It's the little things that count

Taken from New Idea Health Page http://nz.lifestyle.yahoo.com/new-idea/health/article/-/7568217/60-second-weight-loss-secrets/

Losing weight doesn't have to be complicated. It's often the small, quick things you do that can make a difference to your weight and shape. Here, diet and fitness experts share their fast – but effective – weight-loss secrets.


1. Go disco
Put on some energetic dance music in the morning to get you in a move-faster mindset. 'Often we get out of bed and we drag ourselves to the bathroom and to the kitchen and we feel slow,' says psychologist Meredith Fuller. 'If you're woken by fast music while you get ready, you can't help but move faster – that effect can last all day.' And anything that gets you moving, and moving faster, helps to burn fat.
2. Stand up for yourself
Can you take that phone call standing up rather than sitting at your desk? Could you read that report on your feet? 'Standing recruits more muscles than sitting, so you burn more fuel or fat standing,' says Leigh Brown, an exercise physiologist at RMIT University School of Medical Sciences in Melbourne. 'Try and stand up as often as possible and at least stand up and walk for a few minutes for every hour or two that you sit at work. It will help your posture, too.'
3. Prepare ahead
If you've got a big day at work tomorrow, or if you know you're going to be on the run for most of the day, prepare healthy snacks and a nutritious lunch to take with you – you will easily save about 1255kJ a day this way. Also, keep some nuts in your handbag to snack on – they're brain food!
4. Take the stairs
It's an obvious but quick and effective way to lose around 2.7kg a year. Take the stairs instead of the lift as often as you can. Walking up two flights a day is the equivalent of that 2.7kg weight-loss, says registered dietitian Areli Hermanson.
5. Cut down on sugar
If you have two teaspoons of sugar in your latte every morning, try having just one. If you halve your daily sugar intake you can easily save yourself about 420kJ a day – which will equate to around 4.5kg of lost body fat a year. And the more sugar you consume, the more you crave it. So break that sugar cycle today.
6. Get some fresh air
Do you really need to eat that muffin mid-afternoon or would some kilojoules-free fresh air be enough? 'Often we binge on comfort food when we're tired,' says psychologist Meredith Fuller. 'Sometimes all we need is some oxygen in our body.' So during that slump, open a window or go outside and breathe in some fresh air.
7. Go round the outside
'When you go to the supermarket, always remember to go “round the outside, round the outside,”' says Scott Williams of Succeed Personal Development in Canberra. 'All the food we don't need is situated in the middle aisles – and all the good food we should be eating to help with weight loss is, as the Malcolm McLaren [Buffalo Gals] song goes, “round the outside”.'
8. Push yourself
Increase the intensity of your gym workout and do it in less time. This will help you to burn fat and lose weight faster. 'Do multiple exercises without resting in between to elevate your heart rate,' says trainer Scott Williams. 'This will speed up your metabolism over the rest of the day, which means you'll burn more body fat when you're resting, too.'
9. Get the picture
'Stick a photograph of yourself at your stunning best in the kitchen – either in the pantry or on the fridge,' says psychologist Meredith Fuller. 'It might be a picture of you in your 20s or 30s, as a teenager, or on your wedding day.' Keep that photo visible to help motivate you to lose weight during moments of weakness or when you feel a bit discouraged.
10. Read the fine print
Take 60 seconds to read the wrapper before you eat something,' says trainer Scott Williams. 'At a quick glance that chocolate bar, bottle of juice, bag of chips or nuts appear to contain 920kJ. But a closer look might show those products provide two or more servings, which more than doubles those kilojoules.'