Save on calories without breaking a sweat
There’s no need for you to go on a strict diet to keep in shape. We’ll tell you how to easily cut calories throughout the day without even missing out on anything. You’ll still be able to enjoy your food, we promise!
Consuming less energy
Keep an eye on your calorie balance
To lose weight, you need to consume less energy in the form of calories than you use. When you consume more energy than you use, your body stores it as fat reserves for a rainy day – and you put on weight. On the other hand, if you’re looking to maintain your weight, you need to provide your body with exactly the number of calories that it burns. With the huge amounts of tempting foods we’re surrounded by, it’s not exactly easy to keep an eye on the calories.
There’s no need for a strict diet if you pay attention to the amount of energy you consume on a day-to-day basis. It’s better to ensure what you eat is healthy and provides the amount of energy you need. That way, you can even avoid putting on weight during special occasions like weddings, Christmas, or birthday parties. We’ll help you by providing some tips that are really easy to make part of your daily life. They’ll also help you choose your food more consciously so that you can lead a healthier life. After all, reducing calories doesn’t automatically mean eating less and feeling hungry.
Let’s get going!
The best tricks for reducing calories
Eat all the fruit and veg you want
You’ve surely already heard this simple and effective tip. Fruit and veg contains fewer calories in relation to their weight and mass than other foods. In other words, their energy density is lower. Nevertheless, besides plenty of fibre, they also contain valuable vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. Fibre keeps you feeling satiated for a long time. In short: fruit and veg has lots of volume, little energy, makes you feel full for a long time, and also provides healthy nutrients. Enjoy eating as much as you like! When you fill your stomach with fruit and veg, you end up feeling full and still eat fewer calories. Just be careful not to add too much fat during preparation as that contains a lot of calories. You should eat at least 3 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit every day!
Our tip: your meals should consist mainly of vegetables and fruit.
Eating consciously…
… means enjoying your food with all your senses. You should focus on your food and eat it consciously and in peace. When you allow yourself to be distracted during meals, e.g. by looking at your smartphone, or if you just quickly down a roll between two meetings, you’re losing time to consciously enjoy your food. Make sure you have time to yourself when you’re eating. People who eat quickly frequently eat more because it takes longer for them to register that they’re full. Chewing your food well also helps you slow down. All this helps you identify the signals your body is sending out to say that it’s satiated so that you only eat as much as your body actually needs.
Either… or…?
There’s no need to miss out on anything. But it’s still a good idea to be open-minded when it comes to alternative foods. Some calorie-packed foods are easy to switch for ones that contain less energy. It saves a huge amount of calories, but you still don’t lose out on flavour or that happy feeling you get
from your favourite foods.
Take a look at these examples:
- honey (305 kcal/100 g) vs. chocolate-hazelnut spread (550 kcal/20 g)
- popcorn (367 kcal/100 g) vs. crisps (538 kcal/100 g)
- double cream cottage cheese (336 kcal/100 g) vs. margarine (724 kcal/100 g)
- alcohol-free beer (23 kcal/100ml) vs. lager (42 kcal/ 100 ml)
- low-fat milk (33 kcal/100 ml) vs. whole milk (68 kcal/100 ml)
As you can see, it’s perfectly okay to enjoy your food. Just ask yourself whether you can imagine eating a lower-calorie version of the food you’d like to have. It’s worth checking out the nutritional values on the products you buy.
Become a calorie detective and find even more tasty and lighter alternatives.
A few more tips perhaps?
Low-calorie drinks
It’s easy to reduce the number of calories you drink. Ideally, they shouldn’t contribute (a significant amount of) calories to your daily count at all. A small glass of lemonade (2.5 dl) has 95 calories, while water and unsweetened tea don’t have any. If you were to get your daily fluid intake of at least 1.5 litres from lemonade alone, it would add up to 570 calories. You’d need to spend an hour climbing the stairs to burn them off again. Just don’t do it and have water or tea instead!
Careful with fruit juice!
While fruit juice may seem good for you because it’s made from healthy fruit, you need to be careful because it often contains added sugar and therefore a lot of energy. A small glass of apple juice contains a whole 113 calories!
Milk isn’t a drink!
One thing you should know is that milk isn’t considered a drink. For good reason: a small glass of milk has a whole 155 calories. That’s why it should be used as what it is: food.
Plant-based alternatives to milk, like almond milk, have fewer calories: 110 calories per glass.
How about snacking? Of course, but do it consciously!
By the way: after a hard day, we like sitting down on the sofa to enjoy an exciting film… But what’s that hand doing there, unconsciously helping itself to snacks while you’re focusing on what’s happening on the screen? It just keeps going back and forth to the bag of snacks, feeding you several hundred calories – without you even realising it, let alone enjoying it. That’s definitely not a great idea! Now, before you consider wearing mittens to keep your hands under control when you watch TV, how about doing yourself a favour instead? How about a healthy alternative to crisps, gummy bears, and the like? Sticks of cucumber, carrots, peppers – maybe even a dip – or some fresh berries are a nice, light alternative. Cooked edamame (unripe soya beans) in their pods are also a great snack that needs to be unwrapped first. Even pretzel sticks are a better choice than crisps.
Consciously enjoy some nuts
There’s no doubt that nuts are healthy. But they do also contain an awful lot of calories. 100 g of nuts or seeds provide 612 calories – that’s more than crisps or chocolate! Although, they’re still a valuable food thanks to the healthy fats (omega-3 fatty acids) they contain. Here, the rule of thumb is to enjoy small amounts: the recommended daily amount is 20-30 g.
Listen to your body…
… after all, it knows best what it really needs. How often do we start snacking even though we’re not really hungry? Whether it’s because you’re stressed or bored, it’s always worth thinking about whether you’re really hungry or whether something else is at play. Could it be that you’re actually thirsty? Or are you trying to get away from that feeling of being stressed? To make that process easier, it’s worth getting rid of easily accessible snacks. The temptation is simply too great. It’s also a good idea to consider other distractions like exercise. Why not get some fresh air and leave the stress and calories outside in the process!
And one more tip to finish off: careful with products marketed as ‘light’!
We’ve given you some hints and tips that are sure to help you cut down on the amount of calories you eat. But there’s still one more important tip: when you’re considering getting ‘light’ products, check whether they actually deliver on what they promise. They often pretend to be ‘light’ and good for the figure because they contain less fat. But they forget to mention that the fat has been partly substituted for sugar. As such, ‘light’ products frequently contain the same number of calories as the standard version. But no need to worry: simply take a look at the nutritional values on the packet to find out which products are the real deal!
And now: have fun reducing your calories!