Colourful Palate

It’s amazing how the calories add up…even when you’re eating healthy. While it’s not necessary for me to be as conscious of the caloric content of food when I’m at home (and being active all day), when I’m traveling (and sitting in all day) I try to be more aware of what I consume. Extra mayonnaise or butter on my sandwich…a handful of pita chips…cream in my coffee…it all can add up to a lot of calories.

While I just got home from my long trip, yesterday I made my way to Portland, OR….so now at FitBloggin…so next post you’ll hear all about it!

1. Skip the Sweetener

When we order coffees at Tim Horton’s or McDonalds (one of my favourite coffee places actually), we skip the sugar. Always. I hate coffee with sugar. However, I like it with liquid stevia…especially the vanilla stevia.

My entire family uses this all the time and are now addicted. This trip, we brought it along specifically for the purpose of coffee. No calories. No carbs.

2. Get Low Calorie Juice

Growing up, juice was a huge treat…we rarely bought it. However, now…I don’t buy it for another reason. For me, It’s just a waste of liquid calories. Since I still like juice, it’s kind of sad…but Sunrype just came out with a yummy fruit beverage that is only 10 calories per cup! So if you’re one of those juice-aholics…there’s an alternative – you can still stay skinny and drink up.

SunRype Slim combines real fruit juices with only natural flavors and a sucralose blend designed to deliver more natural fruit taste. They contain no artificial flavours, no artificial colours and no aspartame (score!). Sometimes too, lowering liquid calories can be tough, especially when you’re craving something sweet. Often low calorie options often taste like they’re low calorie, leaving you feeling like your craving isn’t satisfied (bonus recipe below).

(Three lovely flavours – Cranberry Twist, Blueberry Burst, and Tropical Mango)

3. Get the Scoop

When you’re eating out, be informed. That means asking if the restaurant has a nutritional guide for your food. Legally, all restaurants are required to have that information for the consumer. This way, I can pick a lower calorie option for my meal…because without a guide, it’s hard to know. It’s hard to believe, but most often, salads are one of the highest calorie foods on the menu (not because of the veggies, but because of the extra ingredients and fatty dressings)!

4. Fresh over Packaged

Even if you buy healthy protein bars or organic chips, it doesn’t mean that they’re low calorie options for snacks. An idea would be to have a fruit/veggie rule for snacking in between meals.

5. Supermarket Salads

When traveling, we’d often get salads from fast-food places since it was the quickest, “healthy” option when in a rush. Now, we save our money on those small salads and get HUGE salads at places like Costco or WalMart. We usually get a big Caesar salad – I skip the croutons and dip the tip of my fork in the dressing for each bite, rather than slathering over the whole salad. Also, we often get a rotisserie chicken (which lasts 2 days among the four of us), skip the skin, and add it to our salads for some protein.

6. Scoop it Out

If you’re making sandwiches or getting one made at Subway…get some of the middle scooped out. This leaves more room for veggies/lean protein AND saves you carby/empty calories from the bread.

Bonus recipe:

Tropical Delight Mocktail

1. 2 oz coconut milk
2. 5 oz Slim Tropical Mango
3. 1 small banana
4. Crushed ice
5. Pineapple wedge to garnish

Peel the banana and place in a blender with the juice and coconut milk. Add in some ice and blend for 10 seconds. Pour in a large glass and serve with a straw with a garnish of sliced pineapple on the rim.

You can also head to their Facebook page for more info/recipes.

Got some tips for cutting calories? Have you tried SunRype’s products?

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored, but as always, if there’s a product or featured post on this website…it’s because I like it and am happy to recommend it.