Sharing Tips on cutting calories

I cant stand 'low fat' salad dressings. so I make my own. Hidden valley ranch( made with buttermilk and Hellman's mayo) Then I measure out my 2 tbsp, then i thin that with water or skim milk. then it goes much further on my large salads.

One of my tips is using the "spritzer" forms of salad dressing instead of the regular stuff. it has barely any calories, but still makes plain lettuce tolerable to eat. also, it contains a lot less fattening oil.

I use the spritzers...especially the Wishbone Ceasar on sandwiches instead of mayo...I don't like ketchup or mustard, so I need something...this works great!

A lot of people have their food diaries public, i look through others and get ideas sometimes. Take a look at mine if you want, it is usually pretty full, I eat a lot during the day, and almost never go over my calories.

It takes a bit of time, but I've found that it's MUCH cheaper to buy the big family size bags of snacks like sun chips, pretzels, or any other unhealthy type of munchy.

As soon as I get home, I take out my food scale and box of baggies and divide the whole bag into individual servings. When I'm finished, I put all of the bags back into the original package.

This is helpful in 2 ways:
1. It helps me control my portion size & only grab one bag.
2. It's nice and quick for in the mornings before work when I'm running a little late & forgot to pack my lunch the night before.

Finding a good low calorie whole wheat bread is essential for me. Here in Chicago there is a company called "Today's Temptations" that make a diabetic low-carb bread that is all natural. The nutritional make up for 2 slices is:

90 calories

12 grams carbs (8 of which are fiber)
1 gram sugar
10 grams protein
1 gram fat

I make at least two sandwiches a day with this bread and its a great way to add fiber and protein.

Most cities have a similar type of bakery that makes good bread like this and there are even a few in the grocery that come close. Find a good bread and it really helps with decisions.

I up the veggies on all of our family favorites, stir fries are loaded with veggies and smaller amounts of lowfat meat. For grains I try to stay with whole grains and limit my consumption of them. I have found great tasting breads and tortillas with half the calories of msot and make sure to have them in stock. I find myself using fat free or lowfat versions of cour creams & cheeses. I also make sure as many condiments as I can are low calorie, such as using salsa and msutards for dressings and toppers.

Have some ready items in the house that you know are low-cal, like Progresso light soups, frozen veggies, chicken breasts, etc. that you can grab and make fairly quickly. I agree with the others that having lots of veggies on hand helps. You can steam or grill almost any veggie for virtually no calories. Also, turkey lunch meat is low-cal, like 50 calories for 6 thin slices. You can make a low-cal sandwich with 2 slices whole grain bread (~180 cals), turkey meat (50), sliced roma tomato (25), mustard (0) and maybe a bit of guacamole (~50). Total calories is around 300 and it is very filling. Add an apple and you've got a good, low-cal meal. Another trick is to have sweet potatoes on hand. Zap one in the microwave, add a little spray butter and you have a big, filling, meal with only 180 calories for a large potato, plus loads of vitamin A, C, calcium, etc. Avoid standard salad dressings and mayo at all costs. Drink only water or low-cal drinks (like ocean spray "diet" drinks). There are some "steamer" bags out there that are low cal and easy to prepare...brown rice, veggies, etc.