50 Ways To Cut 250 Calories

Slimming down is merely a matter of making smarter food choices.  To lose half a pound a week, all you need do is banish 250 calories from your diet every day.  To give you a head start, following are 50 easy ways to cut 250 or more calories that you won't even notice.

1. If you typically enjoy a 3-egg omelet made with Cheddar cheese, lighten the calorie load by preparing it using 4 egg whites and 2 tablespoons of light grated Cheddar.
2. Instead of 2 pieces of frozen French toast with butter and maple syrup, toast 2 slices of whole-wheat bread and spread each with a teaspoon of your favorite jam.
3. Lighten your coffee and tea with skim milk instead of half and half.  Every quarter-cup of half and half you swap with skim saves you 50 calories; so with every 5 cups of coffee you drink, you shave off 250 calories.
4. Give up butter for a day.  That tablespoon on your English muffin at breakfast, on your roll at lunch and on your mashed potatoes at dinner adds up to at least 320 calories.
5. At the coffee shop, in lieu of your usual 16 ounce cafe mocha made with whole milk, have an 8 ounce short one made with skim.
6. If you succumb to a grilled cheese sandwich, you'll consume 500+ calories.  Instead, load up on a 6" sandwich-shop veggie sub with lettuce, tomato, onions, peppers and a slice of cheese - hold the olives, oil and mayo.
7. Mix up your own tuna salad instead of buying it at the deli.  Using 3 ounces of water-packed tuna instead of oil-packed saves you 70 calories, and stirring in only 1 tablespoon of low-fat mayonnaise rather than 2 tablespoons of regular spares another 175.
8. Have a scoop of chicken salad on a bed of lettuce instead of on a hard roll spread with a tablespoon of regular mayonnaise.
9. Remove half the meat filling from your overstuffed deli sandwich.  Most have at least twice the recommended 2 to 3 ounce serving.  Have coleslaw made without the mayonnaise on the side rather than fattier salads.
10. Even if you like your sandwiches made with 4 ounces of meat, you can still save 260 calories by ordering lean roast beef instead of higher in fat pastrami.
11. Spread your sandwich with 1 tablespoon of hummus in place of adding 2 slices of Swiss cheese.
12. Have 1 cup of hearty soup and skip the sandwich on the soup and sandwich special, and - depending on the sandwich - you can avoid at least 250 calories.
13. Ditch the bread and cheese atop your French onion soup. Sprinkle it with a tablespoon of grated Parmesan for lots of cheesy flavor but fewer calories.
14. Replace 2 cups of cheese soup prepared with whole milk with 2 cups of cream of asparagus soup made with skim.
15. At fast food Italian restaurants, order a slice of cheese pizza instead of a ham and cheese calzone, which is loaded with whole milk ricotta, mozzarella and at least 550 calories.
16. Cut your deli muffin in half.  A typical 5-7 ounce muffin contains about 100 calories per ounce - so having half spares you a whole lot of excess.
17. You'll still feel like you're indulging if you replace your fried potato skins with melted cheese with a medium baked potato topped with a tablespoon of real sour cream.
18. Skip the fried onion rings and replace them with a small order of French fries, which contains 250 fewer calories.
19. At Chinese restaurants, order 4 small steamed pork dumplings in place of 3 small egg rolls. Because the egg rolls are fried, their calorie content is pumped up.
20. Pass on the fried mozzarella appetizer and order a cup of Italian pickled vegetables instead.
21. Replace your usual small bag of candy-coated chocolate-covered peanuts with a chocolate-flavored coffee.
22. Skip the samples at the warehouse store.  A sample size piece of cheese, pizza, apple pie and a chocolate chip cookie quickly adds up to more than 300 calories.
23. You're actually better off having a quarter pound hamburger than a traditional "dieter's plate" at a diner or coffee shop, which usually consists of a scoop of cottage cheese, a burger patty and canned peaches.  The portions of cheese and peaches are typically large, and the peaches may be canned in calorie-laden heavy syrup to boot.
24. Exchange your 8 ounce frozen beef potpie with a 16 ounce portion of canned vegetable stew.
25. If you're going to have a frozen pasta dinner, choose linguine with clam sauce rather than fettuccine Alfredo, which is packed with 370 more calories.
26. Jazz up your tostada with some zingy salsa instead of fattier items.  A quarter cup of avocado, for example, is loaded with almost 100 calories, while 2 tablespoons of sour cream has 60 and 3 tablespoons grated Cheddar cheese contains 85.
27. Replace your 3 batter-dipped frozen fish fillets with 3 ounces of fresh red snapper that you grill yourself.  Not only does the grilled snapper contain 260 fewer calories than the frozen, it's more fish to eat.
28. You can do better than 8 chocolate covered graham crackers.  Have 8 chocolate flavored graham crackers instead, which will satisfy your snacking urge, and help you conserve 300 calories.
29. At Chinese restaurants, have a cup of chicken with broccoli instead of a cup of General Tso's chicken, which contains more than twice the calories.
30. Having a frozen chicken dinner?  Choose one containing baked chicken rather than fried.  The extra oil used in the frying process, along with the high fat skin, adds lots of unnecessary calories.
31. Top your pasta with 1/2 cup of tomato-basil sauce rather than 1/4 cup of pesto sauce.  The nuts, oil and parmesan cheese in the pesto combine to make its calorie count soar.
32. At Mexican restaurants, pass over the healthy sounding taco salad, which is served in an astronomically high caloric fried corn tortilla bowl, and have a large 8 ounce beef burrito instead. You'll save 250 calories.
33. Have a 1 1/2 cup bowl of fat free vegetarian chili in lieu of the same portion of chili con carne, which contains meat.
34. Skip the 3 meatballs in your bowl of spaghetti, each of which packs in about 90 calories.
35. Avoid bottled sausage pepper spaghetti sauces and make your own by simmering 2 tablespoons of crumbled reduced fat turkey sausage in a cup of crushed canned tomatoes and season with salt, pepper and basil.
36. Just have firsts.  If you cut out a second drumstick, a small scoop of mashed potatoes and a second buttered roll, you'll avoid 250 calories.
37. Spritz your pan with cooking spray and forgo the vegetable oil.  If you normally use olive oil, for example, 2 tablespoons supply about 240 calories.
38. Cool off with an 8 ounce gin and tonic rather than a same size pina colada.
39. Enjoy a single serving frozen strawberry cheesecake dessert in place of 1/12 of a 9 inch regular fruit topped cheesecake.  The frozen dessert is made with lower fat ingredients that give it creaminess without the calories.
40. At the ice cream parlor, say no to the banana split and order a single scoop of ice cream topped with 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup and a squirt of whipped cream.
41. Yearning for a decadent slice of chocolate cream pie? Have a single-serving container of fat free chocolate pudding for 300 fewer calories.
42. It's easy to say no to a chocolate peanut butter cup when you can indulge in a tablespoon each of chocolate and peanut butter chips and still save calories.
43. Switch from frozen prepared frosted devil's food cake to the same size serving of angel food cake.
44. Satisfy your chocolate craving with a 90 calorie Fudgesicle rather than a 360 calorie chocolate covered ice cream bar.
45. Craving a salty snack?  A soft pretzel has lots more calories than 24 mini pretzels.  The hard minis also provide a satisfying crunch.
46. At the movies, avoid the 11 cup box of popcorn, which contains at least 600 calories, and have a 3 ounce, 340 calorie box of caramel coated popcorn and peanuts.
47. Resist reaching for that handful of nuts, which can easily contain more than 250 calories.
48. Reach for a bottle of flavored seltzer or diet soda instead of sugar sweetened iced tea or a fruit drink.  By doing this, you'll spare yourself over 300 calories in a standard 20 ounce bottle.
49. Munch on 3 cups of cheese flavored popcorn rather than the same amount of fried crunchy cheese snacks.
50. Consider those oversize 7 ounce frosted cinnamon buns a dieter's nemesis.  Have a 3 1/2" cinnamon raisin bagel with 2 tablespoons of cream cheese instead and avoid 400+ calories.