The easiest --- and safest --- way to lose weight is by making small changes in your diet and daily life. These lifestyle tweaks are not difficult to implement but can result in significant weight loss over a period of time. Because you won't be making dramatic alterations in your diet or daily routine, the weight loss you experience will seem effortless.
Substitute Vegetables for Starches
Replace a serving of starch --- bread, potatoes, noodles and the like --- with a serving of vegetables at one meal. You will save calories, which over time will result in weight loss. For example, a 1-cup serving of buttered noodles contains approximately 300 calories, while an equal-size serving of buttered green beans contains fewer than 100 calories. Over a month's time, you could consume 6,000 fewer calories. If you don't add additional calories to your diet, you could see a weight loss of almost 2 lbs. a month from this simple change.
Go for a Walk
Whether it's going to visit a friend, taking the dog for a jaunt to the park or strolling around the block to get rid of stress, a daily walk can help you to lose weight. Unlike more strenuous activities, you will hardly notice that you are exercising, making weight loss seem easy. While walking doesn't burn as many calories as many other exercises, it is a good choice for slow, steady weight loss. Expect to burn approximately 130 calories per half hour stroll. Take a walk every day without increasing your calorie intake, and you can expect to lose 1 lb. every month.
Eat Berries
The next time you are craving something sweet, put down the chocolate bar and get a bowl of berries instead. They can satisfy the craving and make an excellent stand-in for dessert. A 1-cup serving of strawberries provides fewer than 50 calories and contains plenty of water and fiber to keep you full. Blackberries, raspberries and blueberries possess similar amounts of calories and like strawberries offer healthy antioxidants. If you eat them instead of a 250-calorie snack, you will effortlessly lose more than 1 1/2 lbs. per month.
Rev Your Metabolism
You don't have to spend hours lifting weights or doing aerobics to speed up your metabolism. Spend five minutes every hour or two dancing to an upbeat song, lifting light weights or doing calisthenics. The time will fly, and before you know it, you can get back to your usual routine with your blood pumping and your metabolism primed to burn calories. Do this six times a day, and you could burn an extra 200 calories a day without ever having had to put on exercise clothes.
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