Doing the math is pretty easy and simple. One pound of fat is the equivalent to 3500 calories. Would you like to lose a pound a week? You will need to intake 3500 calories less a week than you use. That’s about 500 calories a day. You can lose one pound per week if you cut 500 calories from your normal daily diet and keep your activity level the same.

I know that doesn’t sound like much, especially if you are over 25 pounds overweight. Studies have shown that those who lose 1-2 pounds a week, are more likely to keep the weight off and maintain a normal weight for the rest of their life.

So how much is 500 calories exactly? If you’re going to reduce your daily intake by 500 calories, it helps to know what you need to cut out, right? Here is how you lose 500 calories a day

* Use milk instead of cream in your coffee. Savings? 50 calories per cup.

* Skip the butter on your baked potato. Savings? 100 calories

*Drink fruit flavored water rather than soda. Savings? 200 calories

* Skip the Big Mac and have a salad instead. The Big Mac equals 460 calories. A fresh salad with a light dressing? Less than 100! Savings? 360 calories

*You can walk right by that bag of potato chips. The average snack bag of chips has over 300 calories. Savings? 300 calories

*Eat corn on the ear. A 1 cup serving of canned corn has 165 calories. An ear of corn has 85. Savings? 80 calories.

*Change to a low fat cram cheese spread on your bagel. Savings? 90 calories per ounce.

* Love those fries and can’t give them up? Swap the skinny fries out for thick steak-cut ones. The thinner frech fries absorb a whole lot more oil than the thicker ones. Savings? For every 4 oz. seving there is 50 calories

You cna also lose one pound a week if you up your activity level by 500 calories, if you want to look at it from a exercise perspective. How easy is that to do? Have a look:

* Take a half-hour walk around the park. Aim for a pace that’s a little faster than a stroll, but not fast enough to be breathless. Burn: 160 calories.

*Go for a bicycle ride. Tackle a few moderate hills and aim for about five miles total. Burn: 250 calories

* Go dancing – and really DANCE. The longer you are out dancing on the dance floor, you wont be at the table drinking those high calorie fruit drinks and the more calories you will burn. The kind of dancing that makes you breathless and that warms up your body will give you a nice calorie savings. Burn: 400 calories per hour

*Swimming is something that is great for you to do and a ton of fun as well. The resistance in the water means that you will be bale to burn more calories dancing or walking in it and you will avoid the stress impact on joints from aerobics. A few laps as a slow crawl is wonderufl-if you can get up to an hour you’ll be doing even better! Burn: 510 calories

* You should get out and do some gardening. An hour of gardening tasks that includes bending and stretching can burn up to as many calories as a brisk walk. Burn: 250 calories.

*Play a game of tennis. Hook up with a friend for a weekly tennis game and you’ll be amazed at the difference. One hour of vigorous tennis is one of the best calorie burners around. Burn: 800 calories

Keep in mind that all of the exercise and calorie numbers are based on a woman’s weight of 130 pounds. If you weigh more, you’ll burn more fat. Would you like an additional bonus to burning calories through exercise? You turn fat into muscle whenever you exercise. Three guesses which kind of body tissue burns more calories – even when you’re not exercising. You got it – your body uses more energy to maintain and feed muscle than it does fat.

For best results, mix and match food savings with exercises that burn calories. Do keep in mind that eating less than 1000 calories a day for more than a few days will convince your body that it’s starving and slow your metabolism. You need to keep your calorie ranges simpmle, and if you seek a more drastic weight loss measure consult your doctor.

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