BOSTON (CBS) – When it comes to losing weight, nobody likes counting calories. That is why registered Dietician Leslie Bonci came up with the Active Calorie Diet. It’s all about making your calories count. “Calories are not the same,” she said. “There are certain foods that when you eat them your body actually expends more calories to break them down.”
Leslie, along with Prevention Magazine, came up with an acronym to help people make those calories work. Just think C.H.E.W.
WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports
‘C’ is for chewing because you tend to expend calories just by chewing. So choosing an apple is better than drinking a glass of apple juice. “When you eat the apple, you have to bite into it. You have to chew it,” Bonci explained. Chewy foods include fruits, vegetables, meat and nuts.
‘H’ stands for hearty. Hearty foods are filling and satisfying like soup, oatmeal and cereal. She gave the example of a bowl of black bean soup with a scoop of brown rice on top. These high-fiber foods take up more room in your stomach and make you feel full longer.
‘E’ stands for energizing. Foods that are energizing have caffeine in them. Bonci says caffeine stimulates the body and gives it a fat-burning boost. Coffee and tea are good sources. Bonci does not recommend soda, but chocolate, in moderation, works.
‘W’ stands for warming. By that she means warming spices like chili pepper, salsa, ginger, curry, cumin, cinnamon and cloves. Vinegars can also have the warming effect.
But can these simple changes really make a difference? Bonci says if you follow all four steps you could burn about 70 extra calories a day. And any dieter knows every little bit helps.