Welcome to Fitness Minute! With Mary Salama , the newsletter designed to raise your awareness and empower you for change!

• One pound = approximately 3,500 calories
• To lose one pound per week you would have to create a daily deficit of 500 calories. This can and should be done through a combination of diet and exercise. For example, everyday consume 250 less calories and increase your daily exercise by 250 calories.
• Just like you would keep track of your finances, keeping track of your intake and output just makes good “business” sense, especially if you are in the business of weight loss! You can visit www.calorieking.com to find out calorie values of just about everything you eat.

Knowing your total daily calories will make it easier to cut out 250 calories everyday however; you can still make the cut without having to keep a food journal. For example:

· If your sandwich bread bag states that a slice of bread is 100 calories: have one slice instead of 2 and you just eliminated 100 calories

· Replace your 12 ounce coke with a diet coke or water and you just saved 150 calories

· Replace your 3-egg omelet with 3 egg whites and save 120 calories

· Replace your dinner roll with an additional serving of vegetables and save another 70 calories

· When it comes to exercise, here are the average calories used per minute:

You do the math: To burn 250 calories through exercise you can do 25 minutes heavy exercise (like a jog) or one hour of light exercise such as walking or a game of tennis. Remember, getting to the gym is the hardest part so just get yourself there! Also, try to find an activity or machine that you enjoy. Lately, I have enjoyed the Stairmaster machine and have been able to stay on it for a whole hour (that's 600 calories burned!).

F.A.Q.: Can I reduce the 500 calories all from my diet and not do any exercise? Yes you can but you will miss out on so many benefits that exercise offers, including:

• Reduction of blood-sugar levels and reducing sweet cravings
• Improving cholesterol numbers, mood and energy
• “After-burn” effect . When you exercise you will burn calories while you are doing it and, depending on the duration and intensity of the exercise you did, for several hours after you exercise you will be burning calories at a higher rate. Don't miss out on these great benefits that only exercise can offer you.