Sometimes it's the small changes you barely notice that add up to big changes in your weight. Try these effortless methods and watch the pounds drop away...

Cut liquid calories

Sugary fizzy drinks, fruit juices and squash all contain around 100 calories in a regular glass and fancy coffees such as lattes can be 250 calories or more. Each small glass of wine will also add around 100 calories. Total up your daily liquid intake and you'll soon see it's not just food calories you have to watch.

Research shows that we often don't take into account calories consumed in liquid form so we're unlikely to compensate with less food. To avoid the liquid calorie trap, opt for choices such as tea, regular coffee, herbal tea, water, skimmed milk and the occasional diet soft drink.

Use smaller plates

This trick will mean you automatically serve yourself a smaller portion without even noticing. Just one less tablespoon of pasta on your plate saves you 31 calories while one less new potato cuts out another 30 calories - small savings like these soon add up to sustained weight loss.

Change your spread

Switch to a low-fat spread instead of butter or margarine.

Do this on just two slices of bread every day and it will save you at least 80 calories. That translates to 1lb lost every couple of months.

Hold the mayo

One tablespoon adds about 100 calories and 10g of fat to your sandwich or salad. If you must use mayo, switch to the light stuff and cut half the fat and calories. Mustard is the best bet for your sandwich - it has 10-20 calories per tablespoon.

Swap your normal cuppa for green tea

Substances called catechins in green tea appear to slightly raise metabolic rate.

By swapping five or six cups of standard tea for the same amount of green tea every day you'll burn up to an estimated 80 extra calories a day.

Grate your chocolate

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When you grate a couple of squares of chocolate they make a much bigger pile (pick up between your thumb and forefinger and enjoy!).

Just remember to hide the leftover squares back in the fridge out of sight...

Switch to wholegrain

Wholegrain versions of pasta, bread, rice and other carbs won't save you any calories but they will fill you up better and mean you're likely to eat less overall.

Another benefit is improved digestion, with less constipation and bloating, so you have sleeker lines.

Studies show that people who have diets high in whole grains also have lower waist measurements.

有時候正是一些不起眼的小改變使你的體重發生巨大的變化。試試下面一些毫不費力的方法吧，那樣你就可以看著自己的體重下降了。

減少液態卡路里攝入

一杯碳酸型糖類飲料、果汁或鮮果汁大概含有100卡路里能量，而一杯濃縮咖啡如拿鐵咖啡則含有250卡路里或更高的能量。一小杯酒也有100卡路里左右的能量。計算一下你每天的液體攝入量，你很快就會發現，你需要注意的不只是食物里所含有的能量。

調查顯示我們通常不會將液體含有的能量考慮在內，因此也就不會減少食物攝入量用以彌補。為了避免液態卡路里陷阱，應選擇一些如茶、普通咖啡、涼茶、白水、脫脂奶之類的飲品以及少量的減肥飲料。

使用較小的餐具

這個小竅門可以使你在不知不覺中減少了食物攝入量。減少一湯匙的面食就減少了31卡路里，少一勺子嫩馬鈴薯又可以減少30卡路里能量。不久，這種小舉措就會為你體重的持續下降貢獻一份力量。

更換你的奶油

選擇低脂的奶油來代替黃油或人造奶油。在兩片面包上使用低脂奶油，你每天就可以少攝入至少80卡路里能量，也就是說，每兩個月你就可以減少一磅的體重。

控制蛋黃醬的使用量

在你食用三文治沙拉時，加入一勺的蛋黃醬就增加了大概100卡路里能量和10克的脂肪。如果你一定要吃蛋黃醬，那就用少一些，一半就好了。芥末是三文治最好的佐料，它每湯匙只有10-20卡路里的能量。

用綠茶代替你平時喝的茶

綠茶中一種叫兒茶酚的物質可以略微提高你新陳代謝的速率。

每天，用五六杯綠茶代替同等量的普通的茶，你將可以消耗掉額外的80卡路里能量。

磨碎你的巧克力

當你把兩片巧克力磨碎之后，它們就會變成一堆比磨碎之前更大的東西（這時，你可以用拇指和食指享受它們了）。要記得將其余沒有磨碎的巧克力放回冰箱里以免被你看到。

選擇谷類食物

意粉、面包、米飯和其它富含氨基酸的谷類食物并不會減少你的能量攝入，但它們可以讓你吃得更飽。這樣，在總量上你就會吃得少了。

食用谷類食物的另外一個好處就是可以提高你的消化能力，從而得便秘和胃脹的可能性也就變小了，這樣你的線條就會變得更加圓滑。

另外，研究表明，谷類食物為主人的人腰圍也會變得更小。