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Cutting Calories: 4 Easy Steps

It’s been said that if you want to lose weight, you need to move more and eat less. For some, however, the eating less part is the most dreaded. Yet, cutting calories from your diet doesn’t have to be a struggle and you don’t need to go on some fad or trendy diet to do it. Making small, simple changes can make a huge difference. To prove this point, I’ve outlined 4 simple steps that you can take toward cutting calories today.

Step One: Stop drinking soda
Whether you drink regular soda or diet soda, it’s a good thing to remove from your diet. It’s a lot of empty calories and replacement sugars that you don’t need in your body, and don’t even get me started on the subject of “corn syrup” or artificial sweeteners. If you want to kick your addiction to sodas then cutting them out completely is the best way to do that. You will save yourself money and a lot of unneeded calories by cutting out just this one item.

Step Two: Portion properly
It’s very important to learn what proper portions are so that you do not overeat and gain unwanted weight. If you eat out regularly, always remember that restaurant portions are notoriously large. In fact, they are usually twice the size of a “normal” serving. But, when you finally learn proper portions you will realize how much extra you’ve been eating all this time.

At first it might seem like you’re not eating enough, but that’s normal because you won’t be eating until you get that “over-stuffed” feeling. It’s exactly that “feeling” that causes most of us to eat much more than we really need to. However, if you find the change is too drastic to begin with, start by simply cutting back on what you’d normally be eating and work down to eating proper portions. By doing this you will continue to cut calories, lose weight and build on the momentum of step one.

Step Three: Make desserts a treat
Desserts shouldn’t be eaten every single day. Eating dessert every single evening adds up to many extra calories that you don’t need or want. Instead of eating dessert every night or having calorie-laden snacks, replace those things with healthy foods like fruit, smoothies, or air-popped popcorn.

Step Four: Drink water before meals
It’s an old trick, but it actually works! Drinking a full glass of water before you eat anything will help to fill you up and help you to eat less. Many of us aren’t drinking enough water anyway, so if you make it a habit to drink a glass of water before you eat, you can kill two birds with one stone.

Cutting calories is as easy as the 4 steps above. You don’t have to go through torturous deprivation in order to lose weight and you don’t need to remove the things you enjoy forever. It’s all about balancing your meals to obtain the most nutrition you can while reducing overall calorie intake. 

Do you have any steps you would add to the ones I’ve listed above? If so, please feel free to leave a comment below. I always look forward to hearing from you!

As always – enjoy your life.

John Aaron Villarreal


Bio: I am a Houston based, male massage therapist and wellness coach specializing in pain management and health programs for individuals over the age of forty. I laugh - a lot. I'm quirky but sincere. And, while I'm not a counselor, I do listen and I do care: Except for the times that I don't. That’s a joke - Did I mention that I like to laugh? Anyway, visit my website, call or email me and let's get together to talk about you, and the many ways to live life better!
 
The Legal Stuff: I write to inform, inspire and encourage my readers to enjoy all that life has to offer.
The content and information on this site is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent disease.
Please consult your physician prior to starting any exercise, diet or wellness program.
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Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:19 PM

    Drink water before meals is good for the weight loss. But avoid simple water. Must add little amount of the salt.

    Aaron |
    Float Tank Massage

    ReplyDelete
  2. John Aaron VillarrealOctober 9, 2013 at 7:53 AM

    I'm curious, Aaron.... Why add the salt?

    ReplyDelete

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