calories food limiting calories Losing weight weight loss

Wasting Calories on Add-Ons

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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24 Comments

  1. Esther

    Re: lettuce wraps – I recently started eating tacos this way! Make my own taco seasoning, get some butter lettuce, and it’s delicious! I haven’t quite mastered the taco salad yet, but this is definitely a decent alternative to the taco shell!

    Re: avocados – how do you store your avos for the next day without them turning yucky? I’ve been buying the 100 cal Wholly Guacamole packs, which are really tasty, but my parents are getting me a Seal A Meal for Christmas, so I am considering making my own guac packs to save money (and use fresh ingredients!). But until then, I’ve been apprehensive about splitting avos for fear they’ll go bad before I eat the rest :/

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Great idea on lettuce wraps for tacos! I need to try that.

      As for the avocado: if you leave the pit in the avocado half it won’t turn brown. But you only have about a day or so, so you’d need to eat it the next day.

      1. Esther

        Yeah, I never thought about the lettuce wraps for the tacos, but the butter lettuce (or actually, either Boston or bibb) is not as messy as you’d think it would be!

        Thanks for the tip on the avocados…I think I knew that, but I never put it into practice. Will have to keep that in mind!

        1. Lisa Eirene

          I need to get butter lettuce. I usually buy green leaf or red leaf which is not sturdy enough.

  2. Roz@weightingfor50

    Excellent post Lisa. You are very wise.

  3. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance

    Good tips! I am very careful to watch portion sizes of calorie dense foods. I also recommend using a Misto for EVOO, so I use less and can spread it more evenly than “drizzling”.

  4. evilcyber

    Of these tips, I found especially #s 4 and 5 important: liquids pass through the body quite fast and people also tend to forget how big a difference those calories make when counting toward the daily calorie total. Controlling portion size then was what practically helped me the most in losing 35 lbs.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Oh yes! Especially when those liquid calories are things like daiquiris and margaritas with tons of sugar!

      Congrats on losing 35 pounds. Portion sizes is how I lost my weight, too.

  5. Tracey

    Thanks for these reminders! I know most of these tips but don’t always put them into practice like I should!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Me too….honestly! I try my best! 90/10!

  6. Jess

    I almost never drink my calories (save for the odd glass of wine… but thats medicinal, really). I would rather eat my calories!

    Once I started tracking everything I ate I became very conscious of where I could cut calories from. The large latte became a small, the breakfast muffin became cereal and yogurt, the masses of fruit turned into half fruit, half veg (yes, I actually have to limit my fruit. I could easily eat a few hundred calories a day of fruit!) I think once you actually see on paper (or online) what you are eating it is easier to make changes to your diet.

    1. evilcyber

      I’m telling myself the same about the occasional glass of wine, although these days it seems the evidence is growing rather slim 😉

      1. Lisa Eirene

        I love wine. That’s the hard part. Although I’ve been doing well with my goal of limiting it. In the last month I’ve had two evenings where I drank.

    2. Lisa Eirene

      I understand what you mean. I can easily eat a gallon of fruit!!

  7. Diane Fit to the Finish

    I like this topic Lisa because it is so true. Let’s say you are going to have a brownie. Why add ice cream, nuts, chocolate syrup and whipped cream? Same thing for a salad? Why add everything in your refrigerator to it?

    I say enjoy the basic food without all the add-ons.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s a fantastic analogy, Diane! Yes, just having the brownie is NOW enough for me. I don’t need all the extra stuff. It took awhile to learn that.

  8. Jane at Keepingthepoundsoff.com

    I stay away from anything the comes from a crinkly bag. No chips, pretzels or crackers. I know I am not going to be satisfied with 6 chips so why have one?

    I also have learned to always have a glass of water/seltzer/club soda in my hand, with ice and a lemon or lime in it. No one tries to make me a drink of offer me another.

    I make up my own cup of coffee. Al arge cup of Coffee is calorie free. 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk – 19 calories. 1/4 cup skim milk 22 calories, 1/4 cup half and half 79. Calories in 1/4cup cream: 204. . . . . . KNOW what you are putting into your coffee. Imagine what it adds up to after adding Baileys and whipped cream topping, sugar . . . .

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree with the crinkly bag theory. I do something similar by simply avoiding processed foods the best I can.

      As for the drink, I do that too! I like vodka tonics so sometimes I switch to just tonic or sparkling water and no one can tell the difference.

  9. Jane at Keepingthepoundsoff.com

    Correction. 14 cup almond milk is 10 calories

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I will have to check out that almond milk trick for my coffee. Thanks!

  10. Marilyn @ Lipgloss+Spandex

    There’s a condescending Wonka twitter account?! AWESOME…. Portion size is really important, but all of these tips are great.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      There is and it’s hilarious!!

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