Happy New Year! This is a time of year when most Americans resolve to lose weight, manage debt/save money, get a better job, get fit, eat right, improve their marriage, better quality time with family, read the Bible, get a better education, drink less pop, drink less alcohol, quit smoking, reduce stress overall, take a trip, or volunteer to help others. Only 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions actually follow through.
I believe in making small changes that you can live with forever. That’s why I came up with a little challenge called the 250/250 Challenge. Decrease your calorie intake by 250 calories a day and burn 250 calories a day with exercise, that equals 500 calories a day. If you do this every day, at the end of the week (7 days) you will have 3500 calories which equals 1lb. If you do this consistently, you should be able to lose one pound a week.
You want to decrease your calorie intake with sugars, unhealthy fats, and simple carbohydrates. Here are a few examples of foods and their calorie value to help you with your calorie decrease:
20oz soda = 250
1 cup/serving ice cream = 267
1 glazed donut = 260
9 Hershey kisses = 200
32oz McDonald’s sweet tea = 220
1 cup lobster bisque = 248
20 potato chips = 250
10 nacho chips & 1/4 cup queso = 290
2 Reese peanut butter cups = 220
1 dinner roll = 90
1 package/1/4 cup plan M&M’s = 230
Panera Bread roll = 190
16oz Starbuck’s Vanilla Latte w/ 2% milk = 250
Bob Evan’s roll = 180
You can burn calories by walking, running, lifting weights, taking the stairs, trying some of my exercise videos, biking, swimming, or like today shoveling snow, etc. There are many great apps to help track your calories and exercise. Nikeplus is a way to keep track of how far you walk/run and the calories you burn and Myfitnesspal is a website that can help track your eating, calories, and exercise. Health Discovery is another great site that you can plug in your weight and minutes that you want to be active. Many physical activities will come up and show you how many calories you will burn in the amount of minutes you plugged in.
You don’t have to go anywhere or own any equipment to burn calories. You can break up your activities throughout the day, just like you can decrease your calories throughout the day. Be creative and remember it’s a process. So, make small changes that can last a lifetime!