You don’t want to miss today’s 30-minute lower body strengthening audio! It will help you burn 250 calories. 

Just click the play button below…

When it comes to weight loss, sometimes it’s the little things that count. Because when you start to make small, doable lifestyle changes, they begin to accumulate – and before you know it, you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, with (seemingly) little effort.

It all starts with some simple math: If you burn (or avoid) an extra 3,500 calories in a week, you can lose 1 pound. Keep it up every week, and that’s 52 pounds in a year. And cutting out those 3,500 calories is easier than it might seem.

When you break it down, that’s only 500 calories a day – not a huge number, in the larger scheme of things. And remember – you can also reach that goal by simply cutting out an additional 250 calories a day, and burning the other 250 off with exercise.

As for the calorie cutting, there are countless ways to make it happen. Choosing seltzer instead of soda, going for grapes instead of dried fruit, swapping zucchini noodles for spaghetti, switching from ranch dressing to balsamic vinaigrette, or holding the cheese on your next salad – these little tricks alone are almost enough to cut out 250 calories in a day.

Eliminate 250

But remember, calorie counting doesn’t only apply to mealtime. Sometimes, those tiny mid-day snacks are the real saboteur. Here are a few tips to turn your snack into a body-boosting treat…

An innocent-looking green juice is a dieter’s best friend…right? Be careful. Store-bought green juices can be packed with natural sugar. I peeked inside Naked’s Green Machine, and it includes a whopping 36 g of sugar. Instead, have your green juice the superhero of your snack by making it at home, and preparing it in a blender. This way, you keep the fiber from your leafy greens and have control over the sugar content. I like to mix mine with kale, broccoli, half an apple, a squirt of lemon, and unsweetened almond milk.

Craving something sweet? Resisting the Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to dessert altogether. These days, it’s possible to treat yourself without having to feel guilty about it. I’m a big fan of a enjoying square of dark chocolate,  fudgy black bean brownies, or even some plain popcorn with 1 oz of melted dark chocolate on top. In a hurry? I also recommend Julie’s Organic Sorbet Bar in Mandarin Orange (60 calories) or 1/2 cup of Ciao Belly blackberry cabernet sorbet (110 calories).

Another simple way to satisfy the sweet tooth, especially when it comes to late-night cravings, is to brew up some hot tea. I consider myself a bit of a tea aficionado, and my flavor of the month is Indian Spice with a splash of almond milk. Its sweet, great tasting, and makes for a soothing bedtime treat.

And, of course, think about your drink! Keeping hydrated comes with a host of other benefits: it helps you feel full so you’ll eat less; the continuous flow of water throughout the day helps to keep our tendons, ligaments and muscle fibers loose and flexible; and it helps our metabolism function properly (including the highly important task of carrying fat OUT of our bodies). I follow the 10×10 rule….a 10-oz glass of water 10 times a day.

For hundreds of other recipes and snack ideas, check out my ReShape program.  It’s a practical, empowering weight loss program that will help you take charge of your body and your life once and for all!

Burn 250

Then there’s the exercise part of the equation. There are several ways you can quickly burn off those extra 250, and I like to break the options down into 3 categories: Fun, Functional, and Formal.

First, let’s have some Fun: Whether it’s learning a new sport, such as taking a Latin dance class with friends, or participating in a charity walk event, one thing is for sure: Exercise doesn’t have to feel like “work.” Find something that you love to do, round up some girlfriends that would enjoy doing it with you, and before you know it, you’ve burned off 250 calories (and then some).

Next, let’s talk about the Functional. We’ve heard all the basic advice on this one: Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park a little further away from the grocery store or the mall, or get off the bus or subway a stop early so that you can walk the rest of the way. The bottom line here is that, no matter what you’re doing, it’s possible to burn extra calories by incorporating exercise into your everyday activities. So next time you’re on a long phone call, why not get up and walk around, rather than remain chained to your desk? Or, put your garbage can further away from your desk so you can get up each time you need to throw something away? It’s the little changes that add up to big results.

Last but certainly not least, there’s Formal exercise. This is where the classic definition of “working out” comes into play. Not sure where to start? Try my brand new TONE EVERY INCH strength training audio collection for a full-body weight loss and toning system. And remember: just because it’s “Formal” doesn’t mean this type of exercise isn’t also Functional AND a whole lot of Fun.

TONE EVERY INCH AUDIO COLLECTION

5 INSTANTLY-DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOS THAT TONE EVERY SINGLE INCH

– 10-MIN TNT – This 10-minute audio workout will tone and tune your entire body! This routine guides you through 10 moves, each one for 1 minute a piece. For this workout, you’ll need two sets of dumbbells (I recommend 5 lb and 8 lb)

– Below The Belt – This 30-minute audio routine is the ultimate lower body toner. I’ll guide you through strength training to target your glutes, hamstrings, and quads.

– Upper Body Interval Blaster – This routine includes the perfect combination of interval training and upper-body strength training. It begins with a 20-minute steady state walking routine that gradually increases in intensity. Then, the workout moves through a 20-minute upper body resistance training to help sculpt and train the shoulders, triceps, biceps and even the abdominals.

– Total Body Tone-Up – This routine starts with a 30-minute rolling-hills workout (with a surprise challenge). It finishes with 15-mins of resistance training for all of your large calorie-burning muscles (abs, chest, legs, and buns).

– 15/15 Superset – Tone and trim your entire body in only 15 minutes! This strength training routine guides you through a 15-min upper body and then a 15-minutes lower body resistance training to tone every inch of your body.