Marjorie’s Tip For Today: Painless (relatively) ways to save calories

* Cook with heavy, thick-bottomed (preferably non-stick) pans – that way you can use less oil
* Avoid frying if you can – grill instead
* Use less oil for cooking eg if your recipe says use 2 tablespoons of olive oil, try using 1 instead (this usually works well, particularly if you use heavy pan)
* Try using One-Cal spray for frying things like veggie bacon – I don’t usually recommend ‘diet’ products but this one really works, and it means you can have fried eggs wooo hoooo
* Experiment not using butter/marg on sandwiches, toast etc. If you use a ‘moist’ spread/filling eg hummus, you probably won’t miss it. And ‘bulk up’ your sarnies etc with salads & veggies
* Try making sarnies with tortillas. You’ll be less likely to butter them, and they taste like fancy sarnies from the shops, but with less cals (if you leave out the mayo, dressing, etc)
* Don’t put dressings on your salads. If you use stronger tasting salad leaves you might not even miss it. Or try using just balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, or lime juice.
* Use stronger cheeses (eg parmesan, mature cheddars) that give you more taste for your calories, so you can use less of them
* Promise yourself to never ever drink sugary fizzy drinks again. If you can’t resist them, drink only the ‘diet’ versions
* Don’t automatically put butter on your veggies – try them without, you might even like it! If you can’t resist having butter, at least use less
* If you do sometimes use butter, keep it in the freezer (cut it into small pieces before freezing), so you aren’t tempted to spread it on toast, bread, etc