Doing the math is pretty easy and 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 is roughly 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.

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

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

* You really don't need butter on the baked potato. Savings? 100 calories

*Drink fruit flavored water rather than soda. Savings? 200 calories

* Have a salad instead of that tempting Big Mac. The Big Mac equals 460 calories. Have a fresh salad along with a light dressing? Under 100! Savings? 360 calories

* Pass by the bag of potato chips. The average snack 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. 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? Switch to the thicker steak cut fries rather than the thinner ones. The thinner frech fries absorb a whole lot more oil than the thicker ones. Savings? 50 calories per 4 ounce serving

You cna also lose one pound a week if you up your activity level by 500 calories, if you want to look at it from a exercise perspective. How easy can that be? 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.

* Get out your bike and take a ride. Aim for about five miles total and if you feel like it you can take on a few moderate hills. 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. 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. 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 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. An hour of vigorous tennis is one of the most effective calorie burners that are 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 then you will definately burn more fat. Want an added bonus to burning calories through exercise? When you exercise, you build muscle by converting it from fat. Do you know which kind of body tissue burns more calories-even when your not excersing? I'll give you three guesses. 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. Keep calorie ranges reasonable, and consult a doctor if you want a quicker, more drastic weight loss.

Tags: Fitness Tips, weight loss, lose weight fast, simple weight loss, lose weight, healthy weight loss, fast weight loss

From point systems to pre-packaged, portion controlled meals, there are literally thousands of diet plans and programs available to help you lose weight.  Some plans have you drink two nutritional shakes a day with a small meal in the evening.  Other diets require that carbs and sugar be completely cut from your diet.

There are so many diet plans from which to chose, how can you know what works?  More specifically, how will you know which diet plan works best for you? 

Regardless of the special diet plan, the truth is that the only key to losing weight boils down to one thing.  If you want to get thin, you have to reduce and keep track of your calorie intake.  That’s the only way to lose weight. One of those ways is to use foods that boost metabolism.

High priced pre-packaged meals are really only a means of controlling calories.  The same is true of Weight Watchers.  The point system is one way to track your calorie intake to help you lose weight.

Reducing calorie intake, by keeping track of calories, is the only way to really lose weight.  Big diet gurus take advantage of our ignorance about weight loss to milk us for money.  The truth is that weight loss can be achieved on your own. 

There is not any great secret weight loss solution. The key to weight loss is that you must track and reduce calories.  In order to lose fat you simply need to eat fewer calories than your body burns during the day.  Exercising helps because it causes your body to burn more calories. 

An informative, scientific guide that teaches you how to lose weight offers you the best chances of losing weight.  There is no need to buy into a diet gimmick.  You only need an easy to understand program that will teach you how to determine your resting metabolic rate.  You also need to learn which calories are more valuable than others and how to use simple math to determine how many calories you need to burn in order to lose weight. 

A simple system that can be accessed via computer will help you track your calories and lose weight.  A system like this can also be used to help you learn new recipes to aide in weight loss.  Such a system will take the guessing out of how to lose weight quickly, unique from everyone else’s body, you will best be able to lose weight.  Such a system would make it unavoidable to succeed at losing weight.

Tags: weightloss, diet, lose weight, healthy weight loss, dieting, Fitness Tips

Many folks need to shed some weight, and lots of them are forever on the look out for diet plans that are effective. The trick isn't really finding a diet strategy that works, but rather finding a diet to which a person can stick. The diet industry is huge. With books, diet food programs, trainers and nutritionists, spas, and all the other elements of the health and diet industry a lot of cash, over 46.8 billion dollars in 2005, is produced not from people becoming healthy or losing weight, but rather from people attempting to turn out to be healthy or lose weight. Because the cash comes from repeat company, the focus is surely on techniques and goods that function for a brief period of time but result in return company.

So you want a diet that works? Here's one. Drink only water, eat only a thousand calories each and every day, and combine it with 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times each week. That diet will result in lost weight. Only two little issues. #1 cravings will likely ruin the diet. 1000 calories and all that physical exercise will eventually lead to large hunger and binge eating. 1 piece of cake, or just one bag of chips, or one additional hot dog will soon motivate you to ending the diet. #2 the diet eventually finishes. You eventually go back to eating the identical old way. Next spring, or next time to wear that dress or tuxedo, or next family trip, or simply the next time you look into a mirror on the way out of the bathroom it will be as soon as once more be diet time.

The best diet is a permanent diet. A lifestyle change to healthier eating habits and much more physical activity is the best way to lose weight and maintain off the unwanted pounds. The Sonoma Diet, produced by Connie Guttersen, focuses on 10 “power foods.” The power foods are almonds, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, olive oil, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes and whole grains, combined with the cuisine of the Sonoma country, which consists of Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean influences. The diet consists of a wide variety of real, and enjoyable foods so it's simple to remain on it .

Want a diet that works for healthy weight loss? Move your mind from a brief term diet to permanent eating habits that go along with an overall healthy and active lifestyle. That's the way to not only lose the weight, but to steer clear of gaining it in the initial location.

Tags: healthy weight loss, bell peppers, lifestyle change, weight loss, Fitness Tips, return business