Making small changes to the types of food and amounts of food you eat can add up to have a big impact. If your goal is to lose weight, cutting just 100 to 200 calories a day or burning an additional 100 to 200 calories a day could lead to a one to two pound weight loss each month or a 10 to 20 pound loss over the course of a year.
10 Ways to Cut 100 Calories
- Choose nonfat or 1% milk instead of 2% or whole milk.
- Use a smaller bowl for your breakfast cereal.
- Choose tuna packed in water instead of oil.
- Trim the fat from beef, pork, and chicken before cooking.
- Enjoy a salad, skip the croutons.
- Use cooking spray or water instead of butter or oil when cooking on the stovetop.
- Try fruit for dessert instead of ice cream or baked goodies.
- Swap soda for sparkling water with a squeeze of citrus.
- Eat slowly and stop eating at the first sign of fullness.
- Leave a few bites of food left on your plate.
10 Ways to Burn 100 Calories*
- Playing catch for 30 minutes.
- Walking at 3.5 mph for 20 minutes.
- Gardening for 20 minutes.
- Swimming for 14 minutes.
- Running at 5 mph for 10 minutes or 6 mph for 8 minutes.
- Cycling at 12 to 14 mph for 10 minutes.
- Yoga for 20 minutes.
- Playing basketball for 10 minutes.
- Golfing with a cart for 25 minutes.
- Jumping rope for 8 minutes.
*Based on a 150-pound person
Choose options that work best with your lifestyle, and be patient with yourself. A little bit can add up to a lot in the end.
Did You Know?
In order to lose one pound, you must either cut 3500 calories from your diet over time, or burn an additional 3500 calories— or some combination of the two. For weight loss, it is often easier to cut 100 calories from your diet than it is to burn an additional 100 calories since burning excess calories takes more time.
