40 Hacks to Slim Down Every Meal

• 40 Hacks to Slim Down Every Meal

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If losing weight were as simple as popping a pill or hitting the elliptical once in a blue moon, you’d see the ever-expanding array of meal replacement bars, supposedly waist-whittling wraps, and diet pills vanish from the aisles of your local supermarkets and drugstores overnight. The reality is, losing weight isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, and it can take some serious change to your every day habits to make it a reality in the long-term. Fortunately, those changes don’t have to be as painful as you might think. As anyone who’s lost weight and kept it off will tell you, lasting weight loss starts with gradual changes, not draconian diets and unsustainable fitness routines. Instead, try making one healthy change every few days and trying to stick to it; swap that jumbo bagel you’ve been eating at breakfast for a delicious and filling Zero Belly smoothie or swap out your high fructose corn syrup-laden coffee creamer for a rich non-dairy alternative. Eat great and still lose weight with these simple tips.

• Go Meatless on Mondays

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Starting your week on the right foot means starting it vegetarian. While meat can have a healthy place in your diet, opting for one meatless day a week can help you lower your overall caloric intake while increasing your consumption of healthy foods, like fresh fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Just don’t fill up the void meat has left with soy alternatives; they’re often filled with preservatives, additives, and sodium, a combo that’s a serious recipe for belly bloat.

• Cook More Meals at Home

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Cooking at home does more than save you money, it also can cut hundreds, if not thousands of calories from your meals. From flour used to thicken sauces and soups to butter and oil used in the preparation of vegetables, calories are hidden virtually everywhere in restaurant meals, making a single one enough to seriously derail your diet in the short-term. Try making your own versions of your favorite restaurant meals at home and sub in healthier ingredients, like non-dairy milks for cream or applesauce for butter.

• Start Each Meal With Water

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Before you dig into your meal, fill up your glass a few times first. Thirst signals can often feel like hunger pangs, making it easy to overeat when a glass of water would have solved the problem; in fact, the Institute of Medicine suggests that as much as 75 percent of the American population is suffering from chronic dehydration. Starting your meal with two glasses of water can help prevent dehydration and the myriad health effects it can have, from patchy skin to an irregular heartbeat, and keep you from overindulging.

• Use Cooking Spray Instead of Oil

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If you’re using oil to keep your food from sticking to your pan, you’re likely adding hundreds of calories and little flavor to your meal. Instead of oiling your pan, use a cooking spray instead, or use an oil mister to add just a tiny bit of your favorite healthy fat to your food instead of entire tablespoons of the stuff. Just be cautious when you’ve got that spray in hand; supposedly “zero calorie” cooking sprays can have as many as five calories per spritz, which can really add up.

• Ask For Dry Toast

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  That side of toast you get at your local diner may be greasier than the food it came with. Many restaurants are guilty of pre-buttering their toast before serving it, adding hundreds of calories, belly-bloating sodium, and loads of saturated fat to every slice.

• Enjoy Some Black Coffee

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If you enjoy the taste of black coffee, try subbing some in for those lattes and sweetened coffee drinks you usually enjoy a few times a week. Even if you’re just giving up a few skim cappuccinos a week, you can save yourself a few hundred calories, which can add up to a 6-pound weight loss in a single year.

• Poach or Hard Boil Your Eggs

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  When we’re eating something delicious, it’s often hard to pace ourselves. If you find that you’re chowing down a little too quickly, try putting your fork down between bites. Putting down your fork not only slows down the eating process, giving your brain more time to register when you’re full, it also makes you a more intentional eater, helping you beat the “eyes bigger than my stomach” issue.

• Put Down Your Fork Between Bites

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  When we’re eating something delicious, it’s often hard to pace ourselves. If you find that you’re chowing down a little too quickly, try putting your fork down between bites. Putting down your fork not only slows down the eating process, giving your brain more time to register when you’re full, it also makes you a more intentional eater, helping you beat the “eyes bigger than my stomach” issue.

• Use an Olive Oil Mister

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Olive oil may be good for your heart health, but it’s still a high-calorie addition to your diet. Using an olive oil spritzer on your salads and grilled veggies can save you tablespoons of oil and hundreds, if not thousands, of calories.

• Wait For Hunger Cues Before Eating

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Many of us are so conditioned to eat at specific times that we’ve all but forgotten what actual hunger feels like. Start changing your eating habits in no time by waiting for your hunger cues to hit; a rumbling belly or hunger pangs are more accurate predictors of when you should be eating than any clock.

• Sub in Turkey For Beef

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  There may be few substitutes for a great steak, but in many recipes, from breakfast scrambles to pasta sauce, you’d be surprised at how easy it is to swap in ground turkey in place of beef. It’s often easier to find hormone-free varieties of ground poultry and the switch will save you a few calories, as well.

• Make Baked Fries

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If a craving for French fries hits, instead of heading to the nearest fast food restaurant, make your own at home. Misted with heart-healthy olive oil, sprinkled with black or cayenne pepper, and baked at a low temperature for 40 minutes, your fries will have the crispness and flavor of your favorite commercial variety without the salt, fat, or calories. Even better, you can make your own sweet potato fries, which house gut-healthy, weight loss-friendly resistant starch, plenty of antioxidants, fiber, and far more flavor than your average frozen-and-fried potato.

• Choose Fresh Fruit Over Dried

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Dried fruit can be healthy addition to your diet, but much of what you’ll find on the market is loaded with belly bloating preservatives or added sugar. If you want to add some dried fruit to your menu, try making your own in the oven — no sugar or icky additives required.

• Start Your Day With Eggs

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  It’s not always easy to find time for breakfast, but if you can, opt for eggs in the morning. Research published in the International Journal of Obesity reveals that study participants who consumed eggs for breakfast lost more weight than those who consumed the same number of calories in carbohydrate-rich food.

• Sub in Cauliflower For Rice

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Craving carbs but don’t want to load your diet with calories? Try using cauliflower in its place. With a slightly crunchy texture and flavor that pairs well with virtually any sauce or seasoning, this is one easy fix for a meal that could use a healthy boost.

• Plan Snacks Ahead of Time

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  When we grab something to eat when we’re starving, we often make the mistake of grabbing whatever looks good to us in the moment, regardless of how healthy it is. However, planning out your snacks and packing healthy ones, like fruit, fresh veggies, and nuts, to enjoy over the course of the day can help you steer clear of unhealthy convenience food, saving you tons of calories and keeping your weight loss plan on track.

• Opt For Dressing On the Side

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  That tiny ramekin of dressing you pour onto your salad may seem like it’s not doing much damage to your diet, but it could be packing way more calories than you think. Many dressing cups can hold up to four tablespoons, twice the average salad dressing portion size, and research has shown time and time again that when we’re presented with larger portions of food, we eat them regardless of how hungry we actually are. To cut down on portion size, dip the tines of your fork into the dressing first and spear your food; you’ll get a more even distribution of flavor with fewer calories.

• Try Alternative Flour Breads

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If you’re a carb-lover but don’t love the way bread treats your waistline or your digestive system, try making your own. Choosing alternative flours, like almond or coconut, can cut calories from your bread while increasing its fiber, healthy fat, and vitamin contents.

• Sit Down For Meals

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Catch up with your friends and family by making mealtime a formal occasion. Not only does this book you some face time with your loved ones on a regular basis, it could mean that your children are healthier and less likely to become obese. Research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that adolescents who ate sit-down meals with their families had healthier diets overall and were more likely to eat breakfast and lunch, as well.

• Shy Away From Prepared Food

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Prepared food may be convenient, but it’s rarely a healthier choice. Salad bar food is prepared with all of the fat, sugar, and calories of a typical restaurant meal, but with the added bonus of major germs from everyone who’s served themselves before you.

• Use Nutritional Yeast in Place of Cheese

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Have a hankering for a cheesy flavor in your food but don’t love the calories? Try nutritional yeast instead. Nutritional yeast packs a cheesy flavor, fiber, and plenty of amino acids, but has significantly fewer calories, with just 50 per two-tablespoon serving.

• Pick Flavored Seltzer Over Juice

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  You may think that juice is a better bet for your health than soda, but it’s often just as caloric and sugar-laden. To give your taste buds a break from a diet of plain water, opt for flavored seltzer instead. Simply add a few slices of your favorite fruit to your seltzer and let the mixture steep overnight. When it’s ready, you’ll have a flavorful sparkling beverage with no added sugar and virtually no calories.

• Order the Lunch Portion

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Don’t tempt yourself with massive meals when you’re eating out; instead, ask for a lunch portion of what you’re eating. Many restaurants are happy to accommodate requests for smaller portions, and ordering off the lunch menu often saves you both calories and cash.

• Steam Your Veggies

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Sautéed veggies may be tasty, but good for you, they’re not. Many restaurants and at-home cooks sauté their vegetables before adding sauce, topping those healthy foods with hundreds of unnecessary calories. Instead, steam your veggies first and opt for homemade sauce, thus cutting out the high fructose corn syrup and outrageous sodium levels you’ll find in much of the jarred stuff.

• Downsize Your Dishes

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Think our portion sizes are out of control? You should get a load of our plate sizes. Researchers at Cornell University discovered that people have a tendency to eat significantly more food when presented larger portion sizes, so when you’re at home, use smaller cups and plates to limit you urge to overindulge.

• Bring Meals On the Go

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  While eating on the go can be a problem if you’re mindlessly wolfing down fast food on the run, bringing your food on the go may actually help you slim down. Bringing your food from home instead of opting for takeout at school or the office can leave you with thousands of extra dollars in your pocket at the end of the year while sparing you foods loaded with trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, and unhealthy preservatives.

• Choose Broth-Based Soups

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Craving some warming soup as the weather cools down? Opt for a broth-based variety instead of cream. Adding low-sodium veggie or chicken broths to your soups instead of bloat-promoting, high-fat dairy will save you hundreds of calories, but you’ll still get all the rich flavor you crave.

• Make Veggie Noodles

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Cutting out white pasta and enjoying some veggie spirals instead can save you hundreds of calories each week if you’re a regular eater of Italian cuisine. Just spiral-cut zucchini into long curls, flash boil, and serve with your favorite sauce and protein for a vitamin-packed, low-calorie meal that takes less than five minutes to make.

• Opt For Non-Dairy Milks

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  The expansion of the non-dairy milk market has converted many a dairy lover. Alternatives like almond, coconut, and hemp milk have the creaminess of cow’s milk, but often have just a fraction of the calories and are less likely to cause digestive issues than dairy. Just make sure you’re choosing unsweetened formulas that don’t contain carrageenan — it’s a known belly bloater.

• Swap Your Burger's Bun For Lettuce

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  It’s hard to argue that the bun is anywhere near the best part of a burger; the meat or veggie patty and the toppings are clearly the taste victors in this equation. Instead of a bun, wrap your burger in lettuce or cabbage leaves for a hint of flavor that hardly adds any calories to your meal.

• Enjoy Whole Fruit Instead of Juice

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  When you’re in the mood for something sweet, opt for whole fruit and some water or seltzer instead of juice. Not only will you save yourself significant amounts of calories and sugar, the fiber you’ll get will keep you satisfied for significantly longer.

• Opt For Spritzers Over Cocktails

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If you’re a fan of wine, lessen its caloric load by livening it up with a hint of seltzer. You’ll not only save calories, cutting the amount of alcohol in your glass can also help you from getting those boozy munchies later.

• Find the Hidden Sugars in Your Food

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  No matter how scary it may seem, the nutrition label is your friend. Locating the hidden sugars in your food can help you figure out which treats shouldn’t earn a spot at your table and cut significant calories out of your regular meals.

• Move While You Munch

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  While eating at the table can make you more conscious of what you’re putting into your mouth, that doesn’t mean you can’t add a little motion to your meal. Doing small, isometric exercises while you’re eating can increase your overall caloric burn and help tone you up.

• Make Veggies the Main Focus of Meals

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  When planning your meals, start with veggies and build from there. Instead of thinking of vegetables as a side dish, make veggies the main focus of your meal and treat vegetarian protein sources, meat, and grains as your sides. Reconfiguring your plate can save you hundreds of calories while increasing your antioxidant and fiber intake, essential factors in giving yourself a healthy digestive tract, weight loss, and a strong immune system.

• Eat Your Sweets First

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Love having dessert first? Try satisfying your sweet tooth with fruit first. Research conducted at the State University of Rio de Janeiro reveals that overweight women who ate three apples or pears a day lost significant amounts of weight, suggesting that those fiber-rich, calorie-light fruits could help you fill up faster, displacing some of the less healthy calories in your meals.

• Replace Sugar With Apple Sauce

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  If you’re an avid baker, try some alternative recipes when making your favorite dishes. One of the easiest ways to make your baked goods, from brownies to cakes, more moist and delicious while making them healthier at the same time is to add apple sauce in place of sugar. You’ll still enjoy the same sweetness, but with the added bonuses of fiber, vitamins, and fewer calories.

• Upgrade to Non-Stick Pans

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Your old-school cookware could be coming between you and your best body ever. Using non-stick pans all but eliminates the need for oil or butter to keep your food from sticking, saving you thousands of calories per year.

• Keep a Food Diary

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Getting yourself a food journal and keeping track of every bite is the first set toward a leaner you and a longer life. Many of us experience food amnesia, a condition that makes us forget what we’ve eaten the second we’ve finished chewing. Research conducted at the University of Leeds reveals that more study participants using a journal to document their eating habits continued to do so than those asked to use a website for the same purpose, and, after six months, those using a food journal had lost more than six pounds.

• Brush Your Teeth

  
  © Provided by Zero Belly Diet
  Here’s a healthy habit your doctor and your dentist can both agree on: brushing your teeth after meals. Not only will this help reduce your cavity risk, stave off tooth decay, and gum disease, you’ll be giving yourself a tangible reminder that mealtime is over — not to mention that toothpaste flavors are rarely complementary to your favorite foods.