Imagine waking up on New Year's Day and you already feel fabulous. No need for a weight loss resolution this year. Get started today by following my five tips for the next several weeks leading up to New Year's. It's entirely possible!
Toss whole milk and use only skim milk
Swap at least one daily cup of whole milk for skim milk (collectively from coffee, cereal, etc). At the end of five weeks, you'll save 2,450 calories and drop 3/4 pound. Here's why: one cup whole milk = 150 calories, one cup skim milk = 80 calories. Thus, 150-80 = 70 daily calories saved, 490 calories saved per week, and 2,450 calories saved at the end of five weeks.
Make all your sandwiches open-faced
For the next five weeks, omit the top slice of bread and you'll save 80 calories per sandwich (stick with regular size bread for sandwiches - skip rolls and bagels). If you're currently eating one daily sandwich, you'll save 2,800 calories and lose about ¾ pound. Here's why: one slice of bread averages 80 calories.
Lose one slice per day for five weeks, and you'll save 2,800 calories (35 slices total). Since it takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose one pound, 2,800/3,500 = 0.8 (about ¾ pound lost!).
Eat more slowly
Research shows you eat approximately 60 fewer calories per meal when you slow down your pace. Thus, slow down the pace for all three meals, and you'll save 180 daily calories - that's a whopping 6,300 at the end of five weeks (the same amount of calories in 24 McDonald hamburgers or 105 Duncan Munchkins or 30 slices of thin crust Pizza Hut Pizza). Best of all, those 6,300 saved calories can translate into a two pound loss!
Lose the liquid calories
Trim 250 liquid calories off each day - at the end of five weeks you'll save 8,750 calories, prevent 574 sugar cubes from entering your body, and knock off 2.5 pounds! Here's a quick beverage guide; 20-ounce bottle soda = 250 calories, 20-ounce Vitamin Water or Life Water = 125 calories, 8 ounces fruit juice - 110 calories.
Omit the salad dressing
Completely omit salad dressing and instead douse your veggies with plain balsamic/red vinegar or fresh lemon (when you're home, take advantage of low-calorie varieties. Looks for brands that provide no more than 50 calories per 2 tablespoons). Since an average salad contains five tablespoons salad dressing, and each tablespoon provides about 80 calories, you'll save 400 calories per salad. For those who eat a daily salad, at the end of five weeks you'll trim 14,000 calories and knock off four pounds of fat!
