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The math is pretty simple. One pound of fat equals 3500calories. Want to lose a pound a week? Then you need to consume3500 calories less per week than you use. That's about 500calories a day. By cutting out 500 calories a day from yournormal daily diet, while keeping your activity level the same,you can lose approximately one pound a week. All right - thatdoesn't sound like much, especially if you're more than 25pounds overweight. Study after study has shown, though, thatthose people who lose weight gradually - at a rate of 1-2 poundsper week -are far more likely to keep the weight off andmaintain a normal weight for a lifetime. So how much exactly IS 500 calories? If you're going to reduceyour daily intake by 500 calories, it helps to know what youneed to cut out, right? Here's how easy it is to lose 500calories a day: * Use milk instead of cream in your coffee. Savings? 50 caloriesper 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 weighsin at a whopping 460 calories. A fresh salad with a lightdressing? Less than 100! Savings? 360 calories * Pass by the bag of potato chips. An average snack size bag ofchips has over 300 calories. Savings? 300 calories * Eat your corn on the ear. A 1 cup serving of canned corn has165 calories. An ear of corn has 85. Savings? 80 calories. * Switch to low-fat cream cheese on your bagel. Savings? 90calories per ounce. * Love those fries and can't give them up? Swap the skinnyfries out for thick steak-cut ones. Thin French fries absorbmore oil than the thicker, meatier ones. Savings? 50 caloriesper 4 ounce serving If you'd rather look at losing weight from an exerciseperspective, you can also lose one pound a week by upping youractivity 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 alittle faster than a stroll, but not fast enough to bebreathless. Burn: 160 calories. * Get out your bike and take a ride. Tackle a few moderatehills and aim for about five miles total. Burn: 250 calories * Go dancing - and really DANCE. The longer you're out on thefloor instead of at the table drinking up high-calorie drinks,the more you'll get out of it. Dancing that makes you breathlessand 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 waterresistance means you burn more calories, and you avoid thestress impact on joints from aerobics, dancing or walking. Do afew laps at a slow crawl - if you can get up to an hour you'llbe doing great! Burn: 510 calories * Get out into your garden. An hour of gardening tasks thatincludes bending and stretching can burn up to as many caloriesas a brisk walk. Burn: 250 calories. * Play a game of tennis. Hook up with a friend for a weeklytennis game and you'll be amazed at the difference. One hour ofvigorous tennis is one of the best calorie burners around. Burn:800 calories It's important to keep in mind that all exercise/calorie numbersare based on a woman weighing 130 pounds. If you weigh more,you'll burn more. Want an added bonus to burning caloriesthrough exercise? When you exercise, you build muscle byconverting it from fat. Three guesses which kind of body tissueburns more calories - even when you're not exercising. You gotit - your body uses more energy to maintain and feed muscle thanit does fat. For best results, mix and match food savings with exercises thatburn calories. Do keep in mind that eating less than 1000calories a day for more than a few days will convince your bodythat it's starving and slow your metabolism. Keep calorie rangesreasonable, and consult a doctor if you want a quicker, moredrastic weight loss. Michael Contaro online.com/ |
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