Friday, March 20, 2009

Step 6

Ruthie’s Step 6…Cutting calories. What?
Reducing dietary fat alone--without reducing calories--will not produce weight loss.
You will have to reduce your calories! It sounds painful but it isn’t! Trust me!
Your weight is a balancing act, but this is simple to understand: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'd lose approximately 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).
Cutting calories doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, it might be as simple as giving up one extra item a day, swapping foods or trimming serving sizes. [Portion control step 5]
Cut out high-calorie foods and managing your calorie intake is very important in loosing weight.
Skipping one or two high-calorie items that you might have otherwise eaten is a good place to start when cutting calories.
Think about what you eat and drink each day and identify items you could cut out. I switched my cheese to low and non fat cheese, my milk to lower fat or skim, my luncheon meats to lean, etc. You can make all kind of substitutions!
Replace foods that are high in calories with ones that are lower in calories. Have an extra serving of vegetables at dinner instead of an extra serving of meat. Snack on sliced fresh fruit instead of chips. The number of saved calories quickly adds up. [Read Step 2 the labels]

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