More than just being a means of survival, food has been an integral part of our culture. This isn’t necessarily all positive. Buddha once said, “Every human being is the author of his own health or disease”. Today we have failed miserably at this task. We either overindulge in or completely restrain ourselves from eating.
With modernisation, humans have lost themselves to the rat race for money. We are blindsided to swap our health with our work. After a hectic day at work and missing all the meals during the day, the need to eat overtakes every other desire. The easiest way to fulfil yourself is by eating at a restaurant or having it delivered at home. We get stuck in this cycle of under and overeating which can cause great damage to your body.
The first warning the body gives is through drastic fluctuation in weight. You don’t need a medical professional to understand that it is essential to maintain an appropriate body mass index to lead a healthy life. The easiest way to achieve this goal is to keep a check on your calorie intake. Calories play a crucial role in our lives. These provide energy to keep the engine of the body going. While it is a tedious task to constantly tally on your calories, there are practices you can adopt which ensure moderation.
Here are 10 ways to keep your calorie intake in check.
#1 Keep a check on the Condiments
While you may register the pizza or the sandwich in your calorie intake, you’re likely not registering the extra calories in the condiments. Most people have the habit of splurging in sauces to make the food taste better. This simple act adds an approximate of 50 calories per tablespoon to your diet. To keep your calorie intake in check, start with the practice of using less sauce and ultimately doing away with it.
#2 The Right Amount of Dressing in the Salad
Often the low-calorie salad is not exactly very healthy. In fact, it is drenched in high calories. The dressings in salads are cream-based and hence add more calories to the entire meal than you count. Next time when you order your salad, you must ask for the dressing separately to keep your consumption in check.
#3 Cut Down the Calories You Drink
Soft drinks, mocktails and other aerated drinks can be a huge source of calories. These sugar-sweetened drinks often push your calorie count through the roof. Binge drinking beer and cocktails can add excessive calories as well, by increasing your hunger. Therefore, it is essential that you be mindful about the calories you drink since it can have a twofold effect.
#4 Cut Down Distractions While Eating
Without wanting to sound too preachy – eat without any distractions. Humans become unmindful of the amount of food thy eat when distracted, such as by the television or mobile phones. This can lead to an exponential intake of calories in a single meal. Since the meal is not registered by your brain exclusively you will feel more hungry at later meals. Not indulging in diversions will allow you to eat until you are full not until your show ends.
#5 Avoid Sugar
It is impossible to go through the entire day without tea or coffee. These have become an inseparable part of our life. Do not let these energizing beverages become poison for your body. The average coffee consumer puts three teaspoons of sugar in their coffee. Considering you consume at least three cups in a day, the total count becomes nine. This is an unhealthy amount of sugar with your calorie count increasing by approximately 40 with every cup. Hence keep your calories in check by first reducing the amount of sugar and later doing away with it altogether.
#6 Cut Down the Extra Portions and Large Sizes
Fast-food chains have a convenient way of selling you extra calories at extra cost. They mark the prices of the large meals closer to the regular one. When you evaluate the price difference, you choose the large one thinking the price difference as insignificant. The essential thing to remember is that it is not the price you need to worry about. Rather, it’s calorie intake.
It’s a similar scenario with the extras offered with your meal. The calorie count increases exorbitantly with every extra cheese slice. Sometimes it may happen that the serving portions of a restaurant are excessive for you. In such a case, the best practice is to either get half the portion packed or share it.
#7 Try to Cook Food Yourself Often Than Not
When you visit a restaurant, the food is not marked with the calories they contain. You can never be sure of your calorie intake. Healthy or low-calorie dishes are often laced with sugar and fats. The bread basket is another high-calorie item often found in restaurants. These tasty carbs tempt you to nibble on them while you wait for your meal. Therefore, it is essential that you cook food at home by yourself if you wish to keep the calorie count in check.
#8 Avoid Unhealthy Snacking
While shopping for groceries, the temptation to pick up junk food can creep in. By the time you reach the exit, your basket is full of unhealthy snacks for later with a bag of chips in your hand already half empty. Who does not snack while they shop? This simple habit is the biggest bump in your journey to eating healthy. Moreover, storing junk food at home also prohibits you from cooking at home. Who would not prefer the 2-minute noodles over painstaking food preparation? Hence, it is highly recommended to not keep instant food in your home. Moreover, if you are a binge eater or frequently stress eat, it is advised that you do not even step into the junk food aisle. Since if it is out of sight, it will be out of mind.
#9 Mind the Desserts
Do you consider desserts as an important part of the meal rather than a guilty pleasure? Well, we agree. Eating mini versions of doughnuts, ice creams and other desserts allow you to keep the calories in check. In case your favourite dessert is not available in small portions, you can always share it with your friend or take the leftovers home.
#10 Swap What You can not Cut Down
Eating habits can be the most challenging to change. Refraining from eating can seem daunting, with cravings being hard to overcome. Therefore, an essential workaround is that you swap high-calorie foods with low-calorie items.
Can not keep away from the burger and fries? No worries. You can crunch on fries made of vegetables like zucchini or kale. To further help your cause of keeping the calories in check, try baking rather than frying. You could also swap carbs like burger buns and sandwich bread with portobello mushrooms, lettuce, or slices of eggplant. This will not only reduce your carbs but also increase the vegetable you eat.
Can not keep away from refined sugar? Replace it with low-calorie sweeteners. Plant-based extracts like Stevia and Yacon are healthy replacements for people who always go for multiple teaspoons of sugar. Despite being sweeter than sugar, stevia has proven effective in lowering blood sugar level and blood pressure. Yacon syrup is excellent for people suffering from constipation. The soluble fibres in the syrup promote the good bacteria in the stomach. Yacon syrup has also proven beneficial in weight loss.
Can’t imagine your meals, especially your breakfast, without bread? Switch the regular flour with multigrain. In addition to keeping your calorie count in check, multigrain flour relieves you of constipation. These also replenish the micronutrients in your blood. The switch to low-calorie flour can also be applied to baked desserts. Rather than using regular flour for cakes, brownies and muffins, use coconut flour. This low carb flour adds flavour to the baked goods without adding calories. Almond flour is also a low carb flour popular for baking cookies.
Fats are not exactly a no, keeping in mind that you intake the good. Another thing you must switch is the oils and the butter. The regular partially hydrogenated oils like soybean oil are trans fats which increase the risk of heart diseases. Coconut oil and palm oil are high in saturated fats and therefore must be avoided. Olive oil and canola oil are healthier alternatives. They can be used to dress your salad without escalating your calorie count. Sesame oil and grapeseed oil are also healthy. If you don’t mind spending the extra buck, you can switch to avocado oil for cooking and walnut oil for desserts.
In a nutshell
It is all a game of calories. The only way to play it right is to either cut them down or switch them out. These 10 ways can help you easily manage your calorie intake and maintain a healthy life.
