When you want to lose weight, it is tempting to try to lose as much as possible as easily as possible in the shortest time possible. However, this isn't always the best way to lose weight. If you make small changes to your daily diet and habits, you can safely lose weight. If you lose weight at a rate of 2 lb. per week or less, you are likely to keep the weight off once you reach your goal weight.
Switch Beverages
When you are trying to lose weight fast, you have to cut calories while getting as much nutrition as possible. Sodas contain empty calories, or calories that don't provide any nutrition. Soft drinks contain approximately 250 calories per 20 oz. bottle, notes Missouri Families website. By switching to water, which is calorie free, you can cut 250 calories per bottle of soda you normally drink per day. These calories can add up quickly. For example, if you are on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, one soft drink equals 12.5 percent of your daily calorie allowance.
Snack on Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables contain little to no calories, but they have a lot of nutrients. Instead of reaching for snack cakes, chips or even 100-calorie snack packs, grab a piece of fruit or a vegetable to help you get past the hunger, provide nutrition and keep your calorie count in check. To make it easy to grab a snack in a hurry, cut up some fruit and vegetables and place them in single-serving size containers in your refrigerator. When you get hungry, grab a container.
Weigh Your Food
When you are plating grains and other foods, weigh them using a kitchen scale to ensure that you are getting only a single serving of each food. Trying to guess how much is a single serving may lead to eating more than one serving, which adds more calories and fat to your daily total.
Move More
The more active you are, the more calories you burn. Even if you can't exercise for long periods of time during the day, you can add in short spurts of exercise throughout the day. For example, jog in place for 10 minutes while you watch a television show. If you do this once per 30-minute show for 3 hours, you will rack up an hour of exercise per day. You can also take a walk around the block or you can park as far away from a store as safely possible and walk.
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