SHAPE UP
Tip scales in favor of losing pounds

By Hollie W. Best
Monroe (La.) News-Star

A healthy lifestyle involves learning to eat the foods you enjoy in moderation. Losing 10 pounds quickly sounds tempting, but fast weight loss never lasts long.

Losing weight and maintaining that weight loss starts with a focus on healthy food choices and regular physical activity. Long-term weight control is all about learning to consume the same number of calories as you burn.

To lose a pound of fat per week, you must eliminate 3,500 calories from your weekly intake-output. The best strategy for this is to reduce your intake by 250 calories per day, and exercise off 250 calories per day (500 multiplied by seven days in a week results in 3,500 burned off per week).

Begin today by making the right choices, and these helpful weight-loss tips will get you started.

• Drink eight glasses of water a day.
• Chew sugarless gum.
• Brush your teeth after dinner to discourage evening snacking.
• Eat when you are hungry, and stop when you are full.
• Read the nutrition labels on foods that you eat.
• Exercise for a minimum of five 30-minute sessions per week. A brisk walk can burn eight calories per minute; 40 calories in five minutes; 320 calories in an average work day; and 83,000 calories a year.
• Keep a food diary.
• Watch your portions. Be mindful of the amounts of food you consume at a sitting.
• Add flavor to your food with herbs and spices, not butter, margarine or added fat.
• Reduce your intake of caffeine. Caffeine leads to an increase of insulin in your body that retards the burning of stored fat.
• Increase your intake of fiber-rich foods.
• Never skip a meal. Your first meal after waking starts your metabolism.
• Motivate yourself. Write down three specific reasons why you want to lose weight.
• Know your weaknesses. Everyone has triggers that can push him or her off course. It is important to know your own.
• Use smaller dinner plates.
• Reach for veggies, salads and fruits when you need a second helping.