By Melissa Hawthorne, MS, RD, LD
St. Hope Foundation
To lose 1 pound a week a person must burn or reduce his/her calories by 3500 calories per week. Cutting back that many calories can be a daunting task. The good news is making small changes, such as reducing your caloric intake by just 100 calories a day can result in losing ~1 pound a month or about 10 pounds a year with very little effort. Making smart substitutions and changes in portion sizes are keys to success.
Here are 5 simple ways to cut 100 calories out your day:
- Eat a medium size orange instead of 12 oz of juice…save 100 calories
- Choose 1 cup of low fat popcorn instead of 1 oz of potato chips…save 117 calories
- Reduce your protein from 8 oz to 4 oz…save 280 calories
- Choose 2 Tbsp of light mayo instead of 2 Tbsp of regular mayo…save 102 calories
- Choose a slice of thin crust pizza instead of hand tossed…save 106 calories