4 Easy Ways to Cut Calories

It's 2020, and many people are looking to shed a few pounds and may be starting new workout routines or diets. I am by no means a personal trainer or dietitian, but I have tried several different "fad diets" over the last few years. My experiences have always centered around the same concept when it comes to losing weight; which is to make incremental changes to your diet.

Incremental changes are very important for myself, and especially someone who hasn't really been controlling their diet in general. I've found it to be much harder to switch from eating whatever you want, to having a very strict diet with a certain amount of calories per day, or carbs per day and so on. If you make small changes to your diet, your body can adjust accordingly and you will be able to tolerate letting go of unhealthy foods. Eventually, after making several small changes over a period of time, you will be able to really dial in your diet and will notice the biggest difference in your overall health, appearance, mood, etc.

So I have came up with a list of four easy ways to cut calories that I have been fairly successful with in the past. I will break down each one below.

1. Replace Whey Protein Blends with 100% Isolate.

• Pure isolate protein powder offers several benefits besides the reduction in calories. They can also cut back on roughly 2-5 carbohydrates per serving and 1-3 grams of sugar. (depending on brand) I generally recommend Core Nutritionals ISO Axe and Sledge FarmFed or NutraBio Isolate They also offer some of the highest protein ratios and absorption time. They are usually between 100-120 calories per serving compared to a whey protein that typically varies from 120-150 calories. If you take two servings per day, you would be cutting 40-100 calories. Spread this out over the two months, and that totals 2400-6000 calories!

2. Choose Unsweetened Almond Milk.

• Unsweetened vanilla almond milk is my "go-to" because it tastes awesome and its effectiveness when cutting calories. With only 30 calories per serving (1 cup), less than 1 gram of carbs and ZERO grams of sugar, this is a no-brainer. When compared to a typical skim milk that has around 90 calories, 13 carbs and 12 grams of sugar per serving, you will be saving roughy 120 calories if you drink two cups per day as I do for a protein shake. Over the next two months you can save around 7,200 calories.

3. Go with Powdered Peanut Butter

• I love peanut butter and can pretty much pair it with any food I eat. I especially love using it for protein smoothies or pancakes. Powdered peanut butter gives you the same taste and many of the same nutritional facts except the fat and calories content. All you have to do is add water to get the desired consistency you like. If you consume one serving of peanut butter per day, (2 tablespoons) it equals 200 calories. Using brands such as PB Fit, you will cut back on 150 calories because it contains 50 calories per serving. Over the next two months you can save around 9,000 calories.

4. Use Fat-Free Salad Dressing

• I eat a large salad almost every night for dinner and without a salad dressing to top it off, it tends to get boring after a while. By choosing a fat-free option of dressing, you can significantly lower your calorie intake for the day. I tend to use two servings (4 tablespoons) of dressing per salad but for some of you that only use one, just take the calories saved here and divide it by two since you only use half to begin with. The regular dressing I used in the past had 80 calories per serving, so for a salad that I eat that's a total of 160. The fat-free option I currently use only has a total of 30 calories for two servings! Another 130 calories per day I am now saving. Over the next two months you can save around 7,800 calories. If you use one serving, 3,900 calories.