Recently I’ve decided to take advantage of living in the suburbs and astronomically lower gym costs, and hop on the trainer train. My first lesson last week was how 50 percent of my training results will come from my diet. Unfortunately for me, I use the gym as a crutch to eat whatever I want guiltlessly…apparently that’s not how the cookie crumbles.

Today I glanced over Giuliana Rancic’s blog where she had some pretty easy tips to eat just a tiny bit healthier, surprisingly I actually already do a bunch of this stuff but it’s nice to have a running list:

Together, the National Institutes of Health and the Harvard School of Public Health found that lowering your calorie intake increased weight loss – no matter what kind of diet the people were on!  Meaning that if the average person reduced their calorie intake by just 100 a day, they should lose more than 10 pounds a year.  

On The Move

• Switch out cream or the sugar laden flavored creamers for skim milk in your morning coffee.
• Going out to breakfast?  Eat 2 poached eggs instead of 2 fried eggs.  Better yet?  Go for a spinach and tomato egg white omelet.
• And when choosing a breakfast side, go for bacon rather than sausage.
• Replace that bran muffin with an English muffin.
• When heading to a fast food lunch, order your sandwich or burger without the cheese.
• Order your sandwich on wheat bread instead of a croissant.
• Avoid the mayo-filled tuna salad and choose turkey instead.
• Dip your chips in salsa rather than guac.  Better yet – dip raw veggies in salsa.
• Ask for oil and vinegar instead of dressing.  Top salad with 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon of oil.
• Opt for grilled or baked fish and chicken instead of fried.  No matter what kind of cuisine, the results will be good.
• Trade black beans for refried and say no to the side of Mexican rice.
• Customize your pizza by ordering half the cheese and veggies instead of pepperoni.
  
• Order the filet mignon instead of the New York strip steak.
• Screaming for ice cream?  Choose a sugar cone, not a waffle.

Back at Home

• Switch from whole milk to skim milk in your cereal.
• Instead of using whole milk and eggs to prepare 2 slices of French toast, use nonfat milk and egg whites.
• Use a nonstick skillet and Pam instead of butter or oil.
• Trade thick slab regular bacon for turkey bacon.
• Making meatballs or meatloaf?  Try ground turkey instead!  And for even more of a calorie reduction, replace 1/3 of the meat with brown rice.
• When cooking fajitas or tacos try wrapping the filling in lettuce rather than a tortilla.
• Try tossing your tuna fish salad with low fat cottage cheese instead of mayo.  Make sure to toss in veggies for extra crunch and flavor. 
• And make sure to pick water packed tuna, rather than tuna packed in oil.
• When making a sandwich, use 2 slices of reduced calorie whole grain bread instead of regular white bread.
• Also try spreading 3 teaspoons of Dijonnaise on your sandwich rather than 4 teaspoons of mayonnaise.
• Get your salad crunch from celery and carrots rather than the deep fried croutons you buy at the grocery store.
• Trade 1 cup of caramel popcorn for over 2 cups of air-popped popcorn.
• Replace half the oil in your baking recipes with apple sauce or mashed bananas.
• Snack on oven-baked potato chips instead of regular potato chips. Lays sour cream and onion are my favorite.