When people try to lose a couple of pounds, they may invest in a gym membership, join a slimming club or buy the newest fad diet book. It doesn’t have to take this much effort, or money, to ensure that you can lose the weight yourself by implementing some healthy alternatives to your regular lifestyle.

Food alternatives – Low calorie food alternatives is the best way to start. Check the calorie content per 100g to what you would regularly buy, then compare it to a low-fat version or a different healthy alternative. An obvious example of this would be bread. A normal slice of Medium white bread would come around at about 100 calories per slice; where as a medium whole-wheat slice of bread only contains around 65 calories. Some other healthy alternatives would be honey instead of artificial sugar, seeded mustard instead of margarine which will save you 45 calories per slice of bread. Also try spreading peanut butter on a rice cake as an alternative to a mid morning or afternoon snack, the high protein elements of peanut butter will help keep the cravings away. Restricting your calorie intake even as little as 500 calories less per day has a 63% better chance of helping you lose weight in a healthy manner.

Get active – It’s essential that along with controlled healthy eating that exercise should be implemented into your routine to help you lose weight and stay healthy. It is recommended that we should be getting 30 minutes of exercise (preferably outdoors) everyday, so instead of paying for a gym membership here are some alternatives to getting exercise the best way – for free!

Jogging: As well as getting fresh air into your lungs, jogging will burn 300 calories per 30 minutes. Try getting a friend to accompany as you as a jogging partner so you can keep your motivation levels high and encourage each other. Just like most physical exercises jogging releases feel good endorphins which will raise your levels of well-being.

Cycling: Cycling is a great exercise for your legs and you also get to take in the local surroundings. Cycling at an intermediate speed for 30 minutes will burn roughly 370 calories. As cycling is a fairly low intensity sport it is a great way for beginners to involve themselves into an active lifestyle.

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