Lunch & Dinner: Saving Calories

Here a tricks to cutting calories at lunch and dinner to help you lose weight.

Trying to lose weight? Here are tips on how to cut calories at lunch and dinner to help you achieve your weight-loss goal.

1. Cut back on portion sizes of rice, pasta, or noodles by 1/4 cup. Calories saved: 50

2. Choose a baked potato topped with hot and spicy salsa instead of 2 tablespoons of sour cream. Calories saved: 50

3. Make your burgers with 4 ounces of ground turkey instead of 1/4 pound of ground beef. Calories saved: 50

4. Eat an ear of fresh corn-on-the-cob instead of a cup of kernels from a can. Calories saved: 60

5. Forget broccoli-cheddar soup, and have a cup of minestrone instead. Calories saved: 60

6. Swap the Swiss on your sandwich for 1 ounce of fat-free American, or better yet, skip the cheese altogether. Calories saved: 60

7. Wraps? Try 2 corn tortillas instead of 1 flour tortilla. Calories saved: 75

8. Enjoy “light” dressing on your dinner salad instead of 2 tablespoons of full-fat dressing. Calories saved: 70

9. Have your sandwich in a small, whole-wheat pita, rather than on 2 slices of whole-grain bread. Calories saved: 85

10. Subs for lunch? Substitute 2 tablespoons of light mayo for 2 tablespoons of the high-fat version, or better yet, try mustard. Calories saved: 100

11. When sautéing veggies, replace butter or oil with cooking spray. Two quick spritzes of a butter-flavored cooking spray have about 5 calories, compared to 2 teaspoons of oil, which have about 85. Calories saved: 80

12. Ditch 1 piece of bread on your sandwiches; try an open-faced sandwich for a change. Calories saved: 80

13. Try a recipe for vegetable lasagna instead of the traditional meat lasagna. Calories saved: 50 per serving

14. Enjoy 3/4 cup steamed brown rice as a healthy alternative to the same amount of oily, fried rice. Calories saved: 50

15. If you must have French fries, have 4 ounces of steak fries (they absorb less oil) instead of shoestring fries. Calories saved: 50

16. Buy tuna packed in water instead of oil. A 3-ounce serving of chunk white tuna in oil has 160 calories, while tuna packed in water has about 110. Calories saved: 50

17. Serving chicken? Swap chicken breast with skin for a roasted, skinless chicken breast. Calories saved: 50