Lose Weight - Up To 0.5kg A Week With Simple Food Substitutions

Losing weight can often be daunting and some weight loss techniques involve significant lifestyle changes. This article focuses on easy lifestyle changes designed to help you lose at least 0.5kg a week.

To lose weight all you need to do is make sure you burn more calories than you consume. To lose 0.5kg a week you simply need to make sure that each day you burn 500 calories more than you consume. So if your weight is stable and you want to lose 0.5kg a week you need reduce your calorie intake or increase calorie expenditure to the tune of 500 calories a day. This may seem like a lot however there are so many easy things we can do to achieve this.

Did you know that a 600ml bottle of coke has 285 Calories in it? Or that a slice of chocolate mud cake has 390 Calories? That means if the only changes you made to your daily diet was to cut out your bottle of coke and cake you would lose over 0.5kg a week. At the bottom of the article is a list of commonly eaten foods and drinks and some better alternatives to help lose weight. All you need to do is look at the foods you eat each day and then find a healthier substitute. Simply make sure your changes are more than 500 calories and this will ensure weight loss of more than 0.5kg a week.

Here are some possible changes to lose more than 0.5kg a week.

Weight loss change 1:

- Glass of water instead of juice in the morning: 123 Cal savings

- Replace butter with extra light margarine: 49 Cal savings

- Fat free yoghurt instead of full cream: 82 Cal savings

- 20 minute jog: 210 Cal savings

- No sugar in coffee & low fat milk: 50 Cal savings

Total: 514 Cal savings

Weight loss change 2:

- One glass of wine instead of two over dinner: 135 Cal savings

- Portion size reduction for dinner: 160 Cal savings

- No biscuit with coffee: 190 Cal savings

- Light margarine instead of normal margarine: 37 Cal savings

Total: 522 Cal savings

Weight loss change 3:

- Water instead of soft drink: 170 Cal savings

- 1 hour walk: 240 Cal savings

- Low fat muffin instead of cake slice: 120 Cal savings

Total: 530 Cal savings

Weight loss change 4:

- Vegetable snack instead of packaged chips: 250 Cal savings

- Muesli bar instead of chocolate bar: 160 Cal savings

- Lean ham instead of salami on sandwich: 150 Cal savings

Total: 560 Cal savings

You can make any number of different changes. The idea of this article is to provoke thought about making healthy substitutes to your diet and lifestyle to assist weight loss. It is important to understand what is in all the foods you eat and with this knowledge it becomes easier to have healthier alternatives resulting in significant weight loss and increased energy.

Drink Unit - Calories

Coke 600ml - 285 Cal

Coke 385ml - 161 Cal

Soft Drinks 385ml -170 Cal

Coke zero 600ml - 2 Cal

Diet Coke 600ml - 2 Cal

Water 600ml - 0 Cal

OJ 250ml - 123 Cal

Apple 250ml - 100 Cal

Beer - full strength 385ml - 135 Cal

Beer - light 385ml - 100 Cal

Wine - red 160ml - 135 Cal

Wine - white 160ml - 108Cal


Butter/Margarine Unit - Calories

Butter 10g - 72 Cal

Margarine 10g - 60 Cal

Extra light margarine 10g - 23 Cal


Coffee Unit - Calories

Sugar teaspoon - 23 Cal

Sugar sub (equal) teaspoon - 2 Cal

Full cream milk tablespoon - 13 Cal

Skim milk tablespoon - 7 Cal


Dairy Unit - Calories

Full cream milk glass - 128 Cal

Skim/no-fat milk glass - 66 Cal

Yoghurt 200g - 174 Cal

Fat free yoghurt 200g - 92 Cal


Exercise Unit - Calories

Walk 30 min - 120 Cal

Walk 1 hour - 240 Cal

Jog 10min - 105 Cal

Jog 20min - 210 Cal

Jog 30min - 315 Cal


Meats Unit - Calories

Salami 40g - 190 Cal

Lean ham 40g - 43 Cal


Cakes Unit - Calories

Choc mud cake 100g (slice) - 390 Cal

Cheesecake 100g (slice) - 320 Cal

Sponge cake 100g (slice) - 250 Cal

Low fat muffin 100g (slice) - 200 Cal


Biscuit Unit - Calories

Tim Tam (chocolate) 2 - 194 Cal

Mint Slice 2 - 160 Cal

Anzac 2 - 200 Cal

Weight watchers 2 - 66 Cal

Wafer biscuit 2 - 80 Cal


Reduce portion size 25% Unit - Calories

Dinner Normal - 650 Cal

Dinner Smaller portion - 490 Cal

Lunch Normal - 500 Cal

Lunch Smaller portion - 375 Cal

Breakfast Normal - 400 Cal

Breakfast Smaller portion - 300 Cal


Chips Unit - Calories

Hot chips bucket (150g) - 300 Cal

Smiths chips 50g packet - 255 Cal

McDonalds Large - 455 Cal

Salt & vinegar 50g packet - 255 Cal



Chocolate Bars Unit - Calories

Mars 1 - 275 Cal

Snickers 1 - 294 Cal

Boost 1 - 310 Cal

Kit Kat 1 - 314 Cal

Fruit topped muesli bar 30g - 115 Cal

Yoghurt top muesli bar 30g - 135 Cal