Spring is coming.

Although there is a ton of snow on the ground and it feels like your underwear is freezing to your bum each time you get into the car, spring is coming, I promise.

Right now is the perfect time to start making the small changes that will lead to big changes as we gear up for swimsuit season. Small changes in your daily life can lead to big changes over the course of the next three months.

Calories

Take calorie intake for example. If you consume 500 less calories a day, 7 days a week (3500 less calories a week) that will equal 1 pound of weight loss, without even working out. Don’t scream or get scared! It really is easy to cut 500 calories a day (considering most of us are already eating 500 too many calories a day. Check out this graph below:

If you only cut the mayonnaise from your sandwich at lunch each day you are going to save 630 calories a week! What about that ranch that you put on your salad? We all know we are using more than 2 tbsp on our salad so maybe get the dressing on the side, or switch it up for a lighter style dressing. That can save you another 560 calories if you have 4 salads a week.

Just say ‘no’ to the bread basket. You only think that you want it. One portion of the fresh bread dipped in olive oil is 300 calories, and you aren’t eating just one serving. On average people eat 3 servings of bread from the bread basket before the meal even hits the table. Cancel that bread basket once a week and you will save between 300 and 900 calories in that one sitting!

Move Your Body

If you walk (around the block, at the park, in the mall) you burn 280+ calories in an hour. Check out this chart and see how many calories you can burn while doing fun activities. We don’t need to call it exercise! I think everyone can find an activity that they like on this list! Even if you walk for 30 minutes while chatting with a friend or neighbor. Too cold outside? How about hitting the local indoor pool while the kids are at school, or even skiing if you like that cold and snowy weather.

http://successimg.com/

Here is my list of things that I am doing to cut/burn 500 calories a day:

• Tap my foot (burns up to 350 calories a day)
• Don’t eat at the computer or in front of the TV (you eat more when you are not paying attention to your food ~300 calories more)
• Eat less nuts (3 handfuls of nuts can be as many as 525 calories!)
•  No whip cream on desserts and coffee/hot chocolate
• Eat less pasta; 1 cup of pasta is 220 calories, and most of us eat at least 2 to 3 cups for our servings. Yikes!
• Stop eating when you are full – even if there is still food on your plate
• Sleep! People who sleep 5.5 hours or less tend to snack more during the day (up to 1000+ more calories a day!)

Hopefully these little things will help me get ready to hit the pool this summer so I can read and relax while the kids play!