By: Brit DeLong
1. Makeover your morning java with coffee creamer alternatives.
In one week, a person that drinks three cups of coffee a day and uses a tablespoon of flavored creamer for each cup can consume up to 2,205 calories just in coffee creamer! Eliminate those empty calories by using alternatives like coconut or almond milk, switching to skim milk and agave, or making your own creamer.
2. Ditch frozen yogurt for regular yogurt with fruit.
Pre-flavored frozen yogurts can weigh in anywhere from 75 to 300 calories depending on flavor and size of the portion. Regular plain yogurt averages 154 calories for a large one-cup serving. Add a cup of sliced strawberries to the plain yogurt and you’re looking at 204 calories altogether. While this might seem like minimal calorie savings, consider that you are getting two cups of natural fuel versus a smaller portion of sugar-added frozen yogurt.
3. Lighten up your salad dressing by going homemade.
A single serving of Ranch dressing equals 145 calories, and many people often use two, three, or more servings of the staple. Making your own oil and vinaigrette, which will average 72 calories, is extremely simple and will save you hundreds of empty calories. To make a cup of the vinaigrette, mix ¾ cup olive oil, ¼ cup of distilled or balsamic vinegar, lemon or orange juice to taste, and other desired seasonings.
4. Eat an apple as an afternoon snack.
At 3 p.m. the snack monster on your shoulder starts to call you to the vending machine for potato chips. Resist temptation by keeping a bag of apples at your desk and chowing down when you start to get hungry. Additionally, there are 95 calories in an apple versus 160 calories in a typical bag of chips. Full of fiber, apples will help fill you up and keep you satisfied longer so you don’t overeat at dinner. The Mayo Clinic lists other high fiber foods.
5. Throw your sour cream and cream cheese away and opt for Greek yogurt.
Consider this: there are 280 calories in a 16-ounce container of plain Greek yogurt and a whopping 821 calories in a 16-ounce container of sour cream. You are literally consuming almost four times as many calories per serving by continuing to use sour cream on your baked potato or in your taco. Even more alarming, there are 1,583 calories in a 16-ounce container of cream cheese, more than six times as many calories as the Greek yogurt. Making this switch easier for yourself by utilizing herbs like chives and dill in the yogurt to make up for the change in taste.
Making these switches doesn’t require drastic lifestyle changes and the swaps can seamlessly be integrated into your existing eating habits. While these adjustments might seem small, they can add up to hundreds or thousands of calorie savings each month.