Drop 5 Lbs!

Formerly FDA-rated as 80 calories, apples are now 130. The reason: Supermarket fruit has supersized over the years, so that yesterday's medium is today's small. In response, the FDA revisited its food labels. Other fruits hit with a calorie upgrade include peaches (which rose from 40 to 60) and oranges (from 70 to 80). The good news: Their vitamin and fiber counts have gotten a boost too.

If you're craving sugar, try an almond stacked on top of a dried apricot — it tastes like a cookie. Really. (We cribbed this idea from In Great Taste by Evelyn H. Lauder.)

Nope. Even within the same brand, there can be a big calorie difference in microwave popcorns. Three cups of Orville Redenbacher's Pour Over Movie Theater Butter popcorn has the same amount of calories as 9 cups of Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop Butter.

You've heard it again and again — H2O, at zero calories, is the best diet drink. But if you're still hooked on high-cal beverages, check out these numbers: Researchers who tracked 240 overweight women found that those who replaced sweetened drinks with water lost five more pounds, on average, than those who didn't. Why these sips add up: A can of Coke is 146 calories; a cup of grape juice, 154 calories.

How to indulge without gaining: Cook the pasta al dente, so it's firm to the bite. Why? The longer you boil noodles, the more the starch breaks down, which raises the pasta's glycemic index. This causes your blood sugar level to rise faster — and may increase your junk food cravings too. Studies show that when you cook spaghetti for five minutes, its glycemic index is 38; after 20 minutes, it shoots up to 61. But even al dente cooking doesn't mean you can eat piles of fettucine Alfredo every night. And high-cal pasta sauces are still off-limits.

Now you can work out less — and get more fit. A recent study from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, showed that about a half-hour of sprint cycling (alternating speeds by pedaling quickly for 30 seconds and then at a slow pace for four minutes) is as effective as an hour and a half of moderate pedaling. The key is the series of 30-second power bursts.

Tired of cooking? We hear you. But consider this before you order takeout: A recent study showed that restaurant meals have at least 60 percent more calories than dishes prepared at home. Portion size may be a factor. In a survey of 300 chefs, many of the cooks copped to serving 12-ounce — or larger — steaks (the recommended portion is 3 ounces) and one to two cups of pasta (one serving is half a cup).

6 Natural Choice Organic Full of Fruit Frozen Fruit Bars (around 53 calories each) = 1 Vanilla & Almonds Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bar (320 calories)

Add one hour of sleep to your schedule, and you could drop up to 14 pounds this year. New data from the University of Michigan shows that you'll likely eat 6 percent less if you replace 60 minutes of awake time (when you may snack) with an hour of shut-eye. And a Harvard study that tracked around 68,000 women found that those who clocked only five or fewer hours of rest a night had a 32 percent greater chance of gaining more than 30 pounds over a 16-year period than those who got seven hours of sleep.

5 Miss Meringue Triple Chocolate Chip cookies (30 calories each) = less than 1 Mrs. Fields Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip cookie (160 calories)

Say good-bye to bagels. Researchers from Louisiana State University System tracked people on a low-cal diet and found that those who ate two eggs in the morning lost 65 percent more weight than those who had a bagel breakfast with the same number of calories. Plus, the egg eaters' cholesterol levels didn't go up. How did they shed the extra pounds? Compared to the bagel group, they felt fuller after breakfast and ate fewer calories during the day.

Exercising to the right song can help you get fitter, report researchers from Brunel University in England. They found that music helped participants work out longer. The key is to find tunes that get you going (think James Brown's "I Feel Good"). Once you sit down to eat, however, silence is best. A study from Georgia State University showed that people munched more when music was playing.

It's no joke! A study from Vanderbilt University showed that you can burn up to that many calories by laughing genuinely for 10 to 15 minutes. (Watch Groundhog Day to giggle off even more weight.)

Eating at restaurants doesn't have to be lethal to your diet. You can find healthy menu choices at nearly 30,000 eateries (from fast to fancy food) at healthydiningfinder.com, which is partly funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other slim-down tricks: Ask for sauces on the side, steer clear of the bread basket, and skip high-cal drinks.

To shed post-pregnancy pounds, turn off the tube and head outdoors, say researchers at Harvard Medical School. They tracked 902 new moms and found that for every hour of TV watched daily, a mother’s risk of retaining baby weight increased by 24 percent; for every hour of walking daily, it fell by 34 percent.

6 Deep Chocolate VitaMuffins (100 calories each) = 1 Dunkin’ Donuts Chocolate Chip Muffin (630 calories)

Sun-Maid Vanilla Yogurt Raisins: Raisins? Check. Yogurt? Check. So what went wrong? The white coating mostly consists of sugar and partially hydrogenated palm-kernel oil. A 1-ounce box—around 35 raisins — has 120 calories and a big dose of saturated fat (20 percent of the recommended daily limit).

Calbee Snapea Crisps: They're just baked peas — that sounds innocent enough. But these tempting treats are so full of fat, just 1 ounce (22 chips) packs 150 calories. That's the same as regular potato chips. Eat the entire bag (it's frighteningly easy to do), and you'll put away nearly 500 calories.

R.W. Knudsen Lemon Lime Spritzer: How can seltzer with a splash of lemon and lime be anything but low-cal? Because the beverage is sweetened with fruit juice concentrates, which add up to 170 calories a can. (That’s 2 more grams of sugar and 30 more calories than in Coca-Cola Classic.)

Which has more calories at McDonald's — two Big Macs or a large chocolate shake? How about at Denny's: the country-fried steak and eggs or the ham and Cheddar omelet? If you guessed the burgers or the steak, you're wrong. But join the club. When the California Center for Public Health Advocacy asked 523 people to name the healthiest options at popular restaurants, 68 percent didn't get a single answer right. One solution: Check the restaurant's Website for nutritional info first. P.S. The chocolate shake, 1,160 calories; the two hamburgers, 1,080 (total); Denny's omelet, 595; the steak and eggs, 543.

Finally, a sugary treat that's good for you. Packed with antioxidants, potassium, and fiber, Sunsweet Ones prunes are surprisingly delicious (in our test, tasters couldn't resist sampling several). And the individually wrapped dried plums are only 25 calories each ($3 for a seven-ounce canister).

The most effective personal trainers may be furry and four-legged. Researchers from the University of Victoria in British Columbia found that people with dogs walk almost twice as much as those without. One key reason: Even when pet owners are feeling lazy, most are responsible enough to head outside and give their little buddy some exercise.