My main strategy is to fill up on low-calorie foods. Once a week, I buy and prep a bunch of snack veggies (celery, carrot chips, cucumber slices, pepper slices, and cherry tomatoes). I portion them out in meal prep containers, one for each day, and I have a saved meal that I enter in My Fitness Pal at the beginning of the day. Then I snack on the veggies whenever I want (I usually split them between mid-morning and mid-afternoon), knowing that they’re already accounted for. I use Walden Farms “calorie-free” dressing as a dip. It is a LOT of food for ~60 calories.
If I’m in the mood for something warm, my go-to is cauliflower rice with Flavor God cheese seasoning and Mrs. Dash. Or I make a soup with cauliflower rice and chicken broth. 20-30 calories and very satisfying.
I have a great substitution for ice cream! Whip pasteurized egg whites (safe to eat without cooking) with cream of tartar, calorie-free sugar substitute, and flavoring of choice (vanilla is delicious but I like to experiment with different flavors of One-On-One) and freeze. It’s best to eat before it’s frozen solid, or after letting it soften for a few minutes. It makes about 1 cup for just 25 calories, and it’s dairy-free and high in protein. I also use it (without freezing) as a substitute for whipped cream and put it on 10-calorie sugar-free Jello.
Sometimes just looking at the nutrition information is enough to deter me. One time someone brought donuts to work and they were calling my name. I looked up the nutrition info to see how bad a small glazed donut would be, and it was 280 calories! I could eat two Built Bars for that and I would enjoy them more, and once I looked at it that way, I had no desire to eat the donut. Not worth it!