10 more ways to lose 10lbs

Following the success of our 10 easy ways to lose at least 100 calories from your daily intake without feeling at all deprived, we’ve come up with 10 more.

An extra 100 calories here and there may not sound like a big deal if you are watching your weight. Yet if over the course of one year you saved yourself this number of calories each day, you could save 36,500 in total, which equates to dropping 10lb in weight. Do the opposite and over-eat by 100 calories a day and it is easy to see how weight gradually creeps on. Check out 10 more ways to lose at least 100 calories from your daily intake without feeling at all deprived.

1. Have a scone, fruit salad, coffee and yoghurt instead of a muffin
If you grab a blueberry muffin on your way to work, allow 520 calories. Instead you can go for a fruit scone (preferably a wholemeal one), a fruit salad and a skinny cappuccino with 326 calories, leaving another 100 for yoghurt mid morning. Not only are you eating more and saving 100 calories, but the scone gives 3g of your daily 18g of fibre; the fruit salad supplies a host of super-nutrients and the whole of your 40mg vitamin C needs for the day and the skinny cappuccino over half of your daily bone-building calcium. A muffin is high GI and you’ll feel hungry again within an hour or so.

2. Ditch the croissant for poached eggs, tomatoes and toast
A leisurely continental-style breakfast of croissant, thinking you are being healthy by skipping butter and jam, will still pack in a surprising 373 calories and 20g of fat. Instead you can tuck in to two poached eggs on toast with grilled tomatoes with 249 calories and 12g of fat. Not only do you save 124 calories but research indicates that breakfasting on two eggs helps you to eat less at lunchtime and leaves you with a 400-calorie-a-day deficit compared with those who eat a solely carbohydrate-based breakfast. You also get two servings of your daily five fruit and vegetables with this swap.

3. Avoid mayonnaise-rich tuna sandwiches and make your own
Rather than grab a tuna mayonnaise sandwich from your local store, get up five minutes earlier and throw together a simple tuna salad sandwich. While the shop-bought version easily packs in 400 calories, you can make one at home using two slices of wholemeal bread, spread lightly with reduced fat mayonnaise, and fill with 45g of tuna canned in olive oil, drained and mixed with balsamic vinegar, and topped with slices of tomato for only 300 calories. It is quick, easy and a lot lower in fat with 9g in total, compared with a least double this amount to be found in a commercial mayonnaise-based sandwich.

4. Choose minestrone or gazpacho instead of fattening soups
A bowl of soup from a high street coffee shop makes a filling lunch. If you go for cream of tomato with basil, lentil and bacon or bean soup with a chunk of bread expect about 400 calories in a standard serving. To cut the calories, opt for a minestrone or a big serving of chilled gazpacho with a chunk of granary bread. Both options lower the calories to 300 because they contain more liquid than the filling bean or lentil and bacon soups.

5. Coat toast with chocolate spread for your pain au chocolate fix
If you love pain au chocolate, bear in mind that one serving gives you 380 calories. Instead toast two medium-sized slices of multigrain toast and spread over a heaped teaspoon (20g) of chocolate spread. This chocolate treat comes with 280 calories and you get the benefit of 3g of fibre in the bread along with other nutrients including the antioxidants selenium and zinc, and some energy-boosting iron, B vitamins for healthy nerves and a little vitamin E. If you also top with a few sliced strawberries, you add virtually no calories but get a good slug of vitamin C needed for great-looking skin.

6. Low-fat mousse with biscotti fills the chocolate brownie vacuum
A chocolate brownie will pack in at least 260 calories per serving when bought from a typical high street coffee shop or sandwich bar. If you nip into a supermarket and search out their healthy eating ranges, most now sell tasty low-fat chocolate mousses with 80 to 100 calories per serving. You could indulge in tow of them and still save yourself 100 calories or have one serving with a couple of tiny crunch biscotti and be 100 calories in hand.

7. Skip the tortilla chips and choose a tzatziki vegetable dip
A bowl of tortilla chips is always tempting. A 50g serving (equivalent to a normal-sized bag of crisps and easy to get through over a drink or two) packs in 230 calories. Instead go for a bowl of tzatziki. You can have 150g (the amount that would fit into an individual yoghurt pot) with lots of vegetable crudités for 130 calories. You will feel far fuller, more virtuous and you’ll have saved 100 calories.

8. Forget the flapjack and tuck in to a jam and cream scone
If you usually reach for a mid-afternoon flapjack thinking that this oaty, honey-packed snack is a safe choice, think again. For each 100g flapjack expect at least 493 calories and 27g of fat. You would be better off with a fruit scone, spread with a teaspoon of jam, and a tablespoon of whipped cream. In total this gives you 197 calories and 7g of fat. This saves virtually 300 calories and 20g of fat and yet seems like a far naughtier treat and a lot more fun to eat.

9. Turn your whole milk cappuccino into a skinny cappuccino snack
Swap your traditional large cappuccino using whole milk with 207 calories and 11g of fat per serving for a medium-sized skinny cappuccino. Made with skimmed milk, it has 96 calories and virtually no fat. While you lose more than 100 calories and drop 11g of fat with this choice, you lose none of the bone-building calcium. You lose a small amount of vitamin A, but few of us go short on this vitamin. Always count you liquid calories when totting up your daily total. Make these drinks count as a snack instead of tucking into biscuits of chocolate.

10. Take hot drinks with skimmed milk without sugar
Two mugs of tea or coffee using whole milk and two sugars together give you 134 calories. If you change to semi-skimmed milk and drop the sugar, your calories nose-dive to just 27, saving you 100 calories in two mugs. You also reduce your sugar intake by 24g a day. An average woman eating 2,000 calories a day should be having no more than 50g of sugar (from sugar, glucose, honey and fruit juice for example) ad day and a man no more than 62g.

William Montgomery
CEO of TEN

Through his workshops, William Montgomery has helped hundreds of organisations and schools plus thousands of people to achieve their potential. To discuss your continuous improvement requirements, please call 0117 325 2010 or send a message to mail@askten.co.uk.