The season of spring cleaning is almost upon us. Declutter your diet with these four simple changes and you could lose over half a stone in a month.
1. Sort out your sandwiches
Sandwiches make a quick, tasty and convenient lunch but all that butter, cheese, high fat spreads and mayonnaise can soon bump up the calories.
How to change?
Steer clear of anything mixed with mayonnaise such as tuna or coronation chicken and go for chicken, turkey, ham or smoked salmon instead.
Lower the fat content of grated cheese sandwiches by replacing half the cheese with grated apple or carrot and cut calories further by using just one slice of bread and having an open topped sandwich.
Alternatively, go for a pitta bread or small wholemeal roll instead of a large baguette. Finally, keep sandwiches moist without the fat by adding plenty of fresh salad and sliced tomatoes, using chutneys instead of mayonnaise, add grapes to chicken sandwiches, sliced pineapple to ham sandwiches and cranberry sauce to turkey rolls.
Calories saved: Two teaspoons of mayonnaise equals 160 calories and a small 10g pack of butter equals 73 calories so simply by avoiding these in your sandwiches each day you can save up to 233 calories a day, that's almost 5000 calories or one and a half pounds in a month.
[Related feature: The real reason you're overweight]
2. Clean up your carbs
If you have found yourself becoming 'carb crazy' over the winter months, here's why. Researchers believe that cravings for high carbohydrate foods such as potatoes, bread, pasta, rice and cereals could be due to a drop in the levels of serotonin in the brain brought about by the decreased levels of natural sunlight.
Eating carb rich foods replaces some of the serotonin levels helping us to feel happier and more relaxed. The only problem many of these carbs contain with large amounts of fat too in the form of butter, cheese, creamy sauces and oils.
How to change?
Swap chip shop chips for oven chips (save 210 calories per portion), swap creamy pasta sauces for tomato based ones (save 200 calories), eat jacket potatoes with cottage cheese instead of grated cheddar (save 165 Kcals) and swap high fat curries with rice for lower fat versions saving up to 325 calories per serving.
Calories saved: Just doing each of these swaps once a week could amount to as many as 900 calories a week, over 3,800 calories or just over one pound a month.
[Related feature: The best fruit juice for you]
3. Declutter your drinks
Fizzy drinks and cordials are high in sugar and calories and offer very little in the way of nutrients. Fresh fruit juices are a far healthier option and will help count towards your five-a-day fruit & vegetable quota but at up to 100 Kcal per glass the calories in these can soon mount up too.
How to change?
Do your teeth and your waistline a favour by cutting out fizzy, sugary drinks altogether and replace them with a minimum of eight glasses of plain or sparkling water. Limit fruit juices to a maximum of one glass a day and dilute it down with 50% water.
Calories saved: Swapping one fizzy drink a day for water could save up to 840 calories a week and cutting out two fruit juices a day could save up to 1400 calories a week. That's a total of 2,240 calories per week, just short of 10,000 calories, almost three pounds a month.
[Related feature: Lose up to a stone a month without crash dieting]
4. Clear out your coffees
If your day can't start until your first mocha or latte has passed your lips, at anything up to 260 calories a cup be prepared to start gaining weight, not losing it.
How to change?
Get your caffeine fix with an espresso (11 Kcals per cup), an Americano (17 Kcals per cup) or a plain old cup of instant (18 Kcals per cup) instead.
Calories saved: Swapping your weekday latte for any of the above would save approximately 240 calories a day, over 7,200 calories or two pounds a month.
296 comments