Copyright 2005 Ardmore Internet Marketing, Inc.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.
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Paul Buckley-for much more weight loss information visit
The Healthy Diet Zone at http://www.healthydietzone.com
