15 Ways to Cut Down Calories Everyday

You probably already know the math: You have to cut 3,500 calories to drop one pound. To lose a healthy pound a week, that's 500 calories a day! But you don't have to deprive yourself or add an hour to your exercise routine to reach your weight loss goals. Here are 15 easy tips for torching calories anytime, any place.

1. Brush Your Teeth

Brush your teeth after every meal or snack. As odd as this may sound, brushing your teeth cuts out the aftertaste of your last meal. 

This one act will prevent most people from binging on late night snacking and desserts. No one wants to brush their teeth again.

2. Change Your Drinking Habits

Quench your thirst with water and save as many as 540 calories. A 12-ounce soft drink has about 150 to 180 calories. If you down two or three a day, you’re getting lots of extra calories.

Cream and sugar can add about 150 calories or more to your morning coffee, which is almost the 200-calorie goal! Use skim milk instead of cream and skip the sugar for the best results or trade your specialty latte in for a small coffee with skim milk.

3. Change Your Tableware

Begin by examining the plates and bowls you own. How big are they? Do you own these in many sizes or do you own mostly larger ones? The human mind works in mysterious ways. It turns out that using smaller bowls, plates, and containers can subconsciously influence how much you serve yourself.  

Swap your 12-inch plate for a 10-inch one. You’ll eat 20 to 25% less—and save up to 500 calories.  If you eat off a large plate, it will take more food to fill it. Yet, if you choose a smaller plate, you can fill it as you normally would the larger plate and help to trick your mind into believing you are eating more. 

If you do not have many smaller size bowls and plates, you should buy some and while you are at it, buy some in pretty styles and color choices to help make your eating experience more pleasant.

4. Choose the Right Food.

Choose olive oil spray when cooking. Skip the butter, margarine, or liquid oils. Use egg whites instead of whole eggs. Substitute potatoes, breads, pastas, rice, and other starchy grains for high density carbohydrates like spinach, broccoli, salad, cauliflower, green beans, and other vegetables. 

Choose turkey over ham, roast beef, bologna, and other fattier types of cold cuts. Make your sandwich or burger bread less. 

Also, for best results skip the sides like potato salad and just go with the green leafy variety instead. Large popcorn at the concession stand weighs in at a whopping 1,005 calories. Smuggle in your own (microwave-popped, 94% fat-free, of course) and save more than 700 calories.

5. Develop Good Table Manners

Eat slowly, calmly and leisurely. Enjoy the tastes of the foods and the act of eating. Small forks and spoons help develop this slow leisure. Chew your food. Women who chewed at least 20 times before swallowing ate up to 70 calories less at mealtime. 

Since it takes 20 to 30 minutes for your body to register that you are full, researchers believe eating more slowly allows you to get to the point where you feel satiated on fewer calories than if you’re shoveling it in. 

Let your taste buds linger on every bite. Eating at a slower pace will help you realize you’re satisfied before you’re stuffed.

6. Don't Sit Still

Your skinnier friends are probably fidgeters, who burn up to 350 calories a day just by tapping their feet or being restless. Take a stand. 

You can burn up to an extra 500 calories a day without doing a lot of activity simply by standing rather than sitting. It can make the difference between burning 120 calories an hour versus 60 calories. If you can’t get away from your desk, try standing to make a phone call or read a report. Even shutting your office door to squeeze in 5 minutes of pushups or jumping jacks can burn another 50 calories.

7. Drink Water Before Eating

Try drinking a 12-ounce glass of water before eating; it helps by filling up your stomach, which will help you eat less. Sometimes we mistake being thirsty for being hungry, so try to drink some water before eating, this will easily reduce the calories consumed in your meal by 100+ calories.  Speed up your metabolism by drinking more water. 

A healthy, well-hydrated body is important to flush out toxins and aid in metabolizing fats. A simple way to determine if you are consuming enough water is to take note of the color of your urine. If it is colorless or light yellow you are on the right track, if it's any darker you need to increase your water intake. 

Drinking ice water also helps the body expend more calories by heating it up. Drinking ice cold water revs up your metabolism by using energy to warm it up. Also thirst is often mistaken for hunger so it's is important to drink lots of water.

8. Eat Away from the TV

People who snack in front of the television consume an average of 288 extra calories a day because they’re eating mindlessly. Instead, eat at the table, and trade 1 hour of TV for a casual walk. 

Together, that’s 527 calories burned. If you want to snack, turn off the TV, serve yourself on a dish, and really pay attention to what you’re putting in your mouth to slash calories.

9. Eat Oatmeal for Breakfast

Oatmeal has roughly the same amount of calories as the sugary cereal, but is packed with dietary fiber, which is carbohydrates that are not absorbed by the body in the form of calories. 

The fiber in oatmeal also helps curb hunger throughout the morning, which will help you skip your morning snack. You can reduce the amount of calories from carbohydrates by subtracting the grams of dietary fiber from the total carbohydrates in any given food.

10. Eat Protein

Piling your plate with foods that contain protein helps fuel muscle growth and makes you eat less. 

People were fed a calorie-restricted diet (15% protein, 35% fat, and 50% carbs) for 2 weeks, then switched to a high-protein diet of the same calories (30% protein, 20% fat, and 50% carbs) for another 2 weeks, and then kept the latter diet with no calorie restrictions for 12 weeks. 

The result: On the high-protein, unrestricted diet, people voluntarily cut 441 calories a day and lost 11 pounds.

11. Fiber is Important. 

High fiber content in foods makes you feel fuller, because it expands within your stomach. As a result, you'll eat less, and foods will pass through the rest of your system more quickly, which is just healthier in general. Also, it keeps your lower stomach feeling flatter so you don't get depressed about your progress. 

Fiber takes longer to digest than other foods, so you feel full longer on less. Those who increased their daily fiber intake by 14 g—the amount in a cup of cooked black beans—ate 10% fewer calories throughout the day. The more fiber you eat, the fewer calories your body absorbs from fat and protein.

12. Get Enough Sleep

Too many of us sleep less than the optimum amount. Scientists have found that not getting enough sleep can trigger our bodies to overeat in order to make up for the deficit. 

A lack of shut-eye can make you snack. People who got only 5 1/2 hours of sleep will eat more during the day. Snooze more and save about 1,087 calories.

13. Keep a Food Journal.

Write down all the foods you eat for just a couple of weeks so that you can get a better idea of where you can improve throughout the course of your day. Incremental improvements can yield big results if done consistently. 

Start reading nutritional labels. After looking at the fat and sugar content of most products you’ll be more reluctant to put that type of food in your body. You don’t have to miss out though, 90% of the time you’ll be able to find a similar, healthier option for the food you are looking to eat.

14. Reduce Alcohol Consumption

Give up alcohol completely for a set time - a week, a month or until you've hit a target weight. As well as helping your weight-loss, it will also have benefits to your long-term health. If you enjoy going out with the gang after work on Fridays or to your favorite bar on Saturday, this could be the way forward, but just because you've abstained all week it doesn't mean you can binge on the weekend! 

Try to avoid buying rounds - buying a round makes it harder to control how much you drink. Alternate alcoholic drinks with water or low-calorie soft drinks. Go for a small glass of wine (125ml) rather than a large (250ml) glass, and steer clear of special offers like 'buy two large glasses and get the bottle of wine free'. Drink weaker or low alcohol brands. Alcohol contains lots of calories, so generally the weaker your drink the better for your diet (and health). For example, the calories in a pint of lager can vary from 140 up to 300 plus for some exotic varieties. 

An average pint usually comes in at under 200. If you are drinking wine at home use a small glass (125ml) and if you are drinking shorts use a measure! Volunteer to be the designated driver on an evening out - think of all the calories and money you'll save!

15. Regularly Do Chores and Errands

Get up and do some laundry. Sometimes folding laundry can be exhausting! Wash some dishes, clean your bathtub, mop the floors, sweep. Household chores are an excellent way to burn calories. 

Spend 2 hours getting organized by cleaning your garage or vacuuming and dusting the house to slash about 408 calories. Spend an afternoon food shopping and unloading groceries to burn close to 500 calories. Cook dinner to burn 136 more.