Lose 1 pound per week, Cut Out 500 calories per day

Dodge dining-out disasters: Even your seemingly healthy grilled fish and vegetables can pack more calories and fat than a stick of butter. Many restaurant meals contain up to 2 ounces of added oil [500 calories]. Pasta dishes are notorius: Oil is used throughout cooking process and added to sauces and cooked noodles. Stick with steamed veggies and grilled, poached, or broiled lean protein (like poultry and fish).

Careful with that cappucino: Vanilla shots, caramel, sugar packets- they're not harmful just because they're in your cup of joe. A large white -chocolate mocha with whipped cream logs in at 630 calories (the whip alone has 100!). Get your sweet fix with two shots of sugar-free vanilla syrup in a medium cappuccino with soy or fat-free milk and kick 500 empty calories to the curb.

Dress down: Most entree salads at restaurants are pre-dressed with 6 to 10 tablespoons of dressing. And most dressings have 70 to 100 calories per tablespoon and 7 to 10 grams of fat. That's an average of 680 calories just for the dressing (not even counting croutons and bacon bits). Order dressing on the side and dip into it sparingly with your fork between bites. You'll cut back to about 2 tablespoons (roughly 175 calories).

Lighten up at happy hour: If it tastes sweet or has a salty rim, it's bad news. Most cocktails have 2 to 5 ounces of liquor. Add in 5 ounces of sugary syrups or mixers and you can down more than 700 calories in just one drink! Go for a bottle of light beer, which contain around 125 calories each.