Remember, HIGH FIBRE, LOW SUGAR!

40. BRUSH YOUR TEETH AFTER EVERY MEAL, ESPECIALLY DINNER.

That clean, minty freshness will serve as a cue to your body and brain that mealtime is over.

39. GET MOST OF YOUR CALORIES BEFORE NOON.

Studies find that the more you eat in the morning, the less you’ll eat in the evening. And you have more opportunities to burn off those early-day calories than you do to burn off dinner calories.

38. SNACK ON A SMALL HANDFUL OF NUTS.

Studies have found that overweight people who ate a moderate-fat diet containing almonds lost more weight than a control group that didn’t eat nuts. Snacking once or twice a day helps stave off hunger and keeps your metabolism stoked. You can also pack up baby carrots or your own trail mix with nuts, raisins, seeds, and dried fruit.

37. DROP YOUR MILK TYPE AND YOU CUT CALORIES BY ABOUT 20 PERCENT.

If you drink regular, go to 2%. If you already drink 2%, go down another notch to 1% or skim milk. Each step downward cuts the calories by about 20 percent. Once you train your taste buds to enjoy skim milk, you’ll have cut the calories in the whole milk by about half and trimmed the fat by more than 95 percent.

36. EAT FRUIT INSTEAD OF DRINKING FRUIT JUICE.

For the calories in one kid-size box of apple juice, you can enjoy an apple, orange, and a slice of watermelon. These whole foods will keep you satisfied much longer than that box of apple juice, so you’ll eat less overall.

35. TRY HOT SAUCE, SALSA, AND CAJUN SEASONINGS.

They provide lots of flavor with no fat and few calories, plus they turn up your digestive fires, causing your body

34. EAT CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST FIVE DAYS A WEEK.

Studies find that people who eat cereal for breakfast every day are significantly less likely to be obese and have diabetes than those who don’t. They also consume more fiber and calcium—and less fat—than those who eat other breakfast foods. Make oatmeal, or pour out a high-fiber, low-sugar cereal like Total or Grape Nuts.

33. ENJOY HIGH-CALORIE TREATS AS THE ACCENT, NOT THE CENTERPIECE.

Make a spoonful of ice cream the jewel and a bowl of fruit the crown. Cut down on the chips by pairing each bite with lots of chunky, filling fresh salsa, suggests Jeff Novick, director of nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Florida. Balance a little cheese with a lot of fruit or salad.

32. IF YOU’RE GOING TO INDULGE, CHOOSE FAT-RELEASING FOODS.

They should help keep you from feeling deprived and binging on higher-calorie foods. For instance: honey has just 64 fat releasing calories in one tablespoon. Eggs have just 70 calories in one hard-boiled egg, loaded with fat releasing protein. Part-skim ricotta cheese has just 39 calories in one ounce, packed with fat releasing calcium. Dark chocolate has about 168 calories in a one-ounce square, but it’s packed with fat releasers. And a University of Tennessee study found that people who cut 500 calories a day and ate yogurt three times a day for 12 weeks lost more weight and body fat than a group that only cut the calories. The researchers concluded that the calcium in low-fat dairy foods triggers a hormonal response that inhibits the body’s production of fat cells and boosts the breakdown of fat.