This month’s weight loss tips help to reduce excess calories in your diet. Excess calories are sometimes hidden, and they can really hinder any weight loss program. Reducing these calories will make a big difference in your health.
1) Avoid sugary beverages, such as soda and fruit flavored drinks. Fruit flavored drinks are those that contain very little or no real fruit juice. Sugary drinks should be avoided because they contain empty calories, meaning they have little nutritional value. Another negative is that sugary drinks will not make you feel full, leading to over consumption of calories. By cutting out these drinks, you will avoid a significant amount of unnecessary calories. Choose unsweetened beverages such as water, iced-tea, and sparkling mineral water.
2) Switch to low-fat dairy products, and use cheese in moderation. Full-fat dairy foods are a very rich source of calories, and should be kept to a minimum. The important bone building mineral calcium is maintained when fat is reduced in dairy products. Switch to 1% or skim milk, and to products made with them to reduce unnecessary calories in your diet. Cheese is a tasty treat, but it is very energy-dense. One ounce of cheddar cheese (about the size of your index finger) contains about 100 calories and 8 grams of fat. To reduce calories from cheese, use only a small pinch of shreds or shavings to compliment your meals. You may wish to select low-fat cheeses. Low-fat cheeses include part-skim mozzarella and swiss. Look for cheeses that say they were made with reduced fat milk on the label.
3) Reduce the amount of sweet desserts you consume. Most of us know that desserts are a rich source of calories, but we all have a very difficult time resisting them. The best thing to do is keep the desserts out of the house and save them for special occasions. If sweets are in the house, you will most definitely eat them. You may also want to try this tactic to reduce your sweets intake – make a rule that you have to walk to the store or local shop to get your dessert. This works well with ice-cream stops. If you choose to use this tactic, only purchase a single serving in the smallest size available. You don’t want to bring any extras home to sabotage yourself!
