The best ways to cut 100, 250, and 500+ calories (WITHOUT DIETING!)

SAVE 100+ CALORIES:



1. Add the olive oil last. Instead of sauteing vegetables and letting them soak up the majority of the fat that's added to the pan, try steaming your veggies instead, then tossing them with a few teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a pinch of red pepper flakes and sea salt. Calories saved per cup: 150

2. Ask for a "dry" bun. Chefs and cooks often swipe a knifeful of butter or mayo on a sandwich or burger before they hand it over to you. Calories saved: 120

3. Be picky about pie. Eat the filling but skip the bottom layer of crust. Trust me, you won't really notice. Calories saved: 150

4. Lighten your juice. Fill a water bottle with 6 ounces of juice and equal amount of water. Calories saved: 100

5. Make skinny mashed potatoes. Mix in a half of cup of low-sodium chicken broth for every 3 lbs of potatoes instead of half a cup of butter or heavy cream. If you still crave that rich flavor, top a small scoop of mashed potatoes with a pat of butter for just 36 extra calories. Calories saved per cup: 150

6. Use half the beef in burgers. Mix 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped mushrooms with half a pound of lean ground beef and serve it in place of an all beef patty. Calories saved: 100

7. Switch your soup. Varieties of soup that are a cream or milk based contain 25 to 50% more calories than those made with a tomato base or clear broth, such as minetrone or vegetable soup. Calories saves per 12 oz: 100 to 200

SAVE 250+ CALORIES:



1. Avoid salads with "crispy" in their name. Some options pack more than 500 calories and 25 grams of fat when tossed with regular dressing. Order your greens with grilled chicken, shrimp, or salmon and lowfat dressing. Calories saved: 250

2. Downsize yoru baked goods. You can automatically halve the calories in fresh-baked muffins by using a pan with a dozen slots rather than one with just six. And if you swap half a cup of applesauce for the half cup of butter or oil called for in your recipe, you can save an additional 75 calories per muffin. Calories saved: 310 to 385.

3. Get sandwich-savvy. A 6-inch tuna hero with lowfat chips may seem like a light meal, but it contains 700 calories and more than 30 grams of fat. At "healthy" restaurants, people tend to order extras and then underestimate how much they're eating by about 35%. Opt for a small turkey sub without mayo or oil and skip the soda, chips, and cookies. Calories saved: 420

4. Top your tater the light way. Loading a large potato with the works can turn your meal into a fat and calorie mine-field. Pick a small spud (red potatoes are best) and fill it with a quarter cup each of salsa and lowfat Greek yogurt (or 1 Tbs of reduced-fat sour cream). Calories saved: 412

5. Treat yourself like a kid. When you're ordering ice cream, don't assume you have to choose from the three cup sizes displayed at the register. Rather than ordering the medium, request a child-size verstion-and skip the hot fudge. Calories saved: 400

6. Bulk up your pasta-with veggies. If you're making pasta at home, a 2-cup serving of noodles with a large ladle of meat, vodka, or Alfredo sauce can set you back 600 calories or more. To fill your plate-without breaking the calorie bank-mix a cup of pasta with a cup of steamed veggies and top the dish with half a cup of your favorite marinara sauce. Calories saved: 250

7. Serve dessert in a shot glass. Can't resist taking a slice of key lime pie or cheesecake at a buffet? Allow yourself to savor the amount that fits in a shot glass and you'll save 80% of the calories you'd get in a full-size portion. Calories saved: 360

8. Choose wisely at breakfast meetings. When fresh fruit salad or lowfat yogurt isn't an option, you can still slash hundreds of calories by savoring four powdered sugar or glazed doughnut holes rather than that nutritious-sounding but humongous banana-walnut muffin. Calories saved: 280


SAVE 500+ CALORIES:



1. Take your own popcorn to the movies. A medium container of popcorn from the theater has at least 900 calories-NOT including the butter topping. Pre-pop your lowfat favorite popcorn from home and stash the bag in your tote. Calories saved: 600

2. Ditch designer cereals and granolas. Muti-grain and all-natural cereal options can still be high in sugar and fat. Go for fiber-rich cereals that contain 200 or fewer calories per cup (oatmeal would be a good option and will keep you feeling full). Calories saved: 500

3. Avoid meat lover's pizza specials. Order a fully loaded veggie pizza and you'll get half a serving of fiber-rich produce on every slice without all the calories from sausage, bacon, and pepperoni. To cut calories further, order your pizza with a thin crust rather than the deep-dish style and get half cheese. Calories saved per two slices: 500

4. Choose a leaner cut of meat. When dining at a restaurant, order a 6-ounce filet mignon rather than the 8 or 12-ounce T-bone or prime rib. Also, ask the chef to not brush the steak with butter or oil (they do this to make it look juicer) to save an extra 100 calories. Calories saved: 500 to 600

5. Turn your back on the buffet table. Pick a spot that's at least 16 feet fromt he smorgasbord and face away from the food when eating. A study conducted shows that people who did this ate several hundred fewer calories, on average, than those who sat just a few feet away facing the table. Calories saved: 650

Source: SHAPE Magazine

The best $40 investment

I can't say enough about why everyone that exercises should buy one of these...




Why, you might ask? Most people don't know how hard they're working AND don't work out hard enough. Sure, you can go by Perceived Exertion (how you're feeling, breathing, sweating, etc), but if you really want to know where you're at, where you should be, BUY ONE OF THESE! They will even beep to remind you you're not in your heart rate range (if it's too high or too low)! It will make you more aware of how hard you're working (or NOT working), and will be a good starting point for your fitness level.

SO, what are you waiting for??? BUY ONE at your local sporting good store, Costco, Target, or Walmart!

9 fitness rules you should break

Each year fitness researchers release thousands of studies that challenge conventional fitness thinking, or at least shed light on ways to tweak it. Here are 9 "old-school" fitness approaches or strategies and some ways to tweak them to be up-to-date and to see results!

1. Position your hands shoulder-width apart.
You often see this in instructions for upper-body moves like bench presses and lat pull-downs. Why? Because it gives you a stable starting point. But that doesn't mean you need to stay there set after set. Switch up your position after every set for balanced strength and overall tone.

2. Crunches for a flat belly.
Turns out Pilates abdominal moves are superior to traditional crunches for sculpting your midsection and uncovering those abs. An exercise called "the teaser" is one of many highly effective exercises. It activates 39% more of your rectus abdominus muscle and 266% more of your external obliques. To do it: Lie face-up on a mat. Lift your legs so your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your knees are bent 90 degrees. Raise your hands toward the celing. Lift your torso and straighten your legs, so you body forms a V. Hold for 1 second, then roll back down, keeping your legs raised. Perform 20-30 reps.

3. Squats=a perfect bum.
Although squats are a great exercise, try doing hip extensions too. The move hits 55% more of your hamstring muscle and 79% more of your glute muscle. To do it: Get on your hands and knees. Keeping your knees bent, lift your right heel toward the ceiling, then lower it back down to the starting position. Perform 15-25 reps each leg.

4. Eat lots of extra protein for less jiggle and more tone.
While it's true that protein is a vital muscle food, your body can use only so much of it. Any extra protein calories you take in will be stored as fat. As a general rule, remember that 20% of your calories should come from protein. So, if you're eating an 1,800 calorie diet, try to shoot fora maximum of 400 calories, or 90 grams, of protein each day.

5. Up-down-up-down. Repeat.
Instead of raising and lowering a weight (or your body weight) in one continuous motioin, pause for a second about halfway up, continue the movement, then pause again about halfway down. You'll fry more fat (by exhausting the muscles more efficiently) without sucking more time out of your scheudule.

6. Watch yourself in the mirror while you workout.
While the occasional glance at your reflection to check form is a good idea, for exercises that involve balance, such as the one-legged squat, you'll get a bigger boost if you face away from the mirror and close one eye. Doing so activates neural pathways between your brain and your muscles that you don't otherwise use, which forces your body to establish better balance.

7. Burn the most calories with cardio.
According to many studies, 30 minutes of weight training burns as many calories as running at a blazing six-minute-per-mile pace for the same amount of time. (And it has the bonus of building more muscle tone then running.) What's more, unlike aerobic exercise, lifting weights has been shown to boost metabolism for up to 39 hours after you finish your last rep! Interval training has yielded similar benefits. For optimal results, do a total-body weight-training workout three days a weeks, resting at least a day between sessions and do intervals on at least tow fo the off days.

8. Rest between sets.
Less rest increases your calorie burn and adds a cardio component to strength training. Try doing multiple exercises back to back (circuit training) using different muscle groups and combining large muscles and small muscles in as many exercises as possible. When you have completed a circuit, rest for a minute and then repeat.

9. Weigh yourself daily for motivation.
The scale measures water and muscle, too. It's not a great indicator of fat loss. A better way to measure success is by measuring inches or getting your body fat tested, say every month to see progress.

Source: Womens Health

Wanna burn 500 calories???

THE BIGGEST CALORIE-BURNING EXERCISES:
Calories burned per hour*
Based on a 160-pound person

986 calories burned: Running at 8mph
913 calories burned: Rollerblading
730 calories burned: Tae Kwon Do
730 calories burned: Jump rope
657 calories burned: Stair treadmill
584 calories burned: Jogging at 5mph, cycling at 18mph
511 calories burned: Backpacking, hiking uphill
511 calories burned: Racquetball. mountain biking
511 calories burned: Cross-country skiing, indoor cycling class
511 calories burned: High-impact aerobics, high intensity weight/circuit training
* Values from the Mayo Clinic Exercise for Weight Loss chart

Of course, these values are estimates, and actual calorie expenditure will not be the same for everyone. Your mileage may vary (so to speak) depending on many factors, such as the intensity of your workout, your weight (and more importantly body fat %) and your current fitness level.

Exercise of the week...split squat

Can I just say that I love this exericse! If you want your glutes and quads, this is an exceptional exercise! Also, I prefer and recommend doing this exercise with an upper body move. To perform:

1. Use a bench, chair, or even ball (harder) and place one leg back. Front leg should be out far enough that your knee doesn't go over your toe. Suggestion: hold 5-10 lb. dumbbells for extra resistance and for upper body combo.

2. Squat down to 90 degrees at knee, making sure front heel doesn't come off of ground. PUSH through heel and squeeze glutes as you come up. With dumbbells, you can either do bicep curls as you go down, or even shoulder lateral/front raises.

3. Do 15-25 reps/leg.

6 surprising reasons you're not losing weight

Here's some POSSIBLE reasons you're sabotaging your slim-down efforts, and how to get back on track.

1. You're LOADING up on whole grains. Let's be honest-while whole grain versions are a good replacement for the white flour variety, many of these snacks can still be high in fat, sugar, and sodium, not to mention CALORIES. People who eat the greatest number of servings of MINIMALLY processed whole-grain foods-not snack foods, like crackers, cookies, or chips-enjoy the biggest weight-controlled benefits. Solution: Aim to increase your intake of brown and wild rice, oatmeal, and other whole-grain cereals and breads. Not only do these foods contain fiber, which helps curb your appetite, but they're also low on the glycemic index (meaning they are absorbed in your bloodstream slower allowing you to go longer without feeling hungry).

2. You allow yourself a "CHEAT" day...or TWO. You've probably learned from experience that denying yourself all treats when you're dieting can set you up for a binge. Your solution? Being "good" during the week and allowing yourself to splurge on weekends. While this may seem like a moderate approach to weight loss, it's still a feast-or-famine mentality that can easily backfire. Dieters shed a small amount of weight each weekday gained most of it back between Friday night and Monday morning! Solution: When it comes to shedding pounds, consistency is KEY. In other words, you'll be more successful if you allow yourself a 150-to 200 calorie treat a few times a week, rather than waiting until Friday night to splurge.

3. You make your own meals. There's little dispute that frequently eating out can wreak havoc on a diet. That may be true, but if you're not vigilant about certain things like, not picking at food while you cook (a BIG one), adding just a bit of extra butter or oil, using a heavy hand with dressings and sauces, and nibbling leftovers as you're clearing the table can tack on hundreds of calories to an otherwise healthy meal. Solution: Pull out your measuring cups and spoons and use them throughout the entire cooking process. A food scale can help you weigh items that can't be measured in cups, like poultry, fish, and cheese. To keep from snacking or tasting your meal, try chewing gum or sucking on a mint! Lastly, when you're ready to eat, take a small portion of food and put it on a salad plate rather than a dinner plate. Then, put the rest of the meal into single-serving storage containers. Popping them directly into the fridge or freezer will deter you from polishing off a second dinner soon after finishing your first.

4. You squeeze in workouts. No matter how tired you are in the morning or after work, you still push through your cardio session. Better to burn a few calories than none at all, right? Not necessarily. If you're truly feeling exhausted, it's more beneficial to ditch your workout and allow yourself an extra hour of shut-eye. Why? When you're sleep-deprived, your hormone levels change, stimulating cravings for starches and sweets. Your willpower diminishes too. Solution: Few of us can get eight hours of sleep and have the time for an hour-long workout, so get seven hours of sleep and schedule your workout earlier in the day, as exercising within four hours of bedtime may hinder your ability to fall asleep.

5. You eat slowly, savoring every bite. While this works alone, lingering in a group situation seems to have the opposite effect. Studies have shown that people take in 40 to 70 percent more calories when dining with family and friends. Solution: When dining out with friends, have a dining strategy in place so you don't have to think about the calories at the table. For example, decide whether you'll have a slice of bread or a drink. You might also order an appetizer as your main dish instead of an entree. You want dessert? Skip the bread, pick a lighter meal like a salad and split a dessert with a friend.

6. You enlisted a friend to help. Teaming up with a buddy seems more fun than dieting alone, which is why you talked your best friend into joining that weight-loss program with you. Unfortanately, her uneuthusiastic attitude can take a toll on your goals. People who make the most successful weight-loss partners are those whoe are committed to losing 10 percent of their body weight and plan to stick with the program for a set period of time. Bottom line is if you have to convince a friend to join you in a diet or exercise regime, she probably isn't ready. Solution: You may be better off going it alone or finding someone who can pull her own weight.

Exercise of the week..the crab walk

Here's a great exercise that works all the lower body leg muscles, called the crab walk. It works the glutes, hamstrings, quads, etc. but really EMPHASIZES the outer thigh/hip muscles (way better than the hip abduction machine which only focuses on that one muscle). I also like to mix it up and add an upper body muscle exericise, like doing medicine or rubberband shoulder presses.

To start have a theraband (preferably tougher resistance) around your calves/ankles with feet spread shoulder-width apart. You should feel resistance the entire exercise, so it's important not to bring feet TOGETHER (hence band should be taut, not loose). Walk sideways (like a crab), in a SQUATTING position by stepping out to side with outside leg (the main leg working). Step inside leg in about half way and repeat for at least 25 reps each leg. To add in medicine ball press, hold ball at chest and press up as you step out.