Check out our top 20 easy ways to lose at least 100 calories from your daily intake without feeling at all deprived.

Breakfast time

SWAP CEREAL AND TOAST FOR MUESLI AND FRUIT

Swap a 50g bowl of crunchy nut (or other sugar-coated) cereal with milk and a slice of buttered toast and marmalade, 485 calories, for a 65g bowl of sugar-free muesli with semi-skimmed milk, topped with a chopped banana, all for only 385 calories. The latter is low GI and will be digested more slowly, keeping you fuller for longer. Also it is harder to chew the muesli and this helps to trigger appetite centres in your brain, leaving you feeling more satisfied after eating. With this breakfast you also get one of your five servings of fruit and vegetables for the day.

HAVE A SCONE, FRUIT SALAD, COFFEE AND YOGHURT INSTEAD OF A MUFFIN

If you grab a blueberry muffin on your way to work, allow 520 calories. Instead you can go for a fruit scone (preferably a wholemeal one), a fruit salad and a skinny cappuccino with 326 calories, leaving another 100 for a yoghurt mid-morning. Not only are you eating more and saving 100 calories, but the scone gives 3g of your daily 18g of fibre; the fruit salad supplies a host of super-nutrients and the whole of your 40mg vitamin C needs for the day and the skinny cappuccino over half of your daily bone-building calcium. A muffin is high GI and you’ll feel hungry again within an hour or so.

DITCH THE CROISSANT FOR POACHED EGGS, TOMATOES AND TOAST

A leisurely continental-style breakfast of croissant, thinking you are being healthy by skipping butter and jam, will still pack in a surprising 373 calories and 20g of fat. Instead you can tuck in to two poached eggs on toast with grilled tomatoes with 249 calories and 12g of fat. Not only do you save 124 calories but research indicates that breakfasting on two eggs helps you to eat less at lunchtime and leaves you with a 400-calorie-a-day deficit compared with those who eat a solely carbohydrate-based breakfast. You also get two servings of your daily five fruit and vegetables with this swap.

MAKE A BACON SARNIE WITH LEAN BACON, TOMATO AND KETCHUP

Bacon sandwiches do not have to be off your breakfast agenda. A traditional bacon sarnie using two slices of grilled streaky bacon on two slices of buttered bread with ketchup has 440 calories. If you opt for two slices of lean grilled back bacon on bread with no butter but still have the ketchup, and also add some slices of tomato, you reduce the number of calories to 340 for a still tasty, filling breakfast. The lower calorie version also has a quarter less total fat (7g compared with 28g), and your total saturated fat falls from 14g (a woman’s daily limit is 20g and a man’s 30) to only 2.5g.

Out to lunch

SKIP SHOP-BOUGHT BAGUETTES AND MAKE YOUR OWN PITTA POCKETS

A chunk of French stick from a typical sandwich shop weighs in at 200g, which gives you 526 calories before you even start thinking about filling it with anything. Opting for pitta bread gives you 200 calories, which will save you more than 300 calories in one fell swoop. Also, while the French stick is high GI, the pitta bread is low GI. Although fillings slow down digestion of the high GI French stick, it is still wise to go for a low-GI carbohydrate option to help you feel fuller for the afternoon ahead.

HAVE A BAKED POTATO WITH BEANS AND SALAD INSTEAD OF CHEESE AND BUTTER

Having a baked potato with butter, baked beans and a sprinkling of grated cheese gives you 600 calories, compared with the potato with just the beans, a big salad with French dressing and a piece of fruit, such as a peach, for pudding, all of which comes to 500 calories. This swap also cuts fat from 20g to 9g and the total amount of saturated fat from 12g (a woman’s daily maximum is 20g of saturated fat and a man’s 30g) to only 1g. The salad and fruit also add vitamins, minerals and protective super-nutrients to your lunch.

AVOID MAYONNAISE-RICH TUNA SANDWICHES AND MAKE YOUR OWN

Rather than grab a tuna mayonnaise sandwich from your local store, get up five minutes earlier and throw together a simple tuna salad sandwich. While the shop-bought version easily packs in 400 calories, you can make one at home using two slices of wholemeal bread, spread lightly with reduced fat mayonnaise, and filled with 45g of tuna canned in olive oil, drained and mixed with balsamic vinegar, and topped with slices of tomato for only 300 calories. It is quick, easy and a lot lower in fat with 9g in total, compared with at least double this amount to be found in a commercial mayonnaise-based sandwich.

CHOOSE MINESTRONE OR GAZPACHO INSTEAD OF FATTENING SOUPS

A bowl of soup from a high street coffee shop makes a filling lunch. If you go for cream of tomato with basil, lentil and bacon or bean soup with a chunk of bread expect about 400 calories in a standard serving. To cut the calories, opt for a minestrone or a big serving of chilled gazpacho with a chunk of granary bread. Both options lower the calories to 300 because they contain more liquid than the filling bean or lentil and bacon soups.

Chocoholics

COAT TOAST WITH CHOCOLATE SPREAD FOR YOUR PAIN AU CHOCOLAT FIX

If you love pain au chocolat, bear in mind that one serving gives you 380 calories. Instead toast two medium-sized slices of multigrain toast and spread over a heaped teaspoon (20g) of chocolate spread. This chocolate treat comes with 280 calories and you get the benefit of 3g of fibre in the bread along with other nutrients including the antioxidants selenium and zinc, and some energy-boosting iron, B vitamins for healthy nerves and a little vitamin E. If you also top with a few sliced strawberries, you add virtually no calories but get a good slug of vitamin C needed for great-looking skin.

MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH MILK BUTTONS INSTEAD OF A SLAB OF CHOCOLATE

Wolfing down a quick 54g bar of Dairy Milk notches up 280 calories and 17g of fat. Instead, grab a mini pack of Cadbury’s milk chocolate Buttons with just 169 calories. Eating them one by one makes the chocolate experience last longer. If you can bear it, let each one melt in your mouth for a more intense chocolate experience and you may even find that you do not need to finish the whole packet. Even if you do, you still save 111 calories.

HAVE A KIT KAT WITH TWO SERVINGS OF FRUIT INSTEAD OF A MARS BAR

Swapping a Mars bar with 308 calories for a four-finger Kit Kat with 220 calories leaves you room to indulge in a big punnet of raspberries and a juicy nectarine. Not only have you saved calories, you have notched up two servings of super nutrient-rich fruit to boost your summer health.

LOW-FAT MOUSSE WITH BISCOTTI FILLS THE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE VACUUM

A chocolate brownie will pack in at least 260 calories per serving when bought from a typical high street coffee shop or sandwich bar. If you nip into a supermarket and search out their healthy eating ranges, most now sell tasty low-fat chocolate mousses with 80 to 100 calories per serving. You could indulge in two of them and still save yourself 100 calories or have one serving with a couple of tiny crunchy chocolate biscotti and be 100 calories in hand.

Snack attack

REPLACE SALTED PEANUTS WITH A RAISIN AND PEANUT MIX

If you sit and nosh your way through a typical 50g handful of roasted, salted peanuts, you will rack up 301 calories, not to mention 27g of fat. Opt instead for a 45g bag of peanuts and raisins and the calories drop to 195 and the fat to 12g. You also save on salt. The salted peanuts also give you a 0.5g of salt (our upper daily limit should be 6g), but the peanuts and raisin option is almost salt-free.

SNACK ON OLIVES AND GIVE HOUMMOS AND CRUDITES A MISS

If faced with a choice of hoummus and cucumber sticks or a plate of olives, go for the latter. In just three tablespoons of hoummos, you will have wolfed down 168 calories. You can, however, eat 20 olives for 68 calories, saving 100 in total. If the olives have been stored in oil, stick to 15 in total. If they are stored in brine, make sure that you have a glass of water close to hand so you don’t end up knocking back an alcoholic drink quickly to quench your thirst.

SKIP THE TORTILLA CHIPS AND CHOOSE A TZATZIKI VEGETABLE DIP

A bowl of tortilla chips is always tempting. A 50g serving (equivalent to a normal-sized bag of crisps and easy to get through over a drink or two) packs in 230 calories. Instead go for a bowl of tzatziki. You can have 150g (the amount that would fit into an individual yoghurt pot) with lots of vegetable crudités for 130 calories. You will feel far fuller, more virtuous and you’ll have saved 100 calories.

FORGET THE FLAPJACK AND TUCK IN TO A JAM AND CREAM SCONE

If you usually reach for a mid-afternoon flapjack thinking that this oaty, honey-packed snack is a safe choice, think again. For each 100g flapjack expect at least 493 calories and 27g of fat. You would be better off with a fruit scone, spread with a teaspoon of jam, and a tablespoon of whipped cream. In total this gives you 197 calories and 7g of fat. This saves virtually 300 calories and 20g of fat and yet seems like a far naughtier treat and is a lot more fun to eat.

Having a drink

TURN YOUR WHOLEMILK CAPPUCCINO INTO A SKINNY CAPPUCCINO SNACK

Swap your traditional large cappuccino using whole milk with 207 calories and 11g of fat per serving for a medium-sized skinny cappuccino. Made with skimmed milk, it has 96 calories and virtually no fat. While you lose more than 100 calories and drop 11g of fat with this choice, you lose none of the bone-building calcium. You lose a small amount of vitamin A, but few of us go short on this vitamin. Always count your liquid calories when totting up your daily total. Make these drinks count as a snack instead of tucking into biscuits or chocolate.

TAKE HOT DRINKS WITH SMIMMED MILK AND WITHOUT SUGAR

Two mugs of tea or coffee using whole milk and two sugars together give you 134 calories. If you change to semi-skimmed milk and drop the sugar, your calories nose-dive to just 27, saving more than 100 calories in two mugs. You also reduce your sugar intake by 24g a day. An average woman eating 2,000 calories a day should be having no more than 50g of sugar (from sugar, glucose, honey and fruit juice for example) a day and a man no more than 62g.

SWAP A SMOOTHIE FOR THREE PIECES OF FRESH FRUIT AND DRINK WATER

Rather than grabbing a “thickie”-style smoothie, with 300 calories per 250ml bottle, buy three pieces of your favourite fruit. You could choose a banana, a couple of satsumas and a tub of prepeeled mango and pineapple and pick on it during the day. This will count towards three servings of fruit (compared with just two in the smoothie) and it will help to stop you picking on other snacks during the day, as well as saving you 100 calories, all in one go. To quench your thirst, just have water.

CUT WINE MEASURES AND ENJOY A LONG SPRITZER DRINK

A typical bar and pub-size glass of wine comes in a 250ml serving giving you 185 calories per glass of medium white wine. Go back to the original 125ml size glasses and instantly you drop to 85 calories. If you feel this does not look a generous measure, have a big glass, but top up your wine with sparkling water. You will get a long, refreshing spritzer with all the volume, but cutting 100 calories. When it comes to shorts, opting for low-calorie mixers instead of the sugar versions saves you 100 calories with each double you order.