Your body needs a certain number of calories each day for you to function and keep doing your daily activities. After your body meets its needs, it stores extra calories as fat. Your weight remains steady when your body takes in the same amount of calories that it burns. To lose weight, you have to use up more calories than you take in.
Here are some tips for cutting back on calories:
• Fill
up on fruits and vegetables, which are low in calories.
• Think
of meat as a side dish. Choose low-fat versions, such as low-fat ground beef,
ground turkey breast, and skinless chicken. Trim fat off of meats before
cooking.
• Avoid
high-fat meats, such as organ meat, fried chicken, fried fish, lunch meat,
sausage, and hot dogs.
• Choose
low-fat and nonfat dairy products.
• Instead
of whole eggs, try egg substitutes or egg whites only. \
• Use
cooking methods with little or no fat, such as broiling, steaming, or grilling.
• Chill
soups and stews after you cook them so that you can skim off the fat after it
gets hard.
• When
you bake muffins or breads, replace part of the fat ingredient (oil, butter,
margarine) with applesauce, or use canola oil instead of butter or shortening.
• Choose
oil and vinegar salad dressings instead of creamy dressings.
• Check
the labels of "fat-free" cookies, candies, chips, and frozen treats.
Some of them have more calories than the regular versions.
• Try
to limit soda, fruit drinks, and alcohol drinks. Drink water instead.
