One pound per week might not sound worthwhile when all other diets floating around out there claim to result in losing 20+ pounds in a month.  But 1 pound a week of weight loss is a healthier  and more sustainable way to lose weight.  And, 1 pound per week is over 50 pounds per year.   Can you imagine how you would look and feel today if you had started a year ago?

Perform at least one of these ideas each day:

1. Eat only 8-10 hours of the day and no more food after 6pm. This is one way of doing intermittent fasting, which will help your body jumpstart losing weight.  Our body does not process sugars very well at night.  Fasting for 14-16 hours gives your body the chance to use up fat stores for energy.  

2. Avoid drinking your calories. It’s much easier to drink calories than it is to eat them, so avoid them.  Avoid juices, alcohol, soda and other sweetened drinks.  Eat a serving of fruit instead.  Drink water 6-8 glasses a day instead.  


3. Reduce each meal by 25%. If you’re eating out, get a doggie bag.   Take smaller portions and avoid getting seconds.  Eat slow and savor the flavor of your food, converse with your family and/or friends when eating.  Drink a glass of water before eating your meal. 

4. Eat more fiber vegetables, eat them with every meal, and eat them first before the starches.  Fiber in vegetables help in shielding the starches from being absorbed as sugar rapidly, thereby reducing the sugar spike.  And fiber make you feel full faster and longer, so you are satisfied with eating less and you will not feel hungry for longer periods of time.  


5. Eat your salad using extra virgin olive oil or low calorie salad dressing that is clear.  Ranch, Caesar’s Salad dressing or most of the opaque salad dressings bought in the store are high in saturated fats and calories.  So you may inadvertently make the salad unhealthy due to this, and gain weight. 

6. Avoid all processed foods.  Processed and ultra-processed carbohydrates like flour and sugar can really add a lot of calories. Hence, anything made from flour (white bread, pasta, pizza dough, flour tortillas) and anything with “added sugars” can make you gain weight fast. 

7. Drink regular coffee instead of a latte.  Drinking coffee black and avoiding the sugar and creamer will give you the boost of energy without making you feel like in the dumps after a couple of hours. 


8. Replace red meat with fish or chicken. This assumes you’re not adding a high-calorie sauce.  Only eat red meat occasionally and smaller portion.  

9. Use smaller plates. The average plate in the United States is huge. Studies have shown that people eat less when served food on a smaller plate.

10. Replace a bad food with a good food. Once each day, replace one food you’re about to eat with a healthier option. 

11. Perform 1 hour of housework. Not only will you lose weight, but the house will be cleaner, too. 

12. Work in your yard for an hour. You’ll have the best looking yard in the neighborhood, and your pants will fit better.

13. Skip the elevator and use the stairs. If you work on the 35th floor, you might take the stairs to the 5th and ride the elevator the rest of the way.

14. Check the serving size. You might be surprised how small a serving is for certain foods. Limit yourself to a single serving when eating your meals. 

15. Get up and move around for 5 minutes each hour. Studies have shown that you’ll actually get more work done if you take a short break each hour. Take a short walk or pick up a dumbbell.


16. Do something else for 15 minutes. When you first get the urge to eat, find something else to do for 15 minutes. You might be surprised how much time goes by before you remember you were hungry.


17. Take a walk for 15 minutes right after eating a meal. This will help you use up the calories you just ate and reduce excess calories from being stored as fat.  If your diabetic, this will help you lower a sugar spike after a meal.  Walk with a buddy to make it more fun!

18. Stand up.  Consider moving to standing and getting an ergonomically designed standing desk. It’s much healthier and are burning more calories just by standing up compared to sitting down. You could even try standing at home while watching television.


19. Avoid eating while watching TV. According to scientists, you’ll eat almost 300 calories more in front of the television than you will at the dinner table!


20. Sleep 7-9 hours each night. Those that sleep less tend to eat more. Lack of sleep makes your body feel stressed and tired and makes your brain crave for higher calorie density type foods (donuts or cookies), leading you to eat more or have difficulty resisting eating those cookies. 

Losing a pound per week can be easy and painless with these easy suggestions. 

Live your life healthier and happier. Summer is coming! Let’s do this!  Can you imagine how you would feel and look like in a year?