Go for the smaller sips

At most fast-food chains, it doesn’t seem to make economic sense to get the smaller drinks, because the bigger sizes cost just a few cents more. Marketers plan it this way to encourage you to supersize your food and drinks. But the calorie difference can be significant. A large, 32-ounce cola contains about 310 calories. If you switch to the 16-ounce size instead, you’ll reduce the number of calories by half. (Remember: To lose a pound a week—or 50 pounds a year—you only need to reduce your daily calorie intake by 500 calories. This one painless switch gets you one-third of the way there!) Even better: You can eliminate soda calories entirely by drinking water or seltzer with lemon. If you drop a 300-plus calorie soda from your diet five times a week, you’ll lose nearly a half a pound a week. Or you won’t gain it. If you must have an occasional soda, dilute it with seltzer or soda water and you’ll save a bunch of calories.