Eight Ways to Count Calories AND Keep the Foods You Love

If you’re on a calorie-counting diet, but are struggling to give up the foods you love, our advice is: don’t! These days, there’s a low-calorie alternative to practically everything, so enjoy your diet using these options.

1. Sugar. Instead of baking with sugar, sprinkling it on your cereal or stirring it into your tea, try alternatives like Splenda and Stevia.

2. Meaty Meals – We eat a lot of meat in this country, but having the odd vegetarian meal is very beneficial to your health, as well as your weight loss efforts. Vegetables contain high levels of water and fibre, so try to order veggies on your pizza instead of a meat feast, or go for an all-veggie kebab.

3. Bad Beverages – Coffee, soft drinks and alcohol are packed with calories, so try to replace these with water, salt lemonade and tea.

4. Fried Foods – Even if you’re eating lean, healthy food, you’re putting your wellness and diet at a greater risk when you start frying those foods in oil. Instead of greasing up the frying pan, try other cooking methods like roasting, microwave cooking and stir frying.

5. Bacon – It’s not just that certain meats are high in fat; it’s the type of fat. Lean meats, such as chicken, or fish improves the level and quality of fat intake, containing unsaturated fat calories rather than saturated fat calories.

6. Mayonnaise – Whatever your favourite salad dressing and sandwich spread is, you’re guaranteed to find a low calorie alternative. Switching to light mayonnaise will save you 25 calories in every serving – and those numbers add up.

7. White pasta, rice and bread – A cup of white pasta contains 221 calories, while a whole-wheat version will contain just 174. Not only does the high fibre content of whole grains make them better for your overall wellbeing, but it also makes them lower in calories. Win-win!

8. Ice Cream – Even though it’s chock-full of 143 calories, sometimes only a giant tub of ice cream will do to satisfy your sweet tooth. Still, if you want a low-calorie alternative to Rocky Road, try fruit yoghurt or a bowl of your favourite fruit with a teaspoon of honey or low fat yoghurt drizzled on top. However, if it’s post-break up ice cream you’re craving, you have my full permission to have at it. Sometimes, there’s just no substitute.