avoid eating the skin on poultry to cut about 50 calories.
41. Squeeze lemon juice on fish instead of 2 tablespoons of tartar sauce and save 70 calories.
42. Make 99 percent fat-free white-meat turkey meatballs instead of 95 percent extra lean beef meatballs to save about 65 calories per serving.
43. Use grilled portobello mushrooms instead of 95 percent extra-lean beef in your burger and save about 140 calories.
44. Go bunless. Have your burger on a bed of lettuce instead of a bun and lop off 150 calories or more.
45. At Chinese restaurants, just say no to the fried crunchy noodles they put on wonton soup and save about 150 calories.
46. Make your own salad dressings, such as balsamic vinegar with a little fresh garlic. In restaurants, use straight balsamic vinegar or lemon juice to cut 100 calories per tablespoon compared with other dressings.
47. Limit salad toppings. A big salad might seem healthy, but all those goodies on top can make it more calorie-laden than lasagna or fettuccine Alfredo. Cheese crumbles, caramelized nuts, bacon, avocado, dried fruit, croutons, and creamy dressings can add lots of calories. Save 500 or more calories by having just one topping, adding flavorful but lower-cal veggies (roasted bell peppers, grilled onions, or mushrooms), and using half the dressing.
48. Vinegar and citrus fruits are great substitutes for cream sauces on just about anything, and they can cut hundreds of calories.
49. Spaghetti squash and shredded zucchini are excellent substitutes for pasta and taste like whatever you add to it. You save almost 200 calories per cup.
50. “Clean your plate” is one of the worst habits we are taught. Stop eating when you feel full and save the rest for leftovers. This one habit can cut hundreds of calories from your daily intake.
51. To learn how to stop cleaning your plate, make it a practice to leave two or three bites of food on your plate at every meal. The few bites won’t add up to that many calories but learning not to devour everything a restaurant or dinner host serves you can save hundreds of calories on those occasions.
52. The best way to limit your calories is to cook at home where you can control the amount of food on your plate. This can slash hundreds or even more than 1,000 calories in some cases.
53. If you must have a high-calorie food at a meal, eat the more nutritious, low-calorie foods on your plate first. Then you likely won’t eat as much of the high-calorie food.
54. Substitute lower-calorie fish like halibut for steak to trim 80 or more calories per serving.
55. Swap ½ cup steamed brown rice for ½ cup fried rice and save about 100 calories.
56. If you can’t live without fries (427 calories for a medium order), skip the frying and make baked sweet potato fries, which are about 100 calories per serving. You save almost 300 calories and you gain loads of brain healthy nutrients.
57. Say no to fried and breaded chicken and opt for grilled or baked chicken instead to cut at least 100 calories per serving.
58. Less is more when it comes to brain healthy preparation. Eat vegetables raw without any oil, butter, or cream sauces to save hundreds of calories.
59. With pasta, use marinara sauce instead of Alfredo sauce to save 260 calories per cup or instead of pesto sauce to cut 440 calories per cup.
60. Put less food on your plate than you think you need. You can always go back to the kitchen for more if you are still hungry, but you might find that you feel full with less food. You can knock off hundreds of calories with this trick.
61. Never order salad with the dressing already tossed. Get it on the side, so you are in control of how much you eat, and dip your fork in it before you grab the salad mix. You will likely cut the calories from the dressing in half—or even more—and miss none of the taste. Considering how much dressing restaurants pour on, this could easily be several hundred calories.
62. When you use olive oil and vinegar on salad, liberally put the vinegar on first, then add just a few drops of olive oil. You will likely cut more than 100 calories from your meal.
63. Steam broccoli and asparagus instead of cooking in 2 tablespoons butter to save 200 calories.
64. Eat more veggies. Researchers at Tufts University found that the more vegetables people eat, the thinner they are.
65. Change the proportion of ingredients so that the same amount of food has more vegetables or fruits, which are filling and low in calories. For example, instead of 1 cup brown rice, 4 ounces 95 percent extra-lean ground beef, ½ cup of shredded low-fat cheddar cheese, and ¼ cup red bell peppers (total of about 550 calories), use 2 cups red bell peppers, ½ cup rice, 3 ounces ground beef, and ¼ cup cheese and save about 180 calories.
66. Switch to plain, unsweetened yogurt and add your own fruit. You can get the health benefits from yogurt and eliminate about 50 calories per 6-ounce serving and unwanted sugar.
67. Bring low-calorie snacks to school or work. I like raw broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas, celery, and red bell peppers. I may also bring a measured portion of almond butter or mashed avocado with garlic powder as a dip. It is important not to let yourself get hungry.
68. Eat a medium-sized apple shortly after meals. The fiber will help you continue to feel full hours later so you don’t raid the refrigerator, which can add up to hundreds of unwanted calories.
69. Dip carrots, red bell peppers, or celery instead of tortilla chips into your favorite salsa, guacamole, or hummus to save about 140 calories.
70. When you make air-popped popcorn, put half of it away to eat for another time. If you pop 6 cups, put 3 cups away to shave 90 calories.
71. For people who have a sweet tooth like me, eat a small portion of something sweet, like blueberries (20 calories for ¼ cup) or dark chocolate (about 20 calories for one piece of Hershey’s Kisses dark chocolate), so that you can have something satisfying without feeling like you are depriving yourself.
72. Choose crunchy things. Scientists say the more you chew, the longer it takes to eat and the more time your body has to realize that it is full. Snacks that offer a big crunch include carrots, apples, snap peas, and nuts (processed carbohydrates like sugar cereals and candy don’t count). They keep your mouth busy longer so you don’t inhale your food like a vacuum cleaner.
73. Read the fine print. To get the real scoop on a snack, check out the back of the box. When you see a list of hard-to-pronounce ingredients, there is a greater chance something artificial is mixed in that is not necessarily waistline-friendly. A shorter list usually indicates a more nutritious and slimming pick.
74. At the movies, bring 3 cups popcorn that you air-popped at home instead of getting the large tub at the concession stand and save more than 1,500 calories at some theaters.
75. If you’re buying canned fruit cocktail, you can save more than 100 calories per cup by choosing fruit packed in water rather than heavy syrup.
76. Avoid the vending machine by packing your own healthful snacks to bring to work. For example, consider vegetable sticks, fresh fruit, or low-fat or nonfat yogurt without added sugars. Compared with a candy bar from the vending machine, you can save up to 200 calories if you eat the raw veggies.
77. Tree nuts can be a very healthy snack, as long as you don’t eat too many of them. One ounce (about one handful) of dry-roasted mixed nuts has about 175 calories. Take one handful and seal the bag rather than nibbling straight from the bag to keep the calorie count down.
78. Choose 1 cup red grapes instead of 1 cup raisins to save about 450 calories.
79. Skip the dried fruit with added sugar and eat a piece of fresh fruit to cut up to several hundred calories.
80. When your dinner hosts serve dessert, excuse yourself and go for a walk. By skipping dessert, you can easily cut hundreds of calories.
81. Eat a low-sugar protein bar in the afternoon instead of a candy bar. The calorie counts may be similar but the protein will help regulate your blood sugar and help your self-control later in the evening while the candy bar will lead to a sugar crash and a greater likelihood of overeating at night.
82. Instead of spending 400-plus calories on a slice of chocolate cheesecake, have a single piece of dark chocolate after dinner and save more than 350 calories. A little bit of dark chocolate a day has healthy benefits, including increasing blood flow to the brain and decreasing blood pressure, but make sure you count the calories.
83. Have frozen blueberries with 1 cup Greek-style nonfat yogurt and a little stevia—delicious and only about 150 calories—instead of 1 cup rich ice cream at 540 calories.
84. Frozen red grapes make a great dessert and are about 450 fewer calories per cup than ice cream.
85. Instead of store-bought sorbet, make your own by putting fruit in the blender and then pouring into Popsicle trays. You’ll save about 100 calories per serving.
86. For dessert, forget the slice of apple pie (500 calories or more!) from your favorite restaurant and have a small baked apple sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s delicious and slashes more than 400 calories.
87. Eat a banana with 1 tablespoon almond butter (about 200 calories) rather than a slice of banana cream pie with whipped cream to cut more than 350 calories.
88. Satisfy sweet-tooth cravings with a cup of hot or iced fruity tea with a little stevia and save up to several hundred calories.
89. Fluff up your food. In one study from Penn State, twenty-eight men drank one of three different kinds of milkshakes before lunch. All three milkshakes had the same ingredients, but some were blended longer to add air and volume. The men who drank the “airy” shakes ate 12 percent fewer calories at lunch. And they did not make up for it by eating more at dinner, meaning they kept those calories off. So if you are going to have a protein shake for dessert or for breakfast like I do, blend it longer to add more air.
90. Switch to water first thing in the morning instead of fruit juice. Fruit juice is high in sugar and just 1 cup orange juice costs 112 calories.
91. Instead of drinking fruit juice, eat a piece of fruit. The fruit has fiber, which slows the absorption of the natural sugars to keep your blood sugar levels from spiking. Eating one medium orange instead of a 12-ounce glass of orange juice can cut 80 calories.
92. Stop drinking soda. Regular sodas are filled with sugar and caffeine and cost 150 calories each. The artificial sweeteners from diet sodas may be calorie-free, but they are harmful to your health. Plus, because they are up to six hundred times sweeter than sugar, they may activate the appetite centers of the brain making you crave even more food. So the 150 calories you saved by drinking the diet soda may be spent later that day.
93. Replace sodas with real fruit-flavored water, just like you are at the spa. My favorite drink is water with lemon juice and a little lemon-flavored stevia, a healthier natural sweetener. It has no calories and it tastes like lemonade. You can do it with oranges, limes, watermelon, and so on. This is an easy way to dramatically increase your water intake and save 150 calories per glass.
94. Don’t let the sports drinks and vitamin waters fake you out. The truth is most are just sweetened water that will cost more than 100 calories for 12 ounces.
95. If you can’t kick your sports drink habit, pour half of the bottle into a glass and mix with an equal amount of water and fill up the bottle with water also to cut the calories and sugar in half.
96. Don’t let beverage labels pull a fast one on you. If it is not water, unsweetened almond milk, decaf coffee, or unsweetened tea, it is dessert.
97. Limit alcohol, especially mixed drinks, which can have an outrageous number of calories. For example, one margarita can have as many as 700 calories! Plus, the alcohol decreases prefrontal cortex function, which means your judgment will be impaired, making you more likely to eat more high-fat, high-sugar, high-calorie foods.
98. Going from one glass of wine every night at dinner to one glass per week can trim about 600 calories per week.
99. If you’re going to drink, skip the Long Island iced tea (upwards of 500 calories) and go for one glass of white wine (less than 100 calories) to save more than 400 calories.
100. Limit fat storage by drinking green tea, which contains the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), shown to boost metabolic rate. In a recent three-month study, participants who took green tea extract lost 4.6 percent of their body weight without changing their diet. To get the benefit, drink at least three cups a day. My favorite is Tropical Acai Berry Green Tea by Celestial Seasonings.
101. Before meals, drink fiber—such as Citrucel, Metamucil, or MiraLAX (with lots of water)—because it fills the belly, so there is less room for food.
102. When you get hungry, first drink a full glass of water and then if you are still hungry, eat. Many people confuse being dehydrated with being hungry.
103. Drink ice-cold water. Your body burns a few calories warming up the water to body temperature. Drinking an 8-ounce glass of ice cold water burns about 8 calories. Granted, it’s not much, but calories are calories.
104. Use almond milk instead of cow’s milk. Blue Diamond unsweetened almond milk contains only 40 calories for 8 ounces. Their unsweetened chocolate almond milk contains only 45 calories and is delicious. I actually like almond milk better than cow’s milk.
105. Another milk alternative is unsweetened rice milk. It will cut more than 100 calories per cup.
106. Stop using half-and-half in your coffee or tea. Switch to unsweetened almond milk to cut more than 17 calories per tablespoon.
107. Sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg in your coffee rather than using flavored syrups, which can cost 20 calories per squirt at your favorite coffeehouse.
108. Using stevia is a great no-calorie way to sweeten drinks like coffee and tea and most foods. Stevia is 100 percent natural, and it has no effect on blood sugar. Compared with 11 calories per packet of sugar, the savings add up.
109. Avoid high-calorie coffee drinks. You can cut more than 600 calories by switching from some fancy coffee drinks to a plain drip (decaf preferably) coffee with a little unsweetened almond milk and stevia.
110. Split meals with your spouse or friends when you eat out to cut calories by half.
111. If you are eating out by yourself, have your server put half your meal in a “to go” bag before serving you. That way, you won’t be tempted to clean your plate.
112. In restaurants, ask if you can substitute a broth-based soup for French fries or chips as a side dish so you can save well over 100 calories.
113. Barbara Rolls, a nutrition researcher at Pennsylvania State University and author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories, conducted a study that found that people who ate 1 cup low-calorie vegetable broth before lunch reduced their total calorie intake by 20 percent.
114. Don’t make a lot of different dishes for your meals. Research shows that the more choices you have the more you typically eat.
115. After hosting family gatherings, immediately give away or discard any foods that are not on your everyday diet. If the food is perfectly good, take it to your local food bank or share it with a neighbor.
116. Eat a snack or a light meal before you go to a party so you won’t be hungry when faced with high-calorie hors d’oeuvres.
117. Skip the bread they serve before meals in restaurants. At one popular restaurant, a single breadstick adds 150 calories to your meal. And who can stop at just one?
118. Eating at a Chinese restaurant? Use chopsticks. It slows down consumption so you feel full faster and eat less.
119. Don’t order appetizers before your entrée—unless it’s a broth-based soup.
120. Tell your waiter “No croutons” on your salad. One cup of the crunchy salad toppers can cost more than 185 calories.
121. Be picky. If you don’t love something that’s on your plate, don’t eat it. You can save hundreds of calories this way.
122. Use your brain to always think “high-quality calories in.” Focus on calorie-restricted and optimally nutritious foods when you are deciding what to eat.
123. Stay away from “anti-nutrition” foods—such as trans fats, negative calories, or potentially harmful food additives—even if they are low in calories. Ultimately, they can spike your appetite and make you eat even more.
124. Don’t add sugar to anything. A single teaspoon of the sweet stuff adds 16 calories.
125. Don’t think you are doing yourself a favor by using brown sugar, raw sugar, turbinado sugar, agave syrup, or honey. They all contain calories you don’t need.
126. Beware of fat-free products. Fat-free does not mean calorie-free. Check the nutrition label before you indulge.
127. One of the best ways to cut calories is to write down and measure everything you eat until you are confident that you really know how many calories you put into your body every day. Studies show that most people tend to underestimate the number of calories in a meal, but overweight individuals have a greater amount of portion distortion. Seeing is believing.
128. Serve your food on smaller plates, which will help to shrink your serving sizes. Turn in your 12-inch plate for a 10-inch version to cut 20 to 25 percent of your calories. You can thank Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating, and his team of researchers at the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab for the research behind this tip as well as the following five tips.
129. Going to a buffet? Sit at least sixteen feet away from and don’t face the buffet table. Researchers at the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab found that fatter diners tend to sit closer to the buffet and return more often for more helpings than slimmer people.
130. Use smaller bowls when eating cereal, yogurt, or soup. Research shows that the bigger your bowl, the more you will eat.
131. Go small with serving utensils too. It isn’t just the size of the plates and bowls you eat from that influence your calorie intake, it is also the size of the serving spoons you use. Bigger spoons equal bigger portions.
132. Don’t put the serving bowls and platters on the table. That makes it too easy to take seconds … and thirds. Leave the serving dishes in the kitchen to cut calories.
133. Say no to big dinner parties with lots of guests. You tend to eat more when there are more than seven people at the table.
134. In a restaurant, always ask how your meal is prepared and request “no butter,” “no cheese,” and so on. You can cut hundreds of calories with this simple trick.
135. Substitute lower-fat meats—such as turkey, chicken, or lean pork—for higher-fat, higher-calorie alternatives. For example, choosing a chicken breast instead of prime rib can trim more than 300 calories per serving.
136. Lean on low-density foods to help you feel fuller faster. Low-density foods typically contain more water so you can eat larger portions yet fewer calories. High-density foods, on the other hand, pack lots of calories in very small portions. Be a value spender and go for the low-density variety. For example, for the same number of calories, you could either eat 1 ounce French fries or 9 ounces fresh strawberries.
137. Chew each bite 20 times. One study found that diners with higher body mass indexes (BMIs) chewed each bite only twelve times compared with an average of fifteen times for healthy-weight people. Try to savor the food. In essence, you are performing a mindful meditation when you eat. This also makes your food taste sweeter. Saliva has an enzyme called amylase that breaks down simple carbohydrates, such as wheat or potatoes, into sugar.
138. Use all of your senses when you eat or drink. Pay attention to the favors, smells, textures, colors, and even the sounds they make when you consume them. This will help you eat more slowly, which can help you feel full on fewer calories.
139. Eat with your fork in your nondominant hand to reduce dexterity and slow down the shoveling of food into your mouth.
140. Put down your fork after each bite.
141. Cut down on the variety you eat, so that you actually know what is in your food. Gorillas tend to eat the same thing, over and over, and they are obviously strong and muscular. According to the National Zoo, here are the main ingredients of their diet: “The morning diet is generally made up of vegetables, which may include kale, celery, green beans, carrots, and sweet potato. Evening foods include more greens such as romaine, kale, cabbage, or dandelion along with the fruits and vegetables du jour. Bananas, apples, oranges, mango, grapes, melon, and papaya are often included. Onions, broccoli, turnips, white potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and beets are also included. Throughout the day, the gorillas are given additional forage items, such as popcorn, peanuts, or jungle mix. Browse (fresh tree trimmings) is given daily and includes bamboo, bradford pear, willow, mulberry, or maple.”
142. Learn to eyeball servings. After you spend some time weighing food, learn about serving sizes. A 3-ounce serving of meat or poultry is about the size of a deck of cards, one serving of pasta or rice is the size of a tennis ball, a bread serving is the size of a CD case, and one serving of cheese is the size of four dice. See more suggested serving sizes in appendix C.
143. Eat at the table. Fifty-nine percent of young women eat on the go, a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds, and on-the-run eaters consume more total fat as well as more soda and fast food. The less distracted and stressed you are when you dine, the more efficiently your body absorbs nutrients. Eat at the table and focus on your food, not the traffic.
144. Don’t eat in front of the TV. In one study, people ate up to 44 percent more while watching TV compared with when they weren’t in front of the boob tube.
145. For virtually no calories, adding spice to your meals can increase your metabolism. Different studies have shown that spicy foods can increase your metabolism by 8 to 20 percent for at least 30 minutes after eating. A little bit of cayenne pepper or cinnamon is all you need to add to your favorite recipes.
146. Eat veggies at every meal. When people eat vegetables with a meal, they consume a full 20 percent fewer calories overall while feeling satisfied, according to a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
147. Increase your fiber intake. Eating fiber helps to prevent overeating because it makes you feel full. You will have an even greater feeling of fullness and higher energy levels throughout the day if you eat meals that are mostly made up of fiber, protein, and water. Fiber also slows down the digestion of foods you eat, keeping your blood sugar and energy levels in check and preventing you from getting hungry. Good sources of fiber are vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, and some whole grain cereals. The amount of fiber in a food product is listed in the nutritional facts found on most food labels. Fiber takes so long to be digested by your body, a person eating 20–35 g fiber a day will burn an extra 150 calories a day or lose 16 extra pounds a year.
148. To get more fiber in your diet, ditch the white bread and replace it with whole wheat. A slice of white bread contains about ½ g fiber while whole wheat bread can be packed with 1.5 g to 7 g per slice. Check the labels to look for the highest fiber content.
149. Boost your fiber consumption by adding beans to soups and salads.
150. Make sure you eat healthy fats with every meal. It helps with satiety and serves to curb your appetite between meals. An Australian study showed that eating a meal with healthy fats, such as olive oil, significantly increased fat-burning rate five hours later, particularly in subjects with more abdominal fat.
151. Use a food scale to weigh and measure portion sizes and always measure the foods you tend to overeat.
152. Always measure and weigh the foods that you tend to overeat.
153. Make sure you have enough calcium in your diet. Researchers have linked calcium with lower production of the stress-hormone cortisol (remember cortisol switches the body into a fat-storing mode). According to several studies, people who increase their calcium intake lose more weight than people with low calcium levels. Sources of calcium include unsweetened yogurt and spinach.
154. Consistently reduce your meal sizes by just 10 percent. You won’t even notice, and it will save an amazing number of calories.
155. Buy food in prepared-portioned sizes so you know exactly how many calories you are eating.
156. Get at least seven to eight hours of sleep at night. Getting fewer than that has been associated with eating more calories throughout the day and with eating more foods that can trigger cravings. One study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who got only five and a half hours of sleep ate 221 calories more than people who slept for eight and a half hours.
157. Liberally sprinkle cinnamon on your oatmeal in the morning to help regulate blood sugar levels. This will increase your self-control later in the day so you make better decisions and eat fewer calories.
158. Eat smaller, more frequent meals to keep blood sugar levels balanced and prevent overeating.
159. Eat with people who share your healthy lifestyle rather than eating with people who have bad eating habits. People tend to eat more when the people around them do so.
160. If you overeat one day, just get back on track the next day.
161. Learn to say no to friends and family members who offer you seconds or foods that don’t fit into your brain healthy program. Simply saying no can trim hundreds of calories from your daily total.
162. Move more. James A. Levine, M.D., a researcher at the Mayo Clinic, has found that structured exercise isn’t the only way to burn calories. Walking instead of taking the elevator, pacing while talking on the phone, and other everyday physical activities can burn an extra 500–1,000 calories per day. Levine calls this type of activity NEAT (non-exercise activity thermo-genesis). I think it’s pretty neat that you can burn so many calories so easily.
163. Pacing while talking on the phone for an hour can burn up to 115 calories more than sitting down.
164. Pump up your metabolism with strength training. The more muscle tissue you have the more calories you burn.
165. Some of the top calorie-burning activities are running at a fast pace, climbing stairs, and jumping rope. Notice that none of these requires expensive equipment or gym memberships.
166. Join a table tennis club to burn calories and boost your brain at the same time.
167. Spend thirty minutes gardening or mowing the lawn (not riding a lawn mower!) to burn 200 calories (based on a weight of 185 pounds).
168. One hour of heavy-duty housework can melt 400 calories (based on a weight of 185 pounds).
169. Spend half an hour washing your car to burn 200 calories (based on a weight of 185 pounds).
170. Moving to a new home can be a pain, but it sure burns a lot of calories. One hour of toting boxes can help you burn more than 600 calories (based on a weight of 185 pounds).
171. One hour of running around while playing with your kids can burn more than 400 calories (based on a weight of 185 pounds).
172. Shovel snow for just fifteen minutes to burn about 100 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
173. Leave the car in the driveway and walk one hour to work or school at a quick clip to burn about 346 calories (based on a weight of 200 pounds). Double that if you walk back home too.
174. Just one hour of cleaning out the garage burns 329 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
175. Spend thirty minutes scrubbing floors to burn 182 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
176. Doing the laundry and folding clothes burns about 140 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
177. Take half an hour to give your dog a bath and burn 156 pounds (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
178. Walk at a moderate pace while carrying your 12-pound baby and burn 230 calories in an hour (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
179. Pushing your toddler in a baby stroller burns about 165 calories per hour (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
180. Play guitar while standing for one hour, and you’ll burn almost 200 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
181. Rake leaves for half an hour to burn 165 calories (based on a weight of 185 pounds).
182. Join your company’s softball team and burn more than 300 calories during an hour-long game (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
183. It has been estimated that the act of intercourse burns about 200 calories, the equivalent of running vigorously for thirty minutes. Most couples average about twenty-four minutes for lovemaking.
184. Strolling leisurely through the streets of a foreign city can burn about 135 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
185. Go to the mall and try on clothes for an hour to burn about 135 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
186. Go fish! Fishing can burn about 200 calories. Plus, you might catch something that’s brain healthy and low-calorie to eat (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
187. Spend fifteen minutes juggling to burn about 65 calories and give your brain a great workout. Juggling has been found to enhance the white matter in the brain and improve connectivity between areas of the brain (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
188. Knitting for one hour burns about 100 calories and also boosts brainpower (based on a weight of 145 pounds).
189. Packing and unpacking your suitcases for fifteen minutes burns about 35 calories (based on a weight of 145 pounds)
190. Vary your workout to prevent boredom and to keep your body from getting too efficient at any one activity. Your body burns fewer calories when it gets more efficient.
191. Know your BMI and waist-to-height ratio. This will help you stop lying to yourself.
192. Know how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight. This will make you more aware of the number of calories you consume.
193. Optimize your vitamin D levels. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to obesity.
194. Have your doctor check the health of your blood. People with low blood counts can feel anxious and tired and may overeat as a way to medicate themselves.
195. Optimize thyroid levels. Low levels decrease overall brain activity and can impair self-control.
196. Optimize hormone levels. Low levels of testosterone and DHEA are associated with obesity.
197. Check your HgA1C level to test for diabetes. Having diabetes is associated with obesity.
198. Take the natural supplements recommended for your brain type. A balanced brain will boost your self-control and reduce the chances of overeating as a way to self-medicate.
199. Got cravings? Fight back with natural supplements that support craving control, such as alpha-lipoic acid, chromium, DL-phenylalanine, L-glutamine, and N-acetyl-cysteine.
200. Meditate to boost your prefrontal cortex and your self-control.