Weight Loss Tips: 10 Easy Steps to Losing Weight

Losing weight is difficult to do, especially on a busy schedule when it often feels like worrying about food is very last on your list of priorities. But, there are ways to cut out the fat, even on a busy schedule. The key factor in changing your daily routine and reducing fat intake is to concentrate on everything that you put into your body. After all, you're only given one. You'll find it easy and fulfilling to follow these very simple tips for reducing the fat and calories you routinely consume.

1.Choose diet soda instead of regular. There is the popular stigma that when ordering from a fast food restaurant, it is embarrassing and pointless to add a "diet" soda to the mix. But, why subject yourself to the extra calories when it is not directly improving your state of hunger or satisfaction? Even if you are on a 15 minute lunch break and only have enough time to stop by the local Wendy's, choose the diet soda instead of the regular. By taking heed to this one simple step, you'll reduce your calorie intake by 150 every time you have the urge or will to grab a soda! If typically drink 1 soda a day, and replace that soda with its diet equivalent, you will drop 4,500 calories every month! I can vouch for these sodas as they taste most like their original counter parts than others:

* diet dr. pepper

* diet vanilla coke

* die mountain dew

2.You try, and you deprive yourself, but you just can't fight that sweet tooth. A great alternative for desert is to take light whipped cream in the tub and freeze it. You will be surprised at how similar it tastes to frozen yogurt! Add some light chocolate syrup on top and you have a complete pseudo ice cream sundae in less than 150 calories!

3. You get home from work, exhausted, drained from the manic day you are all to pleased to have ended and your first instinct is to eat dinner. This isn't unhealthy to do in and of itself, but it helps to drink one full glass of water before you eat a heavy meal…especially if you are hungry and haven't eaten in a while. This is because of a couple reasons:

* Your body reacts the same way to thirst as it does to hunger. Lethargy, stomach pains, headaches. Often, by drinking a fair amount of water you will start to notice those hunger symptoms slowly dissipate.

* By drinking one full glass of water before every meal, you are filling your stomach up with liquids that it naturally craves. Basically, there will be less room for the fatty substance of food you are about to subject it to.

4. Take a calcium pill. Creighton University conducted a study on calcium's effects on weight loss. They found that women who consumed 1,000 mg of calcium every day weighed nearly 20 pounds less than the women in the control group. Talk about taking a magic weight loss pill. I'm not sure about the technicalities here, but ladies, let the figures speak for themselves!

5. When you initially wake up in the morning, you're probably used to that hot cup of fueling coffee, or a nice tall glass of O.J. But, try and drink a full glass of water before you consume any other type of liquid. Juice especially is very high in sugar, and coffee contains its fair amount of calories even if you are drinking it black. Make yourself a cup of ice water and enjoy it as it refreshes, soothes and gets you ready for your day. And, even if you do still need that cup of coffee, you'll most definitely drink less after filling yourself up with water.

6.You are a breakfast person, aren't you? Well, don't fret, there are great alternatives to a full breakfast meal that will leave you lighter and satisfied. If you're used to scrambled eggs, skip fussing with the egg whites and wasting perfectly good yokes, and buy a small carton of egg beaters or other alternatives to eggs contained in their shell. Skip the muffin or biscuit and buy a pack of English muffins, they have about a third of the carbohydrates. Replace your grease fried bacon with turkey bacon prepared without butter (I, personally, think it tastes the same if not better!)

7. Do not satisfy those late night cravings. It is best to eat 4-5 hours before retiring for the night, because if you sleep straight away after eating, you body has no way to burn it off. After all, you're sleeping, and even your body is resting for the night. Look at it this way: you can have that much more tomorrow and not worry about it while you body naturally burns it off.

8. Eat your food slowly, especially when you're hungry. It is natural instinct to shovel down food when you have been without it for an extended period of time, but try to eat very slowly and concentrate on the food itself and not your hunger. This will give your body time to digest, and in turn give it time to let you know that it's full! This is why most people always say, "I ate waaaaay too much." They can tell that they're full now that they've finished their meal, but if they would have taken their time this realization would have kicked in long before.

9. Build some muscles. One pound of fat burns two calories a day, while one pound of muscle burns 50! You will really speed up the weight loss process by exercising; even if mildly. Try doing 10-15 push-ups every morning and 50 lunges plus 50 sit ups (any version you are comfortable with) per night.

10. Avoid the alcohol. Alcohol contains a lot of "dead weight" calories with no nutrients or place to go within your body except to store as fat. They also contain a lot of sugar and can result in a "beer belly." If you take pleasure in a relaxing drink after work, try Red Wine.

By following these steps, and attempting to involve them into your daily routine, you will drop an enormous amount of calories without even realizing it. What more could you ask for?