This is a list of strategies and tips I have learned and used myself over the past couple years to help lose fat or maintain/manage my weight. In no way, am I telling you that you should use any of these strategies. For real nutrition and weight management advice, see a registered dietician or other medical professional.
Salsa is a great topping that I overlooked for a long time. I use it for a lot of my meals. I put it on top of my chicken, eggs, rice, and white potatoes. It tastes great and is low in calories. It’s better than pouring on fatty dressings on your chicken, adding butter to your eggs/potatoes, and makes rice taste great.
Drinking lots of water, sparkling water or seltzer. Drinking lots of water is good for you and help keep you full. Try drinking a class of water before you start a meal and notice how much fuller you feel after. Also, try drinking sparkling water or seltzer during the day. The carbonation keeps you full and you’re staying hydrated.
Don't drink your calories. While having yourself a protein shake can be a good tool to get enough protein in, I don't recommend drinking your calories. For example, stay away from getting those Frappuccinos at Starbucks or sugar filled energy drinks. If you want energy drinks choose the no sugar or lower calorie options like Monster Ultra Zero or Red Bull sugar free. By drinking your cals, you are adding in cals that sneakily pile up. Also, if you're doing this, you have less cals to actually eat real food.
Foods I find to be the most filling, which might also be the case for you, too. Find foods that satisfy you the most and eat them more frequently
Sweet potato
A cup or 2 of Rice with egg whites and veggies like onions and red peppers (like a stir fry)
Cottage Cheese
Green beans
Broccoli
A lot of egg whites (low in calories, high in volume)
Non-fat Greek yogurt (my favorite is the Danon Light & Fit Not Fat Vanilla Yogurt)
Chicken Breast
Lentils
Apples
Add veggies to anything you’re eating - get more volume of food and fill up
Take advantage of reduced calorie foods, but only the ones that give you the same volume. If a food says it has 30% less calories, but is a lower volume, it won’t fill you up like the normal one you have. I noticed this can happen with reduced calorie bread. It might only be 40 calories per slice, but that's because it weighs half of a normal slice. They just cut it thinner or its way more fluffy. With this said, I do sometimes still opt for this bread when I can, because it gets the job done and can trick me into thinking I had a sandwich with 2 normal slices of bread. When I have ice cream I like to get Ben and Jerrys Half Baked. When I decide to buy this, I get the froyo version. It nearly tastes the same (by now I notice no difference). The whole half-baked froyo has 720 calories, versus the normal 1080 calories. It's the same size and fills me up the same. That’s 360 calories saved or 360 calories I can put towards eating something else in my day so I stay more full. Another ice cream I like to indulge in is Breyers Neapolitan no sugar added. This has only 80 calories per serving (generally ¼ cup) while other ice creams may have 120, 160 or more calories per serving. I can eat 3 servings for 240 calories, while if I had the regular version I might be consuming a couple hundred more calories. While this particular type of ice cream does use sugar alcohols (which is another topic), if eaten in moderation it’s likely you will be fine (Halo Top ice cream) is another great alternative). Another great example of a reduced calorie food I use is the Smucker’s sugar free jam. While sweetener’s are used, they do add extra fiber into the jam and instead of getting 50 calories for a serving, it is only 10 calories per serving.
Eat fruit! Fruit sometimes gets demonized because of the amount of sugars it has in it, but most fruit despite a high sugar content, can be a great source of fuel, provide lots of nutrients, and help fill you up. Fructose, the sugar in fruits, is only harmful in large amounts. Just don’t eat 8 servings of fruit and you shouldn't reach the excess fructose tolerance limit for your body. I love to eat apples, bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Apples are my go to when I’m hungry and need a snack. I like to eat a large granny smith apple, and this can hold me over very well. Strawberries are also filling and don't have much calories per gram (32 per 100g). You probably shouldn’t eat too many bananas, but these can also be a great snack. Cantaloupe is also a great option in terms of how much you can eat and stay low in calories. It has only 34 calories per 100 grams. You can have 300 grams of cantaloupe for 100 calories. If you ever cut up and weigh your cantaloupe, you can see this is a good amount for 100 calories. There are many other fruits that can be healthy, delicious and can help you with weight management. Check out this website to see what the calories per 100g of the specific fruit you’re looking for. Just command or control “f” the document, type in your favorite fruits and see where they are on the list.
Vegetables… as if this one wasn’t obvious. You know why you should be eating vegetables. They fill you up and are good for you. They key here is to make them readily available so it’s not a pain for you. If you have to buy your veggies frozen and then microwave them for 2 minutes then that is fine. You could also cut up whatever you want for a couple day’s worth, and have it ready for when you’re hungry or its meal time.
Fill up on fiber. Fiber is your friend is getting and staying full. Try to hit The RDA of 25-30g of fiber. You probably won’t hit this if you’re not eating enough fruits and veggies (unless you’re eating those protein bars with crazy amounts of fiber).
This one goes along with reduced calorie foods, but get reduced fat foods if you can. While when something says reduced fat, or reduced calories, it doesn’t always mean it’s healthy, but it does mean it has a shot of helping you. For example, I like to buy small, thin, yellow corn tortillas and put deli turkey meat with mayo and mustard on it. Traditional mayo can add up easily in calories, especially if you’re not using a scale or measuring it out. What I do is buy reduced fat mayo. Instead of 90 calories per serving it is 35 calories per serving (same size). I can now use the same amount of mayo and get way less calories. Now you may be thinking what is 55 calories going to do, but all these calories add up. If you add up all these little tricks you will be saving yourself 100s of calories towards your fat loss. If you’re like me, have a big appetite and trying to maintain or gain weight, this is also very useful because you can now eat more of other foods with the saved calories. (If I am eating 3000 calories to maintain or gain weight and I saved 500 calories from these tricks, now I can eat 500 calories of other food! This will make it much easier to manage weight when you can up your volume of food eaten, and have it be the same calories as you normally eat).
Eat the foods you like. I am a big fan of flexible dieting, but even a bigger fan of not dieting at all. After trying diets, it just makes life harder. Just eat the foods you like and you will find eating in caloric deficit will be easier. It is when you restrict yourself of the foods you like that you will have difficulty and won’t be able to keep fat off after your “diet” is done. If it is not a sustainable way to eat your entire life, then you’re doing it wrong. So, don't demonize any foods. If you like Doritos, have a serving of Doritos every day! Seriously. Having a serving or two of Doritos everyday while watching what you eat is harmless. Now with this being said, you should still be eating other healthy foods.
Don’t rely on supplements. Many times, when people use supplements they are hoping or thinking it will do all the work for them, but they won’t. You can’t get around exercising and eating right. Also, many of the supplements proposed actions are not supported by sufficient studies, aren’t very effective, and can even be harmful.
Making healthy choices at restaurants and eating out is important. When you’re going out you can still enjoy yourself. Heck, if you want to get the unhealthiest thing you can get at the restaurant, whatever, then do it. It’s your life, but if you want to see results, make some smart changes. While ordering something fat laden can be OK if you’re counting your macros (and you’re not eating like this all the time), you’re better off for fat loss and over health to make changes. For example, if I’m going out to Longhorn Steakhouse (lucky me) I know I’m personally getting steak. So, try to choose the leaner cuts of meat. I go with the Flo’s Filet. I also happen to love baked sweet potatoes, so I get that and specifically say with nothing on it because they will put butter and brown sugar on it if don’t say anything. I like the taste of a plain baked sweet potato and it’s very sweet alone. This right there saved me at least 100 calories. Then for my salad, I get the mixed house salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I also will ask for an extra side of broccoli with nothing on it. This will also help me fill up, get some fiber in, and get those micro-nutrients.
Many places have nutrition calculators on their site and this can be used to plan out what you’re eating later with what you’re eating earlier in the day. Let’s say I know I’m going to Chipotle later and I love to get cheese, guac, and sour cream on my chicken bowl. Well, if I go to Chipotle’s website, they have a nutrition calculator so I enter everything I plan on getting. I see I am eating 45g of fat. This is a high fat meal. It would be a good idea for me to eat less fat during my breakfast and lunch. It may also be 1100 total calories for this bowl. So, by putting in 1100 calories into my food tracker (like MyFitnessPal) I can know where I am standing for my meal before dinner, so I don’t go over at dinner.
Lastly, use a food tracker app like MyFitnessPal to keep count of everything you eat. When you first start off you might be overwhelmed, but as you use it more, you will notice things you already eat are showing up as frequent foods. It takes less time track the more you do it, and it becomes a habit. It also gives a you a good idea of what you’re actually eating. Some people can’t believe how much they are actually eating or how little. When you get an idea of what you’re eating you will be better at eye balling approximate calories of what you are eating throughout the day and eventually can stop using the app altogether (if you’re diligent and hold yourself responsible). I can count up what I ate during a day off the top of my head and give a good guess of the calories and even fat, carbs, and proteins just because I have been tracking for a while and know what the macros are for various foods.
This information is for educational purposes only. I am not a doctor. None this is medical advice. Everything here has been gathered through personal experience and personal research. If you are going to start a physical activity regime, you should consult your physician. For proper nutritional advice, you should see a registered dietician.