NCutting 100 calories a day can help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year! Nutrition editor Leah McLaughlin says you don’t have to give up snacking, just change your snackfoods! 

Snacking is an excellent way to keep on your diet and to keep your energy level up and keep your hunger cravings at bay.

So make smarter choices throughout the day and you’re well on your way. For example…choose grapes over raisins.

So let’s say you were going to have a half cup of raisins for a snack, you could actually have a full cup of grapes instead, and you’d actually be getting more food for about 100 calories less.

And I notice you have popcorn here, that’s a pretty healthy snack, right?

Air popped popcorn is an excellent snack. But it’s the butter topping that makes it an unhealthy snack and gives it a lot of extra calories, almost 120 per tablespoon.

Switch to parmesian cheese to save 100 calories and have 3 cups of popcorn instead of just one!

Now what if you have a sweet tooth, is it okay if you indulge a little bit? Leah: It’s definitely okay, in fact, it’s important if you’re dieting cuz you don’t want to deprive yourself too much, or you’ll just go off the diet completely. 

Again, it’s about choices…a bag of 24 jellybellys is 100 calories less than a pack of  10 Starburst fruit chews. Along with regular exercise and a healthy diet, smart snacking can have a place in your weight loss plan. For Fitness Magazine, I’m Bonnie Kaye.