What "tricks" have you found for cutting calories?

switching eggs for egg whites at breakfast.

I'll have to read through the rest of the pages when I have time. Good ideas.

I love the Xtreme Health Wheat Tortillas. Saves quite a few calories, I can't remember the number, but two white tortillas in a cheese quesadilla is a big chunk of calories with regular ones.

Skipping the tortilla chips, and all chips, or just 1-2 to remember what they taste like. Most are 25 calories a PIECE. I took a calculator and wrote in permanent ink what each chip was on each of the bags so that I knew what I was getting into if I started.

Healthy Life bread and buns: usually 30-35 calories per slice.

Boosting my protein with nuts, shakes, and bars. After doing that, I find that I often have carbs left at the end of the day where they used to be the first thing maxxed out.

drinking a LOT of water to keep me full.. Only eating complex carbs (brown rice can be eaten a lot of, which only fulfills a few carbs)... Adding cayenne pepper to my chicken.. Adding cinnamon to my morning porridge.. mm

Plain Greek yogurt as a substitution for sour cream. Works in recipes too.

Never eat mayonaise again. Or if you MUST, the olive oil Mayo from Best Foods/Hellmans is good.

Portion control. Take half of what you think you want. Just try it. If you're still hungry 20 minutes later, go get more.

I tried mashed cauliflower tonight instead of mashed potatoes.

People who say it's "just like" mashed potatoes are dirty liars. Horrible, dirty, liars.

Ha. I did the same thing last night for the first time. I had to fight with my son to get him to finish them. I also don't have a blender, doing it by hand made it the consistency of coleslaw.

I find water really helps me. Every day I fill a little plastic cup and re-fill it every time it is empty. I get lots of water this way, and it keeps me from feeling hungry. I am a boredom eater, and I work all day, at a desk, all by myself, in a job with little mental or physical activity. So I really have to fight the urge to eat just because I am bored.

As others have said pre-logging is great. It really makes you think twice before you choose a bad option.

Also, if I am feeling the urge to cheat, I log it anyways, that way I see what I am eating, and it stops me from getting carried away.

We love French toast on the weekends. But now we make it low cal by using sara lee 45 calorie a slice bread, unsweetened almond milk, egg beaters, a little maple extract, and cinnamon. We top it with I can't believe it's not Butter spray, and sugar free syrup. It's really good for a fraction of the original calories.

For dessert, we also use the 50 calorie vitacake snacks, crumbled up with some strawberries with truvia, and a spritz of fat free whipped cream.

Getting rid of a lot of bread/pasta - whether it is altogether or just halving the portion. I always cook pasta separate from the sauce, so I can eat only a little bit. If I'm still hungry, I will eat a fried egg in the sauce (like eggs in purgatory).

I stopped buying a lot of juice, since I have a proclivity to drink a ton of it, instead of like 4 ounces.

I try to add extra vegetables to everything. Scrambled eggs? They will have onion and peppers, maybe more. Sandwich? Onions, pickles, sprouts, peppers... anything else I can justify adding. Pizza is basically a big vegetable mess when I make it.

Mine would be mostly to cure a craving.

Snickers or other chocolate bar? Fiber One Coconut Almond protein bar- YUM

McDonald's sausage egg and cheese mcmuffin? I'll eat two hard boiled eggs and two turkey sausage links. Take a bite of each and chew it together. Might sound strange, but it tastes just like the real thing and you don't even miss the bread or cheese (which are probably my two favorite types of food!)

Oh, and I love me some ground beef... but for say, spaghetti, ground turkey with diced tomatoes (doctor it up with garlic, spices) and spaghetti squash.