By Betty Murray

Another week into 2012 — How are you doing maintaining your New Year’s Resolution to lose weight? Are you finding it difficult to stay on track? Making big changes to your diet and lifestyle can be overwhelming and make losing weight even more challenging.

One key to losing weight and keeping it off is to identify small lifestyle and diet changes that will be easy for you to maintain the rest of your life. Here are 5 simple changes you can make in your life to help you stick to your New Year’s Resolutions and increase weight loss.

1. Get more calcium in your diet – Calcium is a mineral known to strengthen bones, but what many people don’t know is that calcium also aids in weight loss.  This essential mineral helps prevent fat storage in the body and increases metabolism, burning stored body fat.
   Eating foods rich in calcium can burn an extra 100 fat calories each day, which adds up to 10 pounds lost in one year, without changing anything else in your diet or exercise. Adding regular exercise and a healthier, calcium rich diet will result in even greater weightloss. The added bonus with calcium is that it keeps bones healthy, making regular exercise safer.
   Adults should consume at least 1000 mg each day of calcium from non-fat sources. There are a number of non-dairy foods that are rich in calcium, including: almonds, broccoli, ricemilk and soymilk, figs and leafy green vegetables.
2. More moving, less sitting - If you have a desk job, make a point to get up and move at least a few minutes every hour. When you get home in the evening, don’t sit in front of the TV and veg all evening. Try to keep yourself moving until you go to bed. You might be surprised at the difference that can make in your figure and weight.
3. Vitamins in, fat out - Research has shown that vitamins C and D can help burn fat. You should be getting at least 400-500mg of vitamin C and 800mg of vitamin D each day.
4. Pack in the protein - A high-protein diet is proven to help burn more fat than a low-protein diet. Breakfast and lunch are the two most important meals when it comes to protein. Kick the carbs and keep your metabolism running for the rest of the day with a high-protein (but low fat) lunch.
5. Don’t discount the calories in your drink – It is easy to forget to count the calories that are in the fluid we take in on a daily basis, but doing so could be disastrous to your diet. Do you drive through Starbucks on your way to work each morning? If so, a cup of plain black coffee, though it contains no vitamins or minerals, it won’t add much to your daily calorie count, with a mere 5 calories per 16-ounce cup. However, should you choose an espresso drink, the calorie count takes a steep jump. For example, one Grande (16-ounce) latte with nonfat milk contains 130 calories. Like a little more flavor in your drink? A Grande peppermint white chocolate mocha will set you back 430 calories.

Make small changes to your daily habits, like taking the stairs, rather than the elevator, drinking your coffee black, and adding vitamin supplements to your daily diet and you’ll find it easier to lose weight and keep it off.

Are you struggling to keep your New Year’s Resolution to lose weight? Read my other articles on keeping your New Year’s Resolutions here.

Betty Murray, CN, HHC, RYT is a Certified Nutritionist & Holistic Health Counselor, founder of the Dallas-based integrative medical center, Wellness and founder of the Metabolic Blueprint wellness program. Betty’s nutrition counseling practice specializes in metabolic and digestive disorders and weight loss resistance. A master of the biochemistry of the body, Betty teaches her clients how to utilize nutritional interventions to improve their health. Betty is a member of the Institute of Functional Medicine and the National Association of Nutrition Professionals.