How to Cut Calories in the Evening

It's a vicious cycle: We can start the day with such good intentions, but by dinnertime, we're either so famished or stressed out that all we can think about is ice cream. To carry your healthy diet through to the finish line, follow these tips for ending the day without ending your diet.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. At dinner, serve your plate at the kitchen counter rather than set it on the table family style, which prompts people to eat even after they are full.

2. Skip seconds to shave a few hundred unnecessary calories.

3. If you enjoy a bedtime nighttime snack, measure out a serving and then put the container away. It's too easy to keep eating and eating if the whole bag is right at your side.

4. Before you dive for the ice cream or cookies, eat a handful of grapes instead. That might quell your sweet tooth just as well, and with a lot less damage.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember portion sizes. A serving of meat resembles a deck of cards, a serving of rice, pasta, or potatoes equals a tennis ball. Fresh vegetables have no limits.