Losing weight requires a major commitment, but it doesn't necessarily have to require a huge time commitment. When it comes to diet and exercise, you don't need to invest time or money in diet plans, gyms or exercise classes. If you prefer to keep it simple, you can make simple dietary changes and get plenty of exercise within your own home.
Clean Out the Pantry
It's probably no surprise to you that you need to make some changes to your diet if you want to lose weight. If you have a few guilty pleasures -- ice cream, cookies, candy, potato chips -- it's a good idea to get rid of most of those high-fat, high-calorie temptations so that you're not reaching for unhealthy snacks. Instead, pack your fridge with carrot and celery sticks, apple slices, yogurt, grapes and other healthy and convenient snacks and meals. Fill your pantry with unsalted nuts, granolas and whole-grain cereals, fat-free popcorn and other low-calorie choices.
Count Your Calories
Weight-loss plans not only provide you with food, but they teach you how to count calories and budget a food and calorie allowance. You can do this at home by simply counting and logging calories from everything that you eat. How many calories you should consume per day depends on weight, gender, age, weight loss goals and more, but carefully add up your calories to make sure that you're consuming fewer calories than you burn. That calorie deficit leads to weight loss -- it's as simple as that.
Create a Home Gym
You don't have to buy expensive exercise equipment for a home gym. Use a flight of stairs instead of a stair-stepping machine; bottled water or canned goods for light weights. Buy a few workout DVDs and swap them with friends to get in a good workout. Give your house a really vigorous scrubbing, do yard work or head out for a run or walk around your neighborhood. You can get in a great workout without leaving your neighborhood or even your house.
Invest in a Scale
To track your progress and keep you on target, buy a good-quality scale. Weigh yourself regularly; at least once per week. You can stay focused on your weight-loss goals by regularly monitoring your weight. Once you've switched to maintenance mode and lost the weight you want, keep weighing yourself regularly to make sure that those pounds don't slip back unnoticed.
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