The math is pretty simple. One pound of fat is the equivalent to 3500 calories. Want to lose a pound a week? Then you need to consume 3500 calories less per week than you use. That is roughly 500 calories a day. You can lose one pound per week if you cut 500 calories from your normal daily diet and keep your activity level the same.
I know that doesn't sound like much, especially if you are over 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 is 500 calories exactly? If you're going to reduce your daily intake by 500 calories, it helps to know what you need to cut out, right? Here is how you lose 500 calories a day
*You can use milk in your coffee instead of creamer. Savings? 50 calories per cup.
* Skip the butter on your baked potato. Savings? 100 calories
*Drink fruit flavored water rather than soda. Savings? 200 calories
* Skip the Big Mac and have a salad instead. The Big Mac equals 460 calories. A fresh salad with a light dressing? Less than 100! Savings? 360 calories
*You can walk right by that bag of potato chips. An average snack size bag of chips has over 300 calories. Savings? 300 calories
* Eat your corn on the ear. There is 165 calories for every 1 cup serving of canned corn. Every ear of corn has 85 calories in them. 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. The thinner frech fries absorb a whole lot more oil than the thicker ones. Savings? 50 calories per 4 ounce serving
If you want to look at losing weight from an exercise perspective then what you can do is up your activity level by 500 calories and you will be able to lose a pound a week. How easy is that to do? Take a look:
*Go for 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.
*Go for a bicycle ride. Tackle a few moderate hills and aim for about five miles total. Burn: 250 calories
* Go out and dance your heart out. The longer you are out dancing on the dance floor, you wont be at the table drinking those high calorie fruit drinks and the more calories you will burn. The kind of dancing that makes you breathless and that warms up your body will give you a nice calorie savings. Burn: 400 calories for one hour
* Swimming is great for you, and a lot of fun, too. The resistance in the water means that you will be bale to burn more calories dancing or walking in it and you will avoid the stress impact on joints from aerobics. A few laps as a slow crawl is wonderufl-if you can get up to an hour you'll be doing even better! Burn: 510 calories
* Get out into your garden. An hour of working in your garden (i.e. bending over, and stretching) can burn up to as many calories as a brisk walk. Burn: 250 calories.
*Play a game of tennis. If you and a friend meet up once a week for something like a tennis game you will be amazed at the difference. One hour of vigorous tennis is one of the best calorie burners around. Burn: 800 calories
Keep in mind that all of the exercise and calorie numbers are based on a woman's weight of 130 pounds. If you weigh more, you'll burn more fat. 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. Your right-your body uses more energy to maintain and feed muscle than it does fat.
For the best results you can combine food savings and exercise techniques that will effeciently burn the 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. You need to keep your calorie ranges simpmle, and if you seek a more drastic weight loss measure consult your doctor.
