1.       Mix a juice spritzer.
Combine your favorite juice (half of your usual amount) with plain or sparkling water. You can cut up to 85 calories per glass and lose 5 pounds or more a year. I’d rather you cut out juice completely but this is good when you need something sweet.
 
2.       Pick up the cordless.
Burn calories while you talk: Do the laundry (68 calories), set the table (85 calories) or water plants (102 calories). (Value based on a 150 pound person and half an hour of activity)
 
3.       Pop a piece of gum.
Make sure it’s sugar-free. I don’t chew gum but if you have to it can increases your metabolic rate by about 20%. That could burn off more than 10 pounds a year.
 
4.       Ditch diet shakes.
The calorie savings are only temporary; you’ll just eat more later. Make your own healthy shake or put together your own snack.
 
5.       Sprinkle flax on our cereal.
I don’t eat cereal but if you do eat it with high-fiber, ground flaxseed. This can help curb your appetite and eliminate calories. Add it to yogurt or muffin and bread mixes. Available in Health Food stores.
 
6.       Make your own Salad Dressing.
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp olive oil
¾ tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp horseradish
 
Mix together. It makes for a tasty salad dressing with only 20 calories and 1.5 grams of fat
 
7.       Women schedule a blood test.
About 1 in every 12 women (mostly of whom don’t know it) has an under – active thyroid, which can slow down her metabolism.
 
8.       Supersize your H20
Buy the big bottle when it comes to good for you stuff such as water.
 
9.       Spice up your meals.
Adding hot chili pepper (or capsaicin) to food may help you stop eating sooner.
 
10.   Chuck your salad.
Chop carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, zucchini or other veggies instead of shredding or slicing. It takes more effort to munch bigger pieces, so you’ll do more chewing and eat less during the main course.
 
11.   Call a friend.
Filling loneliness with talking not cookies.
 
12.   Log our food.
Write down what you eat can help you stay in control because you’re more accountable.
 
13.   Spray don’t drizzle.
Use an olive oil sprayer such as MISTO to add flavor to salads, chicken, fish, or pasta, without all the calories. A 2 second spray evenly distributes about ½ teaspoon of oil, compared to the 2 or 3 teaspoons you might get when pouring. That’ll save you up to 100 calories per use.
 
14.   Measure before cooking.
It’s easy to overeat pasta, but not if you cook the right amount at the start. For a perfect portion, keep a quarter near your spaghetti. It’s diameter is exactly the size of the 2 ounce stack (about 200 calories) that you should serve per person. Or buy a dry pasta measurer sold in gourmet cooking stores.
 
15.   Take a whiff.
This can work but I would slowly try to create a habit of avoiding temptation. When you really want fresh baked cookies try this: Indulge in the smell for 30 seconds. Then place a small piece on the tip of your tongue for 30 seconds. Savoring the smell and taste can help you stop at just one cookie.
 
16.   Blot the fat.
You can dab off about a teaspoon of oil or 40 calories and 4.5 grams of fat from two slices of pizza.
 
17.   Drink, drink, drink.
Dehydration can slow your metabolism by 3%. At a weight of 150 pounds, that would be about 45 fewer calories burned a day – which could mean 5 extra pounds a year.