The math is pretty simple. One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. Want to lose a pound a week? You will need to intake 3500 calories less a 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.

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 is how you lose 500 calories a day

* Use milk instead of cream in your coffee. Savings? 50 calories in each 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. Have a fresh salad along with a light dressing? Under 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 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.

*Change to a low fat cram cheese spread 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 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.

* Get out your bike and take a 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’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 something that is great for you to do and a ton of fun as well. 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

* You should get out and do some gardening. 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. 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. You need to keep your calorie ranges simpmle, and if you seek a more drastic weight loss measure consult your doctor.

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