[LifeStyle] Tricks to subtract calories from your dishes without realizing it

[#Steeven.™]

Using aromatic herbs, peeling the chicken or opting for skimmed are some of the suggestions

G.T / EP
Interest in healthy food and leading a healthy lifestyle has grown in the Spanish po[CENSORED]tion in recent years: the traditional bikini operation continues throughout the year and more and more people are concerned with eating healthier dishes.

Carol Ann, author of more than 20 books on health and nutrition, highlights: "Losing weight is a matter of mathematics. If you eliminate 3,500 calories a week from your diet, without changing your activity level, you will lose almost half a kilo of fat."

The expert recalls that all meals contain calories, elements whose function is to produce energy, although she warns that there are foods that contain what are known as 'empty calories', that is, they provide energy but no nutrients. Here she points to sugar and ethanol (the alcohol contained in spirits, wine, and beer).

For the specialist, these would be some effective ways to cut calories:

 

Choose low calorie desserts

The expert gives an example that half a cup of chocolate Häagen-Dazs ice cream is 260 calories, while chocolate sorbet from the same brand is 130 calories.

 

Head over to the skimmers

Ann acknowledges that the best source of calcium is milk and dairy products, although it contains saturated fat in addition to cholesterol and quite a few calories (a glass of whole milk equals 150 calories while the skimmed version 85).

 

Use sweeteners

The teaspoon of sugar in tea or coffee is 15 calories. By drinking a couple of coffees a day, with two teaspoons each, there are already 60 calories. However, it indicates that sweeteners do not have a single calorie.

 

Toast better than sandwich

A slice of sliced bread can have 65 to 120 calories. The solution is quite simple: instead of making a sandwich, prepare a toast (without butter or oil) and top with the cheese or sausage. "With something so simple, you're already eliminating about 100 calories a day," says Carol Ann. And if whole wheat bread is used, better because that extra fiber will improve the recipe even more.

 

Modify the dressings

Although olive oil is a delicacy, it contains many calories. Use less olive oil, or switch to herbs and lemon juice, and you'll be cutting calories without even noticing.

 

Dress the vegetables

Instead of dipping vegetables in butter or oil for flavor, use herbs and spices. For every tablespoon of oil and butter saved, 100 calories are cut.

 

Peel the chicken

Birds accumulate almost all the fat under the skin. A fried skinned chicken breast is 217 calories, while skinless is 160. Half roasted duck with the skin is 1,287 calories and without it, 444.

 

Stew better than barbecue

Red meats are cholesterol, saturated fat and taste delicious. But there is a difference between beef stew and grilled pork chops. If this stew is allowed to cool before eating, it will be possible to remove a thin layer of fat that is equivalent to 100 fewer calories in the meal.

 

Wash the minced meat

Fill a saucepan with water and put it on the fire. While the water reaches the boiling point, fry the minced meat until the meat is colored. When done, remove the fat from the pan with a spoon and put the meat in a colander or drainer and pour a glass of hot water on top, and another. Each tablespoon of fat removed is 100 calories less (and cholesterol and saturated fat).

"Calories are not your enemies. On the contrary, they give you the energy you need to lead a healthy life. The trick is to control them and not let them control you. When you know how much energy a specific food provides you can plan your diet eating exactly what you spend, and vice versa. If you succeed, your body will say 'thank you' every day, "says the expert.