- Stick with grilled meat, veggies, or baked chips rather than fried.
- Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.
- Plain bread, pitas, or wraps are less caloric than biscuits or cornbread. Or, try using lettuce as a sandwich wrap.
- Go for salsa and skip the guacamole; mustard instead of mayo.
- Minimize calories by dipping chicken wings into hot sauce instead of Buffalo sauce.
- Try using celery for crunch and as a dipper instead of chips.
- Try fruit for dessert.
- Go for thin crust rather than thick doughy crust pizza. Choose the slices with vegetables — not pepperoni or meatballs. If you’re not embarrassed, try blotting up the free-floating oil that sits on top of a greasy slice (soak up even a teaspoon of oil saves you 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
- Alcohol adds calories and lowers your inhibitions so your resolve not to eat everything at the buffet table often flies right out the window. Try alternating water or diet soda with beer or alcohol which decreases your alcohol calories by 50%. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram but doesn’t fill you up the way food does, so you can drink a lot and not feel stuffed.