Here's the bottom line: one pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories. Whether by making slight changes to your diet like the ones listed below or exercising, a deficit of 500 calories a day will lead to the loss of a pound a week! Remember, it's the small changes we make every single day that make a big difference in the long run!

Most diets, weight loss and fitness programs fail because they are too rigid, require big changes from the start and have too many rules to follow. This all adds up to big stress for the individual. More stress and you have to put more mental energy into it to succeed. The focus is on getting through the program and "finishing it." Final result? You go back to your original behavior and weight problem because the program wass too hard, and no permanent weight loss.

Get off the never-ending weight loss failure merry-go-round. The secret to permanent weight loss is slow, almost transparent and easy changes in eating habits.

The more transparent, effortless and painless your weight loss efforts are, the more they become permananent. Making a 100 calorie change a day is as simple as passing on 2 Oreo Cookies. Here are some additional easy things to do to get that 100 calorie change:

Switch to water first thing in the morning instead of fruit juice. Fruit juice is high in sugar. Since most of us are dehydrated in the morning, water's the best thing to do the trick anyway.

- Switch to sugar-free yogurt instead of eating regular yogurt.

- Switch to a low-fat store-bought bagel instead of a bakery bagel.

- Use an all-fruit spread on top of low fat or fat free cream cheese instead of flavored cream cheese on that low-fat bagel.

- Replace bacon at breakfast with reduced-fat turkey bacon or Canadian bacon.

- Steam veggies instead of saut?ing them in butter or oil.

- If you drink a lot of soda, switching to diet soda will probably save you hundreds of calories a day.

- Switch to boiled shrimp instead of steak on shish kebabs.

- Replace 1 tablespoon of regular mayo on your turkey sandwich with 1 ? tablespoons of reduced fat mayo.

- Indulge in Sunday-morning French toast... modified. Use non-fat milk and egg whites instead of whole milk and eggs.

Pick just one of these suggestions and you'll see the results in just a few months. If you want to do a little more, take a walk each morning or evening. A 30 minute walk five times a week will shed almost double the amount of weight in a year for you. So, do something "small" for your self. Surprise yourself in a year!