Tipping the Balance

This Lark mission was all about calorie balance and tipping the balance in your favor so you can lose weight to lower diabetes risk. Each pound of body fat is worth about 3,500 calories, so you can lose about a pound a week by averaging a calorie deficit of about 500 to 1,000 calories per day.

You can achieve that calorie deficit by taking in fewer calories, expending or burning more calories, or doing both. You can take in fewer calories without depriving yourself of favorite foods or changing your lifestyle too much, since small steps help. These are some ways to cut back on calories without feeling too hungry.

• Swap water or decaf coffee or tea for sugar-sweetened beverages. 
• Take smaller portions of higher-calorie foods and help yourself to more vegetables.
• Make calorie-saving swaps, such as shredded wheat for granola, spaghetti squash for spaghetti, plain non-fat yogurt for sugar-sweetened flavored low-fat yogurt, and extra lean ground turkey instead of regular ground beef.

To burn a few extra calories, you can take a look at your physical activity. Consistency comes first, and then you can add in bits and pieces wherever you can. When you are ready, you can take a look at which activities you might be interested in adding that bump up the intensity and calorie burn.

Weight loss is easier when you have a smart, simple approach that lets you make small changes that fit into your lifestyle. Lark DPP is there to help whenever you want.