One of the top requests on most people’s wish list is to lose weight.  Losing weight is tremendously difficult, especially if your lifestyle is sedentary and filled with lots of stress.  Many people try for years experimenting with several diets just to lose a few pounds.  If you are trying to lose weight, here are some helpful tips.

While most people opt for sophisticated diets and professional counseling, one of the easiest ways to lose weight is simply to cut down on what you eat and exercise.  Many people can easily lose 2 to 3 pounds each week (8 to 12 pounds per month) by cutting down their calories from 2000 to 1500 per day plus exercising for an hour a day.

Most adults need about 2000 calories and dropping 500 calories per day won’t starve you or make you drastically change your eating habits.  You won’t lose weight if you can only eat cabbage or grapefruit for a few months. By eating 1500 calories per day, you can be a little choosey with what you eat and cut out the unnecessary foods while keeping the good stuff.

Exercise is also important.  You don’t have to join a gym, although it is a good idea.  You can just walk an hour a day and lose about 250 to 300 calories.  With a 1500 calorie diet and working out each day, losing another 300 calories, you will have a gross intake of about 1200 calories, enough for anyone to lose lots of weight each month.