Cut 100 Calories a Day

Cut 100 Calories a Day -- Lose 10 Pounds a Year

The last thing you want to do right about now is go on a diet. (Okay, it's pretty much the last thing you want to do ever.) Luckily you can zap the bulge without resorting to rabbit food. The trick: Eat just a little less. Scientists at Harvard and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge found that people who lowered their calorie intake lost an average of 13 pounds in six months no matter what kind of diet they were on. "This is the best weight-loss news in a long time," says Frank Sacks, MD, nutrition professor at Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "If you don't like what you're eating, you're not going to stick with it. These findings give you flexibility to trim a bit here and there and still enjoy your favorites."

In fact, by nixing just 100 calories a day, you'll lose more than 10 pounds a year.

Cut 100 Calories at Breakfast
-Use skim milk in place of flavored Coffee-mate in your two morning mugs.

-Eat a bowl of high-fiber cereal and you'll consume fewer calories all day.

-Order bacon, not sausage, with your eggs.

-Choose a yeast doughnut instead of a denser cake one.

Cut 100 Calories at Lunch
-Use 1 tablespoon of mayo and 1 tablespoon of low-fat cottage cheese to make tuna salad.
-Put barbecue sauce, not honey mustard, on your chicken sandwich at Wendy's.

-Top your burger with onions, lettuce, and tomato and skip the cheese.

-Ask for the 12-ounce child-size soda instead of the 21-ounce medium at the drive-through.
-Slim down your sandwich by using Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins instead of whole wheat bread.

-Toss your salad with 1 tablespoon of dressing until every lettuce leaf is coated. You'll get away with using half the usual serving size. Try this trick at dinner too.

-Skip the crackers and shredded cheese on your chili.

Cut 100 Calories at Dinner
-Trade butter for a flavorful spread made with garlic, fresh rosemary, and light, trans fat-free margarine.

-Making meatballs? Mix half the amount of ground beef the recipe calls for with half as much cooked brown rice.

-Instead of two slices of medium pepperoni pan pizza, choose thin-crust.

-When munching on chicken wings, don't toss the bones midway through. Seeing the evidence of your feast may help you eat less, studies show.

Cut 100 Calories from a Snack
-Trade 1/2 cup of premium vanilla ice cream for 1/2 cup of Breyers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.

-Ordering a cone? Make it the sugar, not the waffle, kind.

-Munch on Pirate's Booty. In a study, switching to an air-puffed cheesy snack twice a day saved about 70 calories a pop.

-Grab a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt, not a low-fat fruit blend.

-Replace half the butter in cake, muffin, and brownie recipes with an equal amount of applesauce or mashed bananas. You'll save about 100 calories for every tablespoon you swap.

-Indulge in a slice of angel food cake drizzled with chocolate syrup rather than three cookies.

By Melissa Daly