10 Hidden Calorie Bombs You Didn’t Realize Are in Your Diet

Do you want to lose weight without going on a diet? It’s totally possible, according to one health expert. Vicky Justiz is a fitness trainer and influencer with millions of followers across social media platforms. In a recent video she reveals some easy ways to drop dress sizes that don’t involve dieting.

“Today we're gonna be having a little bit of a chat about how to stay in a calorie deficit to meet your fat loss goals,” she says at the start of the clip. “So if your goal is to lose fat, to lose belly fat, to tone up, to get all snatched, to get a small waist, I got you.” We also asked Body Network’s Resident RDN, The Diet Diva, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian, to weigh in on her tips.

Calculate Your BMR

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She continues to explain that “losing fat is not just about exercise, about doing a bunch of cardio, it's also about getting your nutrition right, and that includes being in a calorie deficit. So let's break down what a calorie deficit even means,” she says, stating that a calorie deficit means burning more calories than you consume. She elaborates that a lot of people fail to calculate correctly because they only count the calories burned during exercise. “So your body already burns a certain amount of calories at rest. This is called your resting metabolic rate, also known as RMR,” she says. You need to add your resting rate to your “move” calories, which you can do using an online calculator. Once you find your BMR, you can use the approximation to “help you stay on track.”

Collingwood agrees that your total calories burned each day is a combination of your resting metabolism with the addition of calories burned “digesting food, doing daily activities like just walking around the house, store, work, etc., and then finally the exercise calories,” she says. “Every day is different depending on your daily activity and exercise calories, but the resting metabolism will pretty much stay consistent unless you have major weight or body composition changes.”

Don’t Be Too Specific with Calorie Counting

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She doesn’t recommend counting calories “to a specific fraction” because “it's not gonna be accurate,” and “it's not gonna be fun,” she says. “So how do we actually stay in a calorie deficit without spending every second of our lives counting our calories?” Counting calories exactly is not fun, “but it is good to have an idea of how many you need and how many are in the foods you are eating throughout the day,” notes Collingwood.

Nutrient Dense vs. Calorie Dense Food

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She adds that “what helps a lot with feeling full and satisfied while you're in a calorie deficit is prioritizing nutrient-dense foods and minimizing calorie-dense foods.”

Nutrient Dense Foods

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“Nutrient-dense foods are any kind of foods that have a lot of nutrients per calorie,” she explains, offering the examples of veggies, whole grains, eggs, and lean meats, “just like anything that has a lot of nutrients.” Because they've got a lot of nutrients, “they can help keep you full without being too calorie-dense.”

Calorie Dense Foods

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Then there are calorie dense foods, including junk foods, sweets, “even oils like olive oil is calorie dense,” she says. “However, olive oil also has a lot of nutrients. So it's kind of like both. So obviously, oil should not be avoided. I use olive oil in everything, but if you're trying to stay in a calorie deficit, you're not gonna be drenching all your food in like five tablespoons of oil.”

Make “Simple Swaps”

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“Sometimes it's all about making a simple swap,” she says. “Instead of having a huge, huge plate of rice and a little bit of protein, cut that rice in half. Add a bunch of veggies to your plate and increase the protein a little bit and you'll be feeling that meal a lot more satisfied and with probably the same or less amount of calories.” Collingwood loves the idea of filling up on nutrient dense foods, “which also tend to have a higher water, fiber, and protein content to keep you feeling full and satisfied,” she points out.

Eat Foods with High Water Content

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Another trick? “Focus on foods that have high water content,” she says, using the example of watermelon. “You find yourself feeling hungry like you are, just not satisfied. Eat a whole watermelon. I mean, maybe not a whole watermelon, but eat some watermelon,” she says. Other examples include hard boiled eggs and cucumbers.

Eat Lots of Protein

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“Another thing you should be doing is having a lot of protein,” she said, specifying that “at least around 30% of your calories should be coming from protein,” which you should include in every meal. “A lot of people have this misconception that protein is only for growing muscle and it is not. Muscle helps you stay really full. So it also helps sustain a calorie deficit. So I try to include some protein every single meal.”

Have Protein After Workouts

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“And after my workouts, I always have some kind of protein source,” she says, mentioning protein shakes and protein bars. While “you should try to get most of your protein from like your food sources,” supplementing with protein can be helpful. “It's what I do that helps me keep my protein intake up. It's just also a lot more convenient for me.”

Related: This Is Exactly How to Lose Body Fat This Year

Use Protein Bars as a Sweet Treat

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She also suggests using protein bars as an “alternative” to a candy bar or sweet treat. “It's a great alternative to having a candy bar or something that you eat and it still leaves you feeling kind of empty afterwards,” she says, adding that it satisfies her “crazy sweet tooth.” Any way you can get protein is good, as it helps keep you full, notes Collingwood. “Real food sources like meat, eggs, greek yogurt, cheese, legumes, etc. are good choices, but some protein bars and shakes can definitely fit as a replacement for sugary candy bars or high calorie coffee drinks,” she says.

RELATED: 3 Science-Based Workouts to Boost Your Fitness

Avoid Snacking

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Finally, she reveals that she avoids snacking. “I know that the habit a lot of people have, but snacking can really be a culprit. I try not to snack much. I just try to make sure my meals are nutritious and delicious and I feel satisfied after them and it kind of reduces my craving to snack on food,” she concludes.

Having a snack between meals is not the problem, “it is what and how much we are snacking on that can really make the difference between a good snack that can bridge appetite to a high calorie addition to your day that could contribute more calories than you need,” says Collingwood.

💪🔥Body Booster: Try adding protein to all of your meals, and slipping in a protein shake or bar when you aren’t getting enough.

Are you trying to lose weight with a healthy diet but can’t seem to hit your goals? You could be drinking your calories, says one weight loss warrior. Gabriella Rolocut (@gabbierolocut) is a social media influencer who shares about everything from fashion to weight loss. In fact, she managed to lose 75 pounds in a healthy and sustainable way, sharing tips with her followers. “I'm gonna share my biggest weight loss tip on how I was able to go from this to this, losing 75 pounds,” she says at the start of a viral TikTok clip. She has since gone on to lose over 80 pounds.

You Need to Understand How You Are Consuming Your Calories

Gabriella suggests taking a deep look at sneaky calories. “My biggest tip, and I can't stress this enough, is understanding how you're consuming your calories,” she says.

Coffee Drinks Have Lots of Hidden Calories

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“For example, we all love Starbucks, we all love Dunkin'. We love our little Pumpkin Spice latte. Our pumpkin spice drinks wanna be very seasonal. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Those drinks have so many calories, and I don't know if anybody's ever looked it up. Sometimes they don't post the calories up on the board next to the drinks, so I'm gonna show you just how many calories you're consuming,” she says.

One Dunkin’ Drink Has 930 Calories

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She starts with a pumpkin spice latte. “I'm gonna use the Pumpkin Swirl frozen coffee from Dunkin',” she says. “There could be 930 calories in this drink. That's 63% of my daily calories. If I were to drink this in the morning, I'd only have 541 more calories to get me through the rest of the day. There are 185 grams of sugar in this. 46 teaspoons of sugar is equal to 14 glazed donuts. Didn't you much rather eat your calories than drink them in a drink?”

RELATED: This Woman Lost 15 Pounds in 90 Days After She Started Eating These 4 Foods Every Day

There Are Lots of Alternatives That Don’t Have As Many Calories

“There are so many different alternatives that you can get from Starbucks, Dunkin', or anywhere that has significantly fewer calories than this one. That you can still have your pumpkin spice while losing weight was the biggest thing for me,” she said.

But Drinking These Kinds of Drinks Prevented Her From Losing Weight

“I didn't realize how many calories I was consuming on a daily basis because I would go out to Dunkin', to Starbucks, and I would get drinks like this, not knowing that's why I wasn't losing weight because I was consuming a drink that has 930 calories and then eating more,” she says.

Calculate Your Maintenance Calories

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She recommends “trying to calculate your resting metabolic rate, so how many calories your body's burning at its resting state, and then finding your maintenance calories, so how many calories you should be consuming on a daily basis, just to function as a human being.”

RELATED: This Doctor Added 40 Grams of Carbs Daily and Transformed Her Energy Levels in One Week

Then, Calculate Your Deficit Calories

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Then, figure out how many calories you need to cut to lose weight. “Calculate your calorie deficit calories, which is the calories that you're gonna wanna be consuming if you want to lose weight,” she says.

This Helped Her Lose Weight

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“That was one of my biggest things, eliminating high-calorie drinks and replacing them with healthier alternatives. I love my coffee. I look forward to it in the morning. It's the first thing I think about when I wake up. If you're looking to lose weight. I would highly suggest breaking down your calories and figuring out how you consume your calories throughout the day so that you're able to stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight,” she says.

This Dunkin’ Drink helped Her Lose Over 80 Pounds

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In another post, she revealed her go-to drink order at Dunkin'. This drink has helped me lose over 80 pounds, and it's so simple to order. “Can I do a large iced latte? Can you put three Splenda in that? And light ice.”

RELATED: This Woman Lost 13 Pounds at 40 By Completely Changing 3 Exercise Habits

The Only Calories Are From Milk

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“I asked for light ice, which means they put in more milk. There are more calories from milk. But my only concern here is that I know that none of the calories I'm drinking are coming from a sweetener solely because there is no flavor in it. The only calories that come out of this drink are from milk. Coffee has no calories. Stevia has no calories. The milk is the only thing,” she says. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.