The math is pretty simple. One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. Want to lose a pound a week? Then you need to consume 3500 calories less per week than you use. That’s about 500 calories a day. You can lose one pound per week if you cut 500 calories from your normal daily diet and keep your activity level the same.

All right - that doesn’t sound like much, especially if you’re more than 25 pounds overweight. Study after study has shown, though, that those people who lose weight gradually - at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week -are far more likely to keep the weight off and maintain a normal weight for a lifetime.

So how much is 500 calories exactly? If you are going to reduce your intake of calories but 500 a day, you need to know what to cut out? Here is how you lose 500 calories a day

* Use milk instead of cream in your coffee. Savings? 50 calories in each cup.

* Skip the butter on your baked potato. Savings? 100 calories

* Drink fruit-flavored water instead of a 16 ounce soda. Savings? 200 calories

* Have a salad instead of that tempting Big Mac. The Big Mac equals 460 calories. A fresh salad with a light dressing? Less than 100! Savings? 360 calories

*You can walk right by that bag of potato chips. An average snack size bag of chips has over 300 calories. Savings? 300 calories

*Eat corn on the ear. There is 165 calories for every 1 cup serving of canned corn. An ear of corn has 85. Savings? 80 calories.

* Switch to low-fat cream cheese on your bagel. Savings? 90 calories per ounce.

* Love those fries and can’t give them up? Swap the skinny fries out for thick steak-cut ones. The thinner frech fries absorb a whole lot more oil than the thicker ones. Savings? 50 calories per 4 ounce serving

You cna also lose one pound a week if you up your activity level by 500 calories, if you want to look at it from a exercise perspective. How easy can that be? Have a look:

* Take a half-hour walk around the park. You need to aim for a pace that is little fater than a stroll, but not too fast, you don’t want to get breathless. Burn:160 calories.

*Go for a bicycle ride. Tackle a few moderate hills and aim for about five miles total. Burn: 250 calories

* Go dancing - and really DANCE. The longer you’re out on the floor instead of at the table drinking up high-calorie drinks, the more you’ll get out of it. The kind of dancing that makes you breathless and that warms up your body will give you a nice calorie savings. Burn: 400 calories for one hour

* Swimming is great for you, and a lot of fun, too. The resistance in the water means that you will be bale to burn more calories dancing or walking in it and you will avoid the stress impact on joints from aerobics. A few laps as a slow crawl is wonderufl-if you can get up to an hour you’ll be doing even better! Burn: 510 calories

* You should get out and do some gardening. An hour of working in your garden (i.e. bending over, and stretching) can burn up to as many calories as a brisk walk. Burn: 250 calories.

*Play a game of tennis. Hook up with a friend for a weekly tennis game and you’ll be amazed at the difference. An hour of vigorous tennis is one of the most effective calorie burners that are around. Burn: 800 calories

It’s important to keep in mind that all exercise/calorie numbers are based on a woman weighing 130 pounds. If you weigh more then you will definately burn more fat. Want an added bonus to burning calories through exercise? You turn fat into muscle whenever you exercise. Three guesses which kind of body tissue burns more calories - even when you’re not exercising. You got it - your body uses more energy to maintain and feed muscle than it does fat.

For best results, mix and match food savings with exercises that burn calories. Do keep in mind that eating less than 1000 calories a day for more than a few days will convince your body that it’s starving and slow your metabolism. Keep calorie ranges reasonable, and consult a doctor if you want a quicker, more drastic weight loss.

Exercise is crucial to take years off your age and to improve your health.Remember that motion is life, and life is about motion We are creatures designed to move.Moving stimulates weight loss by increasing your metabolism ten fold.

Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in your body.Our bodies were not designed to just sit around and watch TV all day. Our ancestors were hunter/gatherers and were forced to walk an average of 9 miles a day. Their physical fitness levels were the equivalent to today’s professional athletes. During that time, it was survival of the fittest.

We have a different choice now: Be fit or be fat, and die a painful slow death filled with disease.Statistics show that 50% of people in the U.S. have heart attacks. By following a green weight loss program, you are able to lose weight naturally and permanently. Exercise is a crucial part of living a “green” lifestyle. Exercise should be performed with a wide variety of activities. Your goal is functional movement that not only makes you look younger, but will also protect you from injuries.Studies have been done where the heart was worked at a variety of intervals. Not just long distance running, not just sprinting, but a combination.Below are some simple exercise tips to improve your ability to lose weight and live healthier.

• Take a half an hour walk every day.

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

• Buy a pilates video and start doing it 4 times a week.

• When doing cardio, try running in intervals. Go fast for minute and then slow for two minutes then fast for thirty seconds then slow for one minute and so forth.

Not only can the fat melt away, but your health will drastically improve when you exercise. Especially in the high stress world that we live in you can make a huge improvement to your quality of life.

Dr Charles Livingston is a structure/function doctor who specializes in advanced nutrition and weight loss. He is also the author and creator of http://www.greenlifeweightloss.com which teaches healthy “green” principles for shedding weight fast naturally.

Are you looking for a way to lose weight that you won’t give up on? Lots of people can’t maintain their willpower and they give up before they lose the weight they wanted to. Try these tips for finding a healthy weight loss program that you can live with for life.

It makes no difference if you’re embarking on your first diet or you’ve been through all of them at one time or another. It’s possible to find a plan and stick to it until you get to the weight you want to be. Those who have successfully lost weight and kept it off realize that they can eat anything, just in moderation.

Your first step is to look for a diet program that isn’t ridiculously strict. You’ve seen lots of these around. Some have special limits on carbs, protein, or anything that’s the color white. On others you’re supposed to start and stop over and over until the weight comes off. This can send you on extreme highs and lows emotionally and physically as your body is forced to adjust.

Fasting and bingeing, even on healthy foods, is a sure way to develop poor eating habits. As well, your body will become confused from the conflicting messages it’s receiving. One day you’re loading up on massive amounts of lean protein, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. And then you’re subsisting on water with cayenne and honey.

Instead, try to find a plan that shows you how to eat healthy for a lifetime. You need to know that it’s okay to sometimes have a special treat or indulge in a glass of wine. That way you won’t be bouncing from one end of the spectrum to the other. You’ll be on a balanced course that’s safe for your body and easy on your emotions.

Before you choose to follow any weight loss advice, evaluate it as a lifetime plan. Could you live without ever having a sweet treat again? Could you turn away bread at every meal for the next thirty years?

Some diets make it seem like their rigid plan is one you could adhere to forever. But caving in could cause you to regain the weight if you get discouraged and give up for good.

No diet plan is completely comfortable when you’re used to being able to eat with freedom. Still, there are many plans that offer sensible ways to eat where you never have to leave an entire food group off of your plate. Stay away from fad diets. Rather, make the decision to find a diet that you can live with for life.