Save on calories without breaking a sweat
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!