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The most common reason for weight fluctuations lies in the energy equation – if you eat more food or energy-dense foods than you need, you gain weight. If you eat less than what you need, you lose weight.

Other reasons include underlying medical conditions. For instance, hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid function) leads to slowed metabolism and weight gain, whereas hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid function) leads to accelerated metabolism and weight loss.
Water retention also leads to rapid weight gain and is often reported by women of childbearing age right before their period. To lose weight, you need to be mindful of the amount of energy or calories you consume.
Calorie counting is one way to keep track of everything you eat, but this could be tedious and not always accurate. Also, many people dread counting calories. If you are one of them, here are effective hacks to reduce your calorie intake.
1. Eat Your Greens
Green leafy vegetables, along with other veggies and fruits, are high in fiber, which fills up your stomach without increasing the calorie load. You need this fiber to support various important functions, such as keeping your bowel movement regular and feeding your gut microbiota.
These vegetables will also supply a rainbow of healthy micronutrients and phytochemicals, which will boost your immune system and protect you from oxidative stress. Also, when your body gets what it needs, your hunger levels decrease.
If you want to reduce your calorie intake permanently, focus on consuming more nutrient-dense foods, such as whole fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains, and lean proteins. They are high-bulk low-calorie foods, as opposed to energy-dense foods that pack a lot more calories for the same amount, leading to a higher intake.
A review paper analyzed multiple studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of including low-energy-dense foods in the diet to help control hunger and promote a feeling of fullness. (1)
It was found that a lower-energy-dense eating pattern supports satiety and provides optimum amounts of nutrients and energy. This, in turn, helps individuals avoid weight gain or even lose some weight. (1)
ALSO READ: How Fruits and Vegetables Vary in Nutrition
2. Drink More Water
Water has no calories. It fills you up, hydrates the body, boosts your metabolism, detoxifies your organs, and speeds up the movement of food down the digestive tract.
Every cell in your body needs water. Even though the filling sensation of drinking water is short-lived, you can still use this hack to delay eating, especially if there is no healthy food available at the moment. The body often confuses thirst for hunger and if you remember to drink before you eat, that might just do the trick.
One study found that premeal water consumption led to a significant reduction in meal energy intake, which may be a useful tool in the attempts of weight loss. (2)
ALSO READ: How Drinking Enough Water Improves Your Health
3. Remove All Distractions
When you eat in front of a TV, tablet, computer, or smartphone, your brain loses focus on the food and does not register the sensation of fullness on time. Thus, you often end up overeating.
Practice mindful eating, which involves removing all distractions to focus on the food you are eating, how satisfying it is, and when do you feel sufficiently full to stop eating. (3)
In other words, mindful eating lets you eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full, thereby reducing your calorie intake, facilitating weight loss, and normalizing your relationship with food. (3)
You do not eat for reasons other than hunger and you use coping strategies not involving food to deal with daily stress and emotional instabilities.
4. Use Less Condiments
A seemingly healthy salad at a restaurant may pack as much as 1,000 calories when drenched in a creamy dressing and topped with cheese, bacon, and croutons. These dressings – ranch, Caesar, blue cheese, French, etc. – have a base of oils, cream, and cheese that are high in fat and calories.
When eating out, ask for dressing on the side. Better yet, ask for a side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, drizzle a little bit of both and save yourself a ton of calories.
At home, use mustard, lemon juice, or vinegar in place of rich condiments. Substitute low-fat Greek yogurt for mayonnaise and other creamy dressings.
5. Pack Your Lunch
Homemade dishes are always lower in calories than restaurant-prepared food.
At home, you are in control of what and how much shall go into the pot. Homemade foods tend to have a low-calorie density, leading to reduced calorie intake. (4) Restaurants are in the business of making their profits by selling prepared food.
They need to make sure the food they make appeals to every taste and they do so by manipulating ingredients, usually by using more salt, sugar, and fat than what is optimal for your nutritional needs.
Make a habit of meal prepping on Sundays. Invest in a 5-pack BPA-free plastic lunch containers, portion out your lunches, and save time, money, and calories. Chicken-veggie stir-fry, veggie chili, whole-grain pasta with turkey and veggie sauce, Buddha bowls, salads – all are great options for healthy, low-calorie lunch meals.
6. Mind Your Snacks
You may be eating healthy snacks, but note that quantity matters. Some healthy snack options include nuts, dried fruits, cheese, and crackers. However, these are calorie-dense foods; they pack a lot of calories in relatively small amounts.
For instance, 3 ounces of almonds have 550 calories! It is very easy to eat that much without realizing it. Dry fruits are high in sugar since all the water is removed, leading to a lower volume and higher concentration of sugar.
It is best to portion out nuts, dry fruits, and cheese to avoid overeating them. You can buy 100-calorie packs of nuts and dry fruits or pack them yourself in small Ziploc bags for on-the-go snacking.
ALSO READ: 25 Healthy Snacks With Only Around 100 Calories
7. Out of Sight, Out of Mind
If you are trying to lose weight, maintain it, or simply stick to a healthier whole-food diet, it is best to create an environment that is void of sabotaging foods.
Give your kitchen a clean-eating makeover by removing all the packaged processed cookies, cereals, chips, candy, muffins, pastries, sweetened yogurts, sweetened beverages, donuts, high-sodium canned soups and pasta, and ready-to-eat meals.
Instead, stash up on fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, nut butter, low-fat Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, whole-grain pasta and bread, whole-grain rice, quinoa, cornmeal, buckwheat, bulgur, millet, and old-fashioned oats.
The more you practice eating healthy whole foods, the easier it will be to turn to them when you are hungry. New habits may take some time to develop as you are creating new neural pathways in your brain. However, once these pathways are established, that’s all you need to ensure the new habit sticks.
Final Word
These easy hacks may help you reduce your calorie intake while keeping you full and nourished. It is a matter of remembering to implement them.
In the beginning, you may want to write them down on a cheat sheet or your smartphone Notes app and pull them up frequently to remind yourself of the healthy eating tricks you are doing.
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