Photography by Alan Cleaver, via Flickr (CC)

Cutting calories can be tricky business, whether you’re trying to shed pounds or simply clean up your diet. Here are 9 simple strategies that you can try each day to slash your calorie count without sacrificing your favourite foods.

1. Ask for your dressing on the side. A mere 4 tablespoons of dressing can be multiple hundreds of calories. You can save over 200 calories if you use the fork-dip method when you eat your salad: Order your dressing on the side. Before each bite of salad, dip your fork into the dressing and then take a bite of salad. By the time you have finished your salad, you will likely have only used a fraction of the dressing in front of you, but you have still enjoyed your salad.

2. Eat an English muffin instead of a bagel. Bagels are big and dense and can sometimes be well over 400 calories (especially if you add cream cheese). An English muffin, on the other hand, is roughly about 150 calories. If you absolutely must have a bagel, only eat half.

3. Eat raw veggies with salsa instead of chips and salsa. The problem with eating chips and salsa is that it’s almost impossible to eat just a serving size. People tend to graze over the chips and eat well over three of four servings at a time, racking up hundreds of calories. Stick to raw veggies, which are better for your body and also contain way fewer calories. Looking for some tasty dip ideas instead of salsa? Try these DIY spreads.

4. Use nonfat milk in your coffee instead of creamer. Sure, the first few times you use nonfat milk, you will notice a difference. But over time, you will get used to your coffee being less creamy and you will save yourself 50-100 calories with each coffee you drink.

5. Don’t drink your calories—stick to water. One can of Coke has more than 120 calories. Water has exactly zero calories. This one is a no-brainer, really. Water is amazing for your body, and it’s far more wallet-friendly than drinking pop. Note: This is NOT an easy transition to make, and you may want to switch to carbonated water before making the switch to water completely.

6. Use mustard instead of mayo. Mustard is really low in calories and packs a powerful flavor punch. You can save calories and fat by using mustard to top your sandwiches instead of mayonnaise.

7. Skip the cheese on your sandwich. Cheese is delicious. Because of this, it’s always tempting to add a slice or two to your sandwich. But the truth is, if you pack your sandwich full of delicious veggies and low-calorie condiments, you barely notice the cheese in there and it essentially becomes empty calories. If you absolutely cannot bring yourself to eat a sandwich without the slice of cheese, remove the top slice of bread and eat your sandwich open-faced. You can save those calories by not eating the extra bread.

8. Snack on popcorn instead of chips. As with the chips and salsa, when you sit down to snack, you are too are often unaware of how many servings you are actually eating in just one sitting. It’s wiser to snack on air-popped popcorn (not theatre-style with loads of butter and salt, of course) or even a single-serving bag of pretzels. If plain popcorn is too boring, shake on a bit of paprika or dill for a flavour boost.

9. Remove the skin from chicken. Removing the skin from a chicken breast can save you almost 100 calories, and with so many ways to dress up chicken, you won’t lose any of the flavour. Need proof? Try our Grilled Chicken with Tangy Balsamic Tomato Sauce.

What’s your best tip for cutting calories? Share it with us in the comments below!