Everyone's trying to figure out how to lose weight this time of year.  I always say I wouldn't mind losing 10 pounds.  In fact, I would feel better about myself if I could just lose the 10 pounds I've added since high school.

Today I get an email from my mom and it has a link to some Dr. Cherry guy.  Funny thing is that his name makes me thing of as coke – cherry coke.  I don't even like cherry coke, but when I read his name I suddenly crave one!  Anyways … this doctor apparently sends out weekly emails about health and my mom gets it.  Today the topic was losing weight.  The article starts out like this …. To lose weight you must eat fewer calories than you burn – no matter how much exercise you do. But weight loss can occur by shaving as little as 100 calories a day. According to weight-loss expert Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD/LD, if you trim 100 calories per day, either by eating fewer calories or burning more, it should add up to a 10-pound loss at the end of a year. (A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories; thus, 100 calories each day for 365 days is roughly 36,500 calories, equivalent to over 10 pounds of pure fat.) And you could double your weight loss to 20 pounds in a year by trimming 100 calories from your diet AND burning 100 extra calories each day.

Did you get that … just burn an extra 100 calories  a day and that adds up to 10 pounds over a year's time.

Here's how the doc suggests we do this with our food:

Here are 20 easy tips to cut 100 calories from your diet, offered by Zelman:

*    1. Use mustard or low-fat mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise.
*    2. Have a piece of fresh fruit in place of cookies or chips.
*    3. Choose sherbet, sorbet, or low-fat ice cream over premium.
*    4. Use light whipped butter or margarine instead of regular.
*    5. Top your pasta with a red sauce instead of a cream sauce.
*    6. Order a small drink instead of a super-sized drink.
*    7. Use water-packed tuna instead of oil-packed.
*    8. Order pizza with veggies instead of high-fat meat toppings.
*    9. Choose whole-grain bread instead of a croissant or bagel.
*    10. Leave three to four bites of food on your plate.
*    11. Pass on the gravy on your mashed potatoes.
*    12. Skip the cheese on your sandwich or salad.
*    13. Switch to low-fat salad dressing instead of regular.
*    14. Spread your bread with jam instead of butter or margarine.
*    15. Have a side salad instead of French fries.
*    16. Choose skim milk instead of whole milk.
*    17. Eat 1/2 cup less of pasta or rice.
*    18. Remove the skin from poultry before eating.
*    19. Snack on carrots with hummus instead of cheese & crackers.
*    20. Choose fruit canned in natural juice instead of heavy syrup.

And if you want to not only cut back on some eating here are some physical activities to help you out:

And here are 10 quick and simple ways to burn an extra 100 calories:

*    1. Walk an extra 2,000 steps, roughly equivalent to one mile.
*    2. Jog for 10 minutes.
*    3. Do 30 extra minutes of housekeeping.
*    4. Work in the garden for 20 minutes.
*    5. Pedal an exercise bike for 13 minutes.
*    6. Climb up and down stairs for 18 minutes.
*    7. Swim for 15 minutes.
*    8. Mow the lawn for 20 minutes.
*    9. Wash the car.
*    10. Work out at home with an exercise video for 15 minutes

So, which ones will you try?  Me I'm going for the extra 30 minutes of housework, so that puts me up to about 45 min tomorrow!!!!   Just kidding Aaron!  🙂