Scratch's Simple Swaps For Weight Loss Success!
No one likes the word diet. It’s the last thing this caveman ever feels like. But if you’re trying to lose weight, new research shows that no can zap the pounds without starving yourself. Scientists at Harvard and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge found that people who are less calories lost an average of 13 pounds in six months no matter what type of diet they were on. This is the best weight-loss news in a long time,” says Frank Sacks, MD, nutrition professor at Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study. “If you don’t like what you’re eating, you’re not going to stick with it. These findings give you flexibility to trim a bit here and there and still enjoy your favorites.”
Losing those pounds can be easier than you think. If you ate 100 calories less a day, you’d lose more than 10 pounds in a year. Cut 250 calories and you’ll be 26 pounds in 12 months. That too slow for you? Ditch 500 calories daily and you drop those pounds in half the time.
Losing weight does have to mean denying yourself. All you need to do is make simple changes everyday and you’ll be cutting calories without even knowing it! So here are Scratch’s 10 easy swaps for weight loss success!
1. Swap your juice or soda for Crystal Lite or even better water! Water too boring? Throw in a slice of lemon, ginger, mint, or a few berries for a tastier drink.
2. Switch your Coffemate and sugar for skin milk and cinnamon. Why do you think Starbucks has that cinnamon shaker handy?
3. Trade a blueberry muffin for instant oatmeal with fresh blueberries on top. Less fat and more filling!
4. Want a crispy snack? Try homemade popcorn rather than potato chips. Lose the butter and salt and liven up the popcorn with cayenne pepper and lime, cinnamon and sugar, or Parmesan and rosemary!
5. Instead of having three tacos or tortillas, just wrap up one and eat the rest of the beans and fillings with a fork.
6. Cut calories, fat, sugar, and sodium by trading creamy salad dressings for oil and vinegar.
7. Eat fruit before every meal. In a Pennsylvania State University study, people who munched apples 15 minutes before lunch ate about 187 fewer calories.
8. Use your grandma’s cookbook. According to a Cornell University study, you could save 506 calories over three meals. Why? They called for smaller portion sizes lower-calorie ingredients.
9. Choose thin crust pizza over thick crust pizza and save an average of 50 calories a slice!
10. Eating out? Order filet mignon instead of a New York strip steak. A hardship I know.