If you've already moved away from sugary drinks (a no-brainer for dramatically cutting kcal), then progressively drinking less-sweet (even less artificially sweet) beverages is next. Aspartame users tend to gain more weight in some studies! (24) Time to re-train your palate. Ultimately, drinking more plain, cold water, perhaps 2-3 liters per day for a healthy person, is a good goal for creating a negative energy balance and even reducing risk of heart disease.(2,3)

In fact, get this: a half-liter of cold water is hugely thermogenic according to a recent study! Metabolic rate jumps 30 percent and that thermogenesis is fueled by fat "burning" in men!(2) Nice. Because I've never liked large volumes of plain, room temperature tap water, here are two ways to pleasantly keep the fluids coming:

• Sugar free gelatin–yep, again. It is fluid after all.
• Flavored waters throughout the day (sucralose- or lime-wedge-flavored; not too sweet). I personally like Propel from the Gatorade people. Remember, we want to get "unused" to sweet drinks. As I mentioned, there's some pretty disconcerting evidence that typical hyper-sweet aspartame drinks just lead to next-day compensation and more weight gain in the long run; Ugh!(18, 24)
• Try using a half-packet less sweetener in your green tea each month until you're drinking it plain.

I've already touched on this but it's worth reiterating. Liquid calories are a likely way to add uncompensated (that is, truly additional) kcal to your intake,(7) even if some studies are mixed in this regard.(1) So, take the opposite approach to a bulking phase when you instead choose to diet: Avoid imbibing anything with calories other than a protein drink. This helps to preserve your negative energy balance. Remember:

• Consume few and/or water-diluted fruit juices and no fruity "beverages" (Holy high-fructose corn syrup, Batman!).
• Ditch the constant pop (or soda if you're not from the Midwest); it just adds small amounts of mistimed caffeine and rots your teeth.
• "Friendly" liquid calories like skim milk are certainly less threatening but even they can be temporarily diluted (e.g. in protein shakes) with ice and water as a competition or deadline approaches.

I've written about this before. Eat a little something non-alcoholic (27) 30-45 minutes before an otherwise big meal. Think of it as an appetizer if that helps, even if we're using it as an anti-appetizer, as it were. Even when you take into consideration the kcal in this "preemptive strike," you'll come out ahead overall. Did you know that just eating three apples or pears per day has been shown to result in a 2-3 pound weight loss over 12 weeks?(5) Cool. So, as a pre-emptive strike to "dilute" a meal's calorie load, one might try:

• A small apple. (13)
• Some hot broth or soup. (15)
• Some red pepper and coffee. (28)
• A small protein shake (50/50 skim milk and water with ice).

Hepatic glycogen storage and resulting messages to the brain appear to be one mechanism here.

• Mix a 50/50 blend of pre-nuked broccoli, peppers or your favorite "fibrous" vegetable into whole wheat or flax-based pasta. Ditch the white stuff if humanly possible. Bam! It's still delicious but there goes half the calories, Emeril.
• Caution: Use gluten- and soy-based low-carb pastas with prudence. Sub-clinical gluten sensitivity may be more prevalent than once thought and soy carries its own special hormonal considerations. These should be more of a treat and less of a staple than the veggie "dilution technique" stated above.
• Also consider replacing 25-50% of your mashed potatoes with cauliflower. It's not bad. Really.

Okay, so here's a little chart as a summary of this article:

With a calorie budget of just 1400-2000 kcal for most dieters, we now have 10 ways to keep the look, frequency, and SIZE of our meals desirable. A full stomach is always a good thing–and an even better thing six weeks into a "diet"!

Making small to moderate, acceptable changes puts us on the road to that approaching poolside physique display (or more serious goal) that many dieters think about. Consistency is the single most important factor and attractive, reasonably-sized plates of food make it happen. (Remember, though, that a "lapse is not a collapse." We can get back on track the very next meal, even if a grab of the old love handles may be necessary as a reminder before wiping out a second high-cal "cheat meal.")

In the end, no dieter wants to stare down another pale, boiled chicken breast and a cup of unattractive, grey-looking "green" beans. Nor does he want to eat postage-stamp-sized portions of his favorite foods. What kind of freaky torture is THAT?! Toward these ends, and as a fellow calorie watcher, I humbly submit these calorie dilution techniques in hopes that they will help.

Next in this "Losing Your Energy Balance" Series: Calorie DRAINING Techniques to make that negative kcal balance even easier! Some will definitely surprise you!

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