45 Easy Ways to Lose One Pound a Week

Diet Strategies

Here are a few quick facts about losing a pound: It will make your jeans feel a smidge looser, it's the equivalent of four sticks of butter (picture that for a second!), and it requires that you burn and/or cut a total of 3,500 calories. Sound like a lot? It adds up faster than you think.

To lose one pound in seven days you need to reduce your net calories by 500 every day. The easiest way to do that is a 250 split: Cut half from your diet and burn the other half through exercise. To come up with easy ways to do this, we enlisted trainer Heather Rider, founder and director of Rider Fitness Consulting in Los Angeles, and nutritionist Lauren Slayton, RD, of Foodtrainers in New York City. Choose one strategy from the diet and exercise columns each day (feel free to mix and match) and after seven days you will have cut out 3,500 calories. Losing four sticks of butter has never been such a cinch!

___ Replace your morning bagel and cream cheese with an English muffin and cottage cheese.

___ Skip the large bakery muffin in favor of 1 slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

___ Swap your large bran muffin for 3/4 cup of bran flakes.

___ Replace eggs and cheese with scrambled egg whites.

___ Replace your 450-calorie lunch with a 200-calorie protein shake.

___ Replace large french fries with a yogurt-and-fruit parfait.

___ Modify your lunch: Skip the cheese on your salad or sandwich, substitute mustard for mayo, and replace potato chips with soy chips.

___ Have half a tuna salad sandwich instead of a whole, plus two cups of raw vegetables.

___ Skip the cheese in an omelet and a lunchtime sandwich.

___ Switch from cream soup to vegetable-based soup at lunch and dinner.

___ Switch from one cup premium to light ice cream.

___ Skip your afternoon frozen yogurt with ground nuts.

___ Resist the handful of M&M's at the receptionist's desk.

___ Cut out 1 biscotti and 1 large mocha.

___ Switch from a chai tea latte to lemon tea.

___ Have 1 ounce of soy nuts instead of 3 ounces of roasted almonds.

___ Substitute a serving of beef with shrimp or a white flaky fish like cod at two meals.

___ Leave behind one-fourth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

___ Have 1 cup of strawberries instead of a whole banana, and cauliflower instead of a baked potato with sour cream.

___ Replace ranch or blue cheese dressing with low-fat vinaigrette at lunch and dinner.

___ Have a vodka and soda instead of a margarita at happy hour.