Dietitian Paula Norris shares photos of her meals – but one comes with nearly DOUBLE the calories

A dietitian has revealed how tweaking your diet with simple food swaps can make a huge difference to your calorie intake.

Paula Norris, from Brisbane, shared a picture of two nearly identical stir fries with basmati rice – but one dish contains 245 calories more than the other.

The nutrition expert explained how making just a few changes to the ingredients can cut the dish from 683 to 438 calories by reducing the portion size of chicken and rice, doubling the amount of vegetables and substituting honey for lime juice.

‘Eating more volume for the same or even less calories is key for satiety,’ Paula, who has more than 114,000 followers on Instagram, wrote. 

‘As you can see, a few small tweaks and you can save calories whilst maintaining protein at a level that will keep you full and increase your micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) intake through more vegetables.’

Paula noted there was nothing wrong with the dish with 683 calories but she suggested avoiding using added sugars in sauces where possible.

‘Of course the one on the right is also okay especially if you have higher calorie requirements,’ she explained.

‘Although I do think it’s always a good idea to try and avoid added sugars in stir fry sauces if you can. I prefer to have my added sugar in the form of some chocolate.’

Many praised her for sharing her comparisons, with one woman saying: ‘I have started eating more and more like this because of your posts and I am enjoying it so much. It makes your body feel better afterwards and not bloated or like you’re missing out.’

A second woman said: ‘This is great. I always feel like I need to use more meat in things as that will be the filling component. So it’s a good reminder to think about the volume of veggies.’

Paula is known for illustrating the surprising comparisons in a graph to show people exactly what calories look like in similar foods.

Last month, she explained how a simple salad with chicken and rice can be cut from 900 to 600 calories by substituting some of the meat for black beans, and having a smaller portion of higher calorie ingredients such as avocado.

‘Spot the difference between these two dishes,’ Paula said.

‘I have always been a hungry human. So here’s an example of what I do so that I don’t go overboard on the calories whilst still getting plenty of food.’

Paula added that the meal on the left side of the post contains a staggering 900 calories, while the one on the left boasts just 600 calories.

The differences between the meals include varying amounts of chicken breast, oil, rice, avocado and pumpkin seeds – as well as the addition of black beans in the more low cal version of the two dishes.

‘On the left, there is 200 grams of chicken breast cooked in two teaspoons of oil, one cup of rice, half a carrot, half a cup of lettuce, one cucumber, six cherry tomatoes, half an avocado and two teaspoons of pumpkin seeds,’ she explained.

‘On the right, there is just 100 grams of chicken breast cooked in one teaspoon of oil, 100 grams of black beans, 1/2 cup of rice, one carrot, one cup of lettuce, two cucumbers, eight cherry tomatoes, a quarter of an avocado and one teaspoon of pumpkin seeds.’

Paula added: ‘Of course, the one on the left is also okay, especially if you have higher calorie requirements.’