Brown Bag It

Want an easy way to save money AND cut calories? Pack your own lunch! Kerry Neville, R.D. says, "Making meals gives you control over fat and calories. Little things can add up. For instance, a typical takeout sandwich has about 200 calories worth of mayonaisse. Make it at home using a tablespoon of light mayo and you'll cut 150 calories." Harry Balzer, vice president of the NPD group estimates you could save $1,000 per year by brown-bagging it. Get creative...make a sandwich or salad one day and bring leftovers the next. Your waistline and your wallet will thank you!

How Much Should I Eat?

Check out http://www.mypyramid.gov/ and click on the MyPyramid Plan to find out exactly how many calories you should be eating each day and where they should come from. If you are trying to lose weight, look at a slightly lower (200-400 calories) eating plan.

Tips for Healthy Weight Loss

Follow these 6 tips to be on your way to weight loss...

1. Adapt the plan to yourself: decide what you want to accomplish and the best way to go about it; make realistic short and long-term goals; don't be discouraged if a friend or significant other is losing weight faster than you are - remember that everyone is unique and will lose weight at different rates and on different areas of their bodies.


2. Control night-eating and emphasize breakfast: eat a hearty breakfast to prevent binge eating at later meals; eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day; try to consume most of your calories earlier in the day to avoid eating late at night.


3. Include a variety of foods: follow the food guide pyramid (http://www.mypyramid.gov/) for serving amounts; limit your intake of fats, oils and sweets; try to eat a variety of foods within each food group; drink lots of water to stay hydrated and satiated.


4. Modify your way of eating for life: control portion sizes; replace high calorie sweets with fruits and veggies; replace high fat protein sources with lean protein sources (i.e. eggs, fish, chicken); don't cut anything out of your diet completely - instead, eat what you like in moderation; if you "screw up" one day, don't give up - just eat better the next day.


5. Increase your activity level: studies have shown that when people diet alone they lose 28% muscle, with diet and aerobic training they lose 3-4% muscle, and when strength training is added muscle increases; aim for 200-280 minutes of physical activity per week (approx. 30-40 min/day); make small changes to burn extra calories (i.e. park further from the store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to your co-workers desk instead of sending an email, etc.)


6. Rate of weight loss: aim for no more than 2 pounds of weight loss per week; decrease your total calories taken in and increase the total amount of calories burned (through physical activity) to lose the weight; don't rely solely on the scale to monitor your progress (you may be losing fat and replacing it with muscle) - instead, consider how you feel and how your clothes are fitting you.