Ditch your daily latte, EAT chocolate and swap sugar for cinnamon – and watch the pounds drop off
These simple tweaks can take the pain out of weight loss, says expert Lily Soutter
It is a familiar scenario - squeezing back into your skinny jeans after touching back down to reality following your summer hols.
The prospect of shifting those extra pounds - that seemingly just creep up on you - can be a daunting one.
Fad diets, extreme exercise regimes and depriving yourself of your favourite foods can prove too much to bear for many.
But, take note - help is at hand, and it doesn't have to be painful.
Nutritionist and weight-loss expert,, says with a few simple tweaks to your diet, the pounds will fall off.
"Watching your weight doesn't have to be all doom and gloom," she told The Sun.
"It's all about making savvy choices and putting a few strategies in place."
Here Lily, and a team of experts, share their top 10 food swaps to help you cut calories and inches from your waistline.
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1. Swap your latte for an Americano
It's an essential part of the day for almost all of us, a daily ritual that cannot be eradicated from our schedules - the morning cup of coffee.
But, rather than just ordering your usual latte on autopilot each morning, stop and think.
In most cases a latte will be packed with calories, as many as 300 in some regular drinks.
Lily warns: "Some lattes can have anywhere from 200 to 290 calories."
By no means is she suggesting you leave coffee out of your morning routine, rather, she says opt for an Americano.
"By only having a small splash of milk in your Americano you could save huge calories, while not sacrificing too much flavour," she adds.
2. Swap bingeing biscuits for chocolate - yes REALLY
It is a controversial topic, to snack or not to snack.
But, the debate should not be around whether or not to give yourself a mid-morning of afternoon boost, but rather what you should eat.
The temptation can be to reach for a biscuit, or even an oatcake thinking you're being health conscious.
But, the experts say a better option is chocolate. Yes, you read that right, though there is a caveat - it has to be dark choc!
Shona Wilkinson, nutritionist at SuperfoodUK.com, says: "Instead of munching on oat cakes and flapjacks with your afternoon team which are high in calories, beat your sugar cravings with three squares of good quality dark chocolate (minimum 70 per cent cocoa).
"This amount will only contain a relatively small amount of sugar, and there is also evidence that dark chocolate has health benefits.
"You can also try a small pot of sugar-free plain yoghurt, with a teaspoon of pure cocoa or raw cacao powder."
3. Swap your bread for red cabbage cups
As lunchtime dawns, the easy option is without a doubt, grabbing a sarnie on the go.
But, with a little planning, you could save around 200 calories a day.
Lily says: "Red cabbage cups are easy to transport, and packed full of antioxidants.
"You also save at least 200 calories per sandwich.
"All you need to do is fill each large red cabbage leaf with your usual sandwich filling."
4. Can’t say no to bread? Swap white for rye
For some the prospect of swapping your delicious door-step of bread each day for salad leaves, may prove a step too far.
If you can't stomach the idea of lunch without bread, fear not, there is still hope.
Swapping white for rye in the bread bin, will help avoid the mid-afternoon sugar crash.
, author of Natural Alternatives to Sugar, told The Sun: "Rye bread, as opposed to white, is usually lower in calories and will help you stay fuller for longer.
"Rye bread also has the health benefit of containing more fibre."
5. Swap your Caesar or Ranch dressings for olive oil & lemon
It is a common dieting disaster.
You prepare a sumptuous salad, ripe with fresh ingredients and bursting with goodness, only to drizzle a fat-packed, calorie-laden dressing all over it.
Without thinking choosing the wrong condiment, can have a dramatic impact on your waistline, adding hundreds of calories to your daily allowance.
Lily warns: "Cheesy or creamy dressings can add 250 calories to your meal, making a healthy meal instantly unhealthy.
"By simply dressing your salads with a tablespoon of olive oil, and a little lemon juice you can cut these calories in half."
6. Swap artificial sweeteners for cinnamon
Sugar... it's fast becoming the devil of the dieting world.
But for those of us driven to despair by our "sweet tooth" help is at hand.
While opting for sweetner may seem the obvious option, Shona says it's a bad move. Instead, use a bit of spice to sweeten up your life, she suggests.
"If you have a sweet tooth replace artificial sweeteners with cinnamon," she says.
"Sweetener triggers sugar receptors in the same way that real sugar does.
"It causes increased production of insulin and - eventually - a sugar rush.
7. Swap rice for broccoli or cauliflower rice
It's tempting when cooking dinner to opt for a portion of rice to soak up your chilli or complement your stir fry.
However, it is not always the healthiest of options.
Instead, Lily says, try blitzing broccoli or cauliflower into rice, she suggests.
"Cauliflower rice can increase your veg intake and instantly eliminate huge calories," she says.
"Cooked rice has 218 calories per cup, with cauliflower rice coming at 25 calories per cup.
"This swap doesn't have to be boring, you can flavour your cauliflower rice with a tasty combination of spices."
8. Swap dried fruit for fresh fruit
Dried fruit is often touted as a healthy snack.
But, as Shona warns it is full of sugar, which can put up a barrier to losing weight.
"Dried fruit has got a very high level of sugar that's been concentrated during the drying process," she says.
"Alternatively, try to eat fresh fruit that will fill you up quickly, so you eat less."
She suggests snacking on watermelon, strawberries and grapefruit, which contain about 90 per cent water, so are a great low-calorie option.
9. Swap some avocado for courgette
They are packed with good fats, and in recent years have been enjoying a revival from their 70s heyday.
Avocados are now a staple for many dieters on their weekly shop.
But, while guacamole is delicious, a slight modification to your recipe could prove revolutionary.
"Guacamole can still taste amazing without it's calorie punch, by blending in a few cooked slices of courgette you can shave off at least 100 calories," reveals Lily.
10. Swap the stuffed crust pizza for thin-crust or ‘Italian-style’ pizzas
A principle of any successful healthy-eating plan, is do not eliminate all the joy in your diet.
If pizza is your vice, eat pizza - just don't stuff those crusts full of cheese.
"Thin-crust or 'Italian-style' pizzas contain less dough and therefore fewer calories than other types," says Shona.
"Stuffed crusts can add 50 to 70 calories per slice, compared to a normal pizza.
"If you really want to cut down on the calories share a pizza rather than eating a whole one.
"A medium pizza can easily contain 1,000 to 1,500 calories or even more, with some large pizzas tipping the scale at around 3,000 calories," she warns.