Helpful calorie cutting ideas to lose weight

Last Updated on February 28, 2021 by FAB Jim The Cyclist

Dieting and cutting calories is not very easy which is why everyone isn’t fit.  I’ve been dieting for about 3 months now and have lost 15 pounds, here are some of my favorite calorie cutting tips.  Every meal doesn’t have to look like this to cut calories:

Butter

If you are like me, you can’t live without butter.  It’s just a necessity of life, luckily there are some calorie cutting options.  My old butter was 90 calories per serving, I have it at least once per day.  I’ve switched to I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Original which is 60 calories, an easy 30 calorie savings as I don’t notice the difference.  There are some lower ones I am going to try including Light I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter which is 35 calories. 

Sweets

I also have quite a sweet tooth, I’d love a good donut right now.  Well dieting and sweets just don’t go together so I’ve found some ways to keep it under control.  One of my favorite sweet snacks now are the little individually wrapped rice krispies treats.  These are only 90 calories each, so it’s not to hard to fit them in and get a sweet fix. 

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats Original Marshmallow Bars 0.78 Ounce (Pack of 96) – AMAZON

Like chocolate?  I have been snacking on Brookside dark chocolate acai and blue berry flavors.  I limit myself to the half a serving which is 6 pieces and 65 calories.  Sometimes I sneak an extra one if the pieces I grab seem small.  65 calories is not much for a sweet treat and some say dark chocolate is somehow good for a diet. 

Light yogurt is a sweet option that is also very manageable.  Yoplait light yogurt is about 90 calories and pretty yummy.  It also has 5g of protein and might have probiotics in it, I guess. 

These are much better options than pie or cake or donuts….

Chips

I also have been known to sit down a take-out a bag of chips.  Those days are over.  Now my favorite substitute is a small bag of Skinny Pop, popcorn which is 100 calories and even has 2g of protein.  A much more manageable option than a big bag of potato chips.

Fast food

Fast food isn’t a great diet option, but most places seem to have some decent ways to make cuts.  For example, let’s say you go to Mcdonalds and you normally get a Big Mac and fries with a soda.  That’s a total of 1080 calories.  Now if you sub a diet soda you drop to 870, a 210 calorie savings!  That’s a nice drop with minimal effort.  Being in Wisconsin I usually go to Culver’s.  While I would like the double bacon cheeseburger with fries and a root beer, that is a whopping 1420 calories.  Instead, I get the beef pot roast sandwich, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a diet root beer for 540 calories.  So, your favorite fast-food place probably has some cuts you can make. 

Restaurants

The same strategy as fast food works here.  Usually, you can substitute those fries for a salad or some vegetables and go for the diet drink.

Light dressing

Salads are a well-known diet food as vegetables tend to have few calories but dressing often has a lot of calories.  My old favorite was western dressing which comes in at 170 calories per serving.  Now I’ve switched that out to light western dressing which is only 80 calories for a drop of 90.  I really don’t notice the difference.  There are some Italian and ranch dressing out there with much fewer calories too. 

Drinks

Cutting calories with what you drink is one of my favorites, click here for a full post just on drinks:

Dropping calories through what you drink – Frugal Average Bicyclist

Hope some of these suggestions help you, they are working well for me. 

It’s hard to diet when your favorite exercise is chewing.

I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist, or an expert in any field. Consult your doctor before making any health changes.