You are glaring sullenly at the bland plate of salad in front of you, while the rest of the family tucks heartily into their steaming, aromatic, delectable meals. Sounds familiar? How about the frustration of picking up all the weight you have just lost, within a few weeks of eating normally again? What if I told you that you could easily lose 100 pounds in a year and keep it off, without the misery of one day's dieting? This is the easy way to fast, permanent results without weight loss pills and potions. Here are 9 tips to get you in the right frame of mind and body.
1. Skip The Whole Milk, Take The Skim Milk
Whole milk comes with a whopping 4% fat content, compared to skim milk's less than 0.5% fat. One cup of skim milk contains 86 calories, compared to whole milk's 149 calories. By making this simple switch (1 cup per day), you will cut roughly 60 calories per day without even noticing it. This saving translates into a massive 22,000 calories per year, or 6 pounds of body weight.
2. Minimize The Mayonnaise
Be a tad less generous when dipping into the Mayonnaise. Cut out just 1 tablespoon of creamy Mayo per day, and you will be saving almost 90 calories daily, or a staggering 32,800 calories in one year. This little piece of self-discipline translates into 9 pounds of body weight lost per year. All this while still enjoying healthy recipes.
3. From Full-Fat Yogurt To Fat-Free Treats
Without a noticeable change in taste, choosing 6 ounces of fat-free yogurt rather than your daily full-fat tub will make a 100 calorie difference per day. In a year this becomes 36,500 calories, or another 10 pounds of flab gone in the most painless way possible.
4. Activate Fat-Burning With Activity
Get moving! Choose a brisk walk, a session on an elliptical cross trainer or a treadclimber, a dancing or pilates class, or a refreshing swimming session. It doesn't really matter what it is. Just make sure that you add some sort of enjoyable activity to your day. If you manage to do this for thirty minutes five times a week, you will be crunching in the region of 98,800 calories per year (roughly 380 calories per day). The calorie count will depend on your weight, the type of exercise you choose, and the intensity level. This is another 28 pounds or so you won't miss for one second.
5. Stop The Soda Seduction
Here's a really simple one. Cut out one 12 ounce (355ml) sweetened soda serving per day and you will save a mind-boggling 65,700 calories in a year. That means that 18 pounds of bumps and blubber will miraculously melt away, while you still enjoy your regular meals. You may see even better results, as many folks guzzle down 20 ounce or 42 ounce containers daily, without giving it a thought. This is roughly between 8 and 35 teaspoons of sugar, or up to a massive 250 cups of sugar per year. That is one scary statistic!
You will see other health benefits from this one change. Your digestive system may improve. Soda contributes to an acidic body environment, which is likely to turn your insides into the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nasties. Drop the soda habit, and you body's PH will improve significantly, together with your general wellbeing. Your dentist bill will probably also shrink with you! Replace these drinks with water, vegetable juice or one of the delicious unsweetened iced teas on the market. You body will relish this bit of health news and the healthy hydration.
6. Coffee And Tea And Sugar And Me
Do you mindlessly dump two to three heaped teaspoons of sugar into your tea or coffee a number of times every day? Just by reducing your sugar intake by 1 teaspoon three times a day, you will be saving 75 calories daily. This is 27,375 calories a year, or almost 8 pounds. You will very soon get used to the slightly less sweet taste. In fact, within a week or two you won't be able to tolerate excessively sweet tea or coffee.
7. Wining And Dining
Although there is evidence that wine has certain health benefits, drinking it every day adds loads of calories to your diet and nutrition plan. Reduce your daily intake by 4 fluid ounces or roughly 120 milliliters, and you immediately save 100 calories per day, or 36,500 calories per year. That is another fairly painless 10 pounds a year.
8. Spreading The Joy
Swopping your two teaspoons of sugary jam or preserves for a healthier low-sugar alternative twice a day can save you in the region of 64 calories daily, or 23,360 calories per year. There goes another comfortable 7 pounds of flab.
9. Pick Popcorn Rather Than Potato Chips
One small bag (1 ounce or 28 grams) of potato chips comes at a cost of roughly 150 calories. These are also extremely high in fat. Choose to swop that for 1 cup of fibre-rich, fat-free air popped Sour Cream & Chives popcorn at 50 calories, and you save 100 calories. Do this three times a week, and it adds up to 15,600 calories per year, or 4,5 pounds.
There you have it. Are any of these changes impossible to make, or really painful to commit to over a period of time? With a bit of thought you can probably come up with another ten ideas to cut calories in your very own free, easy-to-manage, sustainable weight loss diet plan. While doing so, a spectacular new you will be emerging slowly, never to go away again. In the process you will be teaching your kids a valuable lesson about thinking before eating.
You don't have to do the diet. Simply choose to do the math. Make some smart choices, and see the gratifying results in the mirror, and in the relieved smiles on your family's faces.
