Wanna cut calories in HALF? YOU are in luck...

Healthier_Me

Filling your diet with foods that have low energy density (high water and fiber contents) can help you eat fewer calories without even realizing it. These foods give you larger portion sizes for fewer calories. Our good pal (and master bar-maker!) Dr. Melina Jampolis is here with FIVE fantastic tips for cutting calories in HALF (which means you can eat twice as much food for the same number of calories!). Good times!


1. You Say Tomato...

Chili is AWESOME but it can be a bit dense, and so the calories add up quickly. If you want to add volume to chili and get more bang for your calorie buck, mix a large can of cooked tomatoes (stewed, diced, or chopped) with a standard-sized can of chili. And if you start out with a low-fat veggie or turkey chili, your new chili blend will be super-low-cal!

Regular Canned Chili = 300 calories and 7g fat per cup
Chili/Tomato Blend = 150 calories and 3g fat per cup

Chili Savings - 150 calories and 4g fat per cup!





2. Sassy Salsa...

Everyone knows guacamole is delicious. But avocados (the main ingredient in guac -- doy!) are super-high in fat and aren't exactly low in calories either. Yes, we know it's good fat, but cutting some of the calories from guacamole is still a good thing. Add 1 1/2 cups of your favorite salsa (either jarred or fresh, but we prefer fresh!) to 1 cup of guacamole, and your new concoction will have half the calories in each serving. Weeeeee!

Regular Guacamole = 450 calories and 39g fat per cup
Salsa/Guac Blend = 225 calories and 16.5g fat per cup

Guac Savings - 225 calories and 22.5g fat per cup!




3. Mushroom Mania...

Mushrooms taste good and are good for you, but did you know that they can do wonders for lean ground meat? Simply add 1 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms (feel free to put whole ones in the food processor!) to 4 oz. raw lean ground beef (or turkey) to cut calories in HALF. Use this trick to make burgers, sloppy joes, meatloaf and MORE.

Cooked Lean Ground Beef = 200 calories and 11.5g fat per cup
Cooked Mushroom/Lean Ground Beef Blend = 100 calories and 5g fat per cup

Beef Savings - 100 calories and 6.5g fat per cup!





4. Veg Out...

Mom always said to eat your veggies, but she should have insisted you toss 'em into your pasta salad! Why? Because adding 1 1/4 cups of broccoli (or another favorite vegetable) to a cup of pasta salad is yet another fantastic way of cutting calories in half. YEE-HAA!

Pasta Salad = 380 calories and 20g fat per cup
Broccoli/Pasta Salad Blend = 190 calories and 9g fat per cup

Pasta Salad Savings - 190 calories and 11g fat per cup!




5. Super-Duper Celery...

You can definitely save loads of calories and fat grams by making your tuna (or chicken) salad with reduced-fat or fat-free mayo as opposed to the full-fat kind. But you can slash oodles MORE calories from your creations by adding one heaping cup of chopped celery to each cup of tuna or chicken salad. Don't like celery? You can achieve the same results with chopped cucumbers. YES!!!

Reduced-Fat Tuna Salad = 320 calories and 12g fat per cup
Reduced-Fat Tuna Salad/Celery Blend = 160 calories and 6g fat per cup

Tuna Salad Savings - 160 calories and 6g fat per cup!




HG Note - The nutritional values listed here are based on averages. For exact nutritionals and POINTS® values, simply add the stats from the labels of the specific products you use, and then divide by the number of servings.

Healthier_Me

Filling your diet with foods that have low energy density (high water and fiber contents) can help you eat fewer calories without even realizing it. These foods give you larger portion sizes for fewer calories. Our good pal (and master bar-maker!) Dr. Melina Jampolis is here with FIVE fantastic tips for cutting calories in HALF (which means you can eat twice as much food for the same number of calories!). Good times!


1. You Say Tomato...

Chili is AWESOME but it can be a bit dense, and so the calories add up quickly. If you want to add volume to chili and get more bang for your calorie buck, mix a large can of cooked tomatoes (stewed, diced, or chopped) with a standard-sized can of chili. And if you start out with a low-fat veggie or turkey chili, your new chili blend will be super-low-cal!

Regular Canned Chili = 300 calories and 7g fat per cup
Chili/Tomato Blend = 150 calories and 3g fat per cup

Chili Savings - 150 calories and 4g fat per cup!





2. Sassy Salsa...

Everyone knows guacamole is delicious. But avocados (the main ingredient in guac -- doy!) are super-high in fat and aren't exactly low in calories either. Yes, we know it's good fat, but cutting some of the calories from guacamole is still a good thing. Add 1 1/2 cups of your favorite salsa (either jarred or fresh, but we prefer fresh!) to 1 cup of guacamole, and your new concoction will have half the calories in each serving. Weeeeee!

Regular Guacamole = 450 calories and 39g fat per cup
Salsa/Guac Blend = 225 calories and 16.5g fat per cup

Guac Savings - 225 calories and 22.5g fat per cup!




3. Mushroom Mania...

Mushrooms taste good and are good for you, but did you know that they can do wonders for lean ground meat? Simply add 1 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms (feel free to put whole ones in the food processor!) to 4 oz. raw lean ground beef (or turkey) to cut calories in HALF. Use this trick to make burgers, sloppy joes, meatloaf and MORE.

Cooked Lean Ground Beef = 200 calories and 11.5g fat per cup
Cooked Mushroom/Lean Ground Beef Blend = 100 calories and 5g fat per cup

Beef Savings - 100 calories and 6.5g fat per cup!





4. Veg Out...

Mom always said to eat your veggies, but she should have insisted you toss 'em into your pasta salad! Why? Because adding 1 1/4 cups of broccoli (or another favorite vegetable) to a cup of pasta salad is yet another fantastic way of cutting calories in half. YEE-HAA!

Pasta Salad = 380 calories and 20g fat per cup
Broccoli/Pasta Salad Blend = 190 calories and 9g fat per cup

Pasta Salad Savings - 190 calories and 11g fat per cup!




5. Super-Duper Celery...

You can definitely save loads of calories and fat grams by making your tuna (or chicken) salad with reduced-fat or fat-free mayo as opposed to the full-fat kind. But you can slash oodles MORE calories from your creations by adding one heaping cup of chopped celery to each cup of tuna or chicken salad. Don't like celery? You can achieve the same results with chopped cucumbers. YES!!!

Reduced-Fat Tuna Salad = 320 calories and 12g fat per cup
Reduced-Fat Tuna Salad/Celery Blend = 160 calories and 6g fat per cup

Tuna Salad Savings - 160 calories and 6g fat per cup!




HG Note - The nutritional values listed here are based on averages. For exact nutritionals and POINTS® values, simply add the stats from the labels of the specific products you use, and then divide by the number of servings.

allisgood

Just what I needed today!! Great advice...thanks for sharing!

kleimola

Thanks for this! I am always trying to get my hubby to eat more veggies and I really like the mushrooms in the beef idea. You can even further cut the calories there by using ground turkey or chicken too.

Healthier_Me

Very welcome:bigsmile:

Lavendersunday

Hello Healthier,

You always post great ideas...some of which I have tried. (Thank you for your thoughtfulness!!)

When it comes to tuna salad...I love adding the celery and a little chopped onion (vidalia) along with a cap of red wine vinegar to the light mayo. It seems the vinegar helps to cut the "fishy" taste because I don't use as much mayo as I did in the days before MFP. Having this for lunch on thinly sliced rye or inside a whole wheat pita really keeps me going!!!

Wishing you all good things!

~Namaste :flowerforyou:

~Mi

Healthier_Me

Very welcome:bigsmile:

deneuve39

These are great suggestions! I never would have thought to do the mushrooms in meat thing.

MontanaGirl

Hey, thanks lady!! I especially like the mushroom in the meat thing. I love mushrooms anyway - but to use them like that then the burger is less cal than most veggie burgers!

I also use mushrooms when I make meat loaf - a lot of mushrooms. Just about the only way my older daughter will eat them!!

Healthier_Me

very welcome my dears