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It’s not always easy to eat healthy, even when you have the best intentions. Whether you’re desperate for a meal and end up reaching for a bag of chips or continuously get tripped up at the grocery store, the road to a holistic lifestyle is not without some bumps and pit stops. However, just because it isn’t easy doesn’t mean it’s impossible, so we asked a registered dietitian for her best healthy tips to save calories and ensure you’re making the best choices at every meal.
Pack In The Veggies
Vegetables are well known for being the food you need to load up on in order to build a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle. If your aim is to eat meals that are lower in calories so as to create a deficit for weight loss, it’s important to make sure that the calories you are consuming nourish your body and keep you full, instead of depriving yourself in the name of weight loss. For this, Lisa R. Young, registered dietitian and author of Finally Full, Finally Slim says, “Add veggies to whatever you are making. These will add volume while saving so many calories.”
Cauliflower rice is a great option for sneaking veggies into some of your favorite meals while cutting back on calories and maintaining the density that will keep you full and satisfied. For a stir fry, focus more on the veggies than the rice, and a chickpea or plant-based pasta will lower calories without skimping on any of the important nutrients.
Measure It Out
Many people tend to eyeball their portions, and while this may not be an issue, if your idea of a normal serving size is skewed you could be doubling or even tripling the calories you thought you were consuming. Young suggests, “Keep measuring spoons and cups handy. So often we use far too much olive oil and sugar than we think we are using. Measuring spoons will help keep portions in check.”
Pull Out The Scale
Along the lines of using measuring spoons for your portions, a food scale can be a great investment for creating a heightened awareness for how much you’re actually consuming in each meal. Young notes, “A basic (inexpensive) food scale can also help! You don’t have to weigh and measure every morsel of food but you want to be aware of how much you are eating.” Once you know what an actual serving size is, it’ll be much easier to eat a healthy amount instead of getting carried away.
Don’t Cook When You’re Hungry!
Much like avoiding the grocery store when you’re hungry, you should approach cooking with the same mindset. “Don’t cook when you are hungry. If you do, you may taste your way throughout the prep,” Young warns. Instead, start your cooking before you get hungry, that way the meal is prepared (in a healthy serving size) by the time you’re ready to eat. Otherwise, you may find yourself munching as you cook, adding unnecessary calories before you get to the actual meal.
