Easy Steps To Weight Loss

The math is pretty simple. One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. Want to lose a pound a week? Then you need to consume 3500 calories less per week than you use. That's about 500 calories a day. By cutting out 500 calories a day from your normal daily diet, while keeping your activity level the same, you can lose approximately one pound a week.
 
All right - that doesn't sound like much, especially if you're more than 25 pounds overweight. Study after study has shown, though, that those people who lose weight gradually - at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week -are far more likely to keep the weight off and maintain a normal weight for a lifetime.

So how much exactly IS 500 calories? If you're going to reduce your daily intake by 500 calories, it helps to know what you need to cut out, right? Here's how easy it is to lose 500 calories a day:

Use milk instead of cream in your coffee. Savings? 50 calories per cup.

Skip the butter on your baked potato. Savings? 100 calories

Drink fruit-flavored water instead of a 16 ounce soda. Savings? 200 calories

Skip the Big Mac and have a salad instead. A Big Mac weighs in at a whopping 460 calories. A fresh salad

with a light dressing? Less than 100! Savings? 360 calories

Pass by the bag of potato chips. An average snack size bag of chips has over 300 calories. Savings? 300 calories

 Eat your corn on the ear. A 1 cup serving of canned corn has 165 calories. An ear of corn has 85. Savings? 80 calories.

Switch to low-fat cream cheese on your bagel. Savings? 90 calories per ounce.

Love those fries and can't give them up? Swap the skinny fries out for thick steak-cut ones. Thin French fries absorb more oil than the thicker, meatier ones. Savings? 50 calories per 4 ounce serving

If you'd rather look at losing weight from an exercise perspective, you can also lose one pound a week by upping your activity level by 500 calories a day. How easy is that to do? Take a look:

Take a half-hour walk around the park. Aim for a pace that's a little faster than a stroll, but not fast enough to be breathless. Burn: 160 calories.

Get out your bike and take a ride. Tackle a few moderate hills and aim for about five miles total. Burn: 250 calories

Go dancing - and really DANCE. The longer you're out on the floor instead of at the table drinking up high-calorie drinks, the more you'll get out of it. Dancing that makes you breathless and warms up your body will net you a nice calorie savings. Burn: 400 calories for one hour

Swimming is great for you, and a lot of fun, too. The water resistance means you burn more calories, and you avoid the stress impact on joints from aerobics, dancing or walking. Do a few laps at a slow crawl - if you can get up to an hour you'll be doing great! Burn: 510 calories
 
Get out into your garden. An hour of gardening tasks that includes bending and stretching can burn up to as many calories as a brisk walk. Burn: 250 calories.

Play a game of tennis. Hook up with a friend for a weekly tennis game and you'll be amazed at the difference. One hour of vigorous tennis is one of the best calorie burners around. Burn: 800 calories
It’s important to keep in mind that all exercise/calorie numbers are based on a woman weighing 130 pounds. If you weigh more, you'll burn more. Want an added bonus to burning calories through exercise? When you exercise, you build muscle by converting it from fat. Three guesses which kind of body tissue burns more calories - even when you're not exercising. You got it - your body uses more energy to maintain and feed muscle than it does fat.

For best results, mix and match food savings with exercises that burn calories. Do keep in mind that eating less than 1000 calories a day for more than a few days will convince your body that it's starving and slow your metabolism. Keep calorie ranges reasonable, and consult a doctor if you want a quicker, more drastic weight loss.

All throughout my childhood and teenage years I watched helplessly as my mother tried every fad diet under the sun. I recall one time she ate boiled cabbage and nothing else for a whole week. I felt my mothers’ frustration and misery but I could not understand why it was so difficult for her to lose weight and keep it off – until that is I became a weight loss coach.
For the past two years I have been assisting people to achieve their ideal weight and in this time I have experienced what contributes to a successful weight loss story.

Get serious
It all starts with you and how serious you are. The key to successful weight loss is dependent on your level of commitment. How would you rate your seriousness on a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being deadly serious)?
Staying motivated
Always keep the end in mind! Write down all of the reasons why you are motivated to lose weight now. Record these reasons on a piece of card that can be kept in your wallet or purse. Each morning and before going to bed remind yourself by reading aloud why you are motivated to lose weight.

Facing challenges
Every day you are likely to face challenges which can disrupt your focus and get in the way of your weight loss goals. Write down all of the challenges that you know have made losing weight hard for you in the past because this will help you to develop a better strategy this time. Three common challenges are lack of results, boredom and lack of support from spouse, family and friends.

Safe and effective
When choosing a weight control program I would recommend looking for the following:

Balanced nutritious
Provides you with balanced nutritious meals
Teaches you about better eating habits
Choose a weight control program that teaches you how to maintain your weighr t once you have reached your goal.

Do you sometimes get bored with your aerobic exercise? Do You sometimes feel like you're not getting the results you should from your aerobic exercise? If so, then aerobic cross-training is for you.

It can be intimidating to follow a weight loss plan, right? Sometimes there are so many rules, and so many major changes in your life required. Is there another way? Not just another diet or plan, but a whole different approach?



Try Small Changes To Lose Weight

If a diet or a complicated weight-loss system is just too overwhelming, try making a small change instead. For example, develop the habit of eating celery or another low-calorie food before any other snacks, so you don't eat as much of the junk.

Is this going to do much for you? No, not by itself. It is a small change you can handle now, though, and once it becomes a habit, you can make another small change. Motivation comes easier for easy steps, right? Then, when you take enough of them, you'll be getting somewhere.

Easy Steps Towards Weight Loss

1. Park farther away from the store, so you start walking a little. It's a whole lot easier to find parking this way, too.

2. Stay away from people who encourage you to eat too much. Maybe even eat with people who have small appetites.

3. Don't ever shop when you are hungry. You'll buy more - and more snacks. Get in the habit of eating right before grocery shopping.

4. Switch from sugary soft drinks to flavored water. The carbonated ones are delicious.

5. Start taking short walks each evening. Walk the dog, or find a friend to walk with.

There are dozens more small changes you can make. Create your own list, but start just one new habit now. When that becomes a normal part of your life, start another. It's difficult to say how many changes you'll need to start losing weight, but these are easy steps if you take them one at a time.



About the author:
Steve Gillman writes on many self-improvement topics. You can get more weight loss tips, and subscribe to a free weight loss newsletter at:
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