Monica Cardone's Diet Diary

You need to lose at least one pound a week. Two pounds is the MOST fat you can lose in one week – but shoot for one and you’ll be there before you know it! Now, here’s the trick: to lose one pound in seven days you need to reduce your net calories by 500 every day. This means you need to burn off more than you are conusming. Be prepared to push yourself harder than ever to get yourself going. But every day that passes, the easier this task will be. Here’s some tips on how you can start doing this:
· Replace your morning bagel and cream cheese with an English muffin and cottage cheese
· Drink diet cola instead of regular cola…and better yet, tried unsweetened Iced Tea or water with a little lemon or cranberry juice
· Replace one slice of cheddar cheese for low fat cheese made from skim milk
· Swap 1 glass of 2% milk for 1% milk (or Skim!)
· Chose air-popped popcorn insead of more buttery popcorn
· Replace a white-bread bagel with a lighter and fluffier English muffin (saves 60 calories)
· Instead of ordering a Café Mocha prepared with whole milk at Starbucks, opt for an equally satisfying Café Latte prepared with non-fat milk
· When you want a fresh snack, choose a high-fiber apple over a banana
· Choose a light salad-dressing for your salad. Three tablespoons of non-fat Italian dressing or vinegar makes a big difference over Caesar salad dressing…up to 300 calories!
· When making a 2-egg omelet, replace one of the eggs with an egg-white
· This one’s probably the one that will hurt the most, but it also packs the most punch. The next time you’re eating at a fast-food restaurant, say ‘no’ to the French fries and have a side order of salad instead

If you lose more than one pound a week, then you’re doing better than average. Expecting to lose five pounds a week just isn’t realistic. Although it is possible if you are ridding your body of toxins and excess water; we all have learned…these “pounds” never last -LOL