1. Add 15 minutes of cardio each day. An average 150 pound person burns about 135 calories jogging for 15 minutes. Over the course of 30 days, that’s 4,050 calories burned! Enough to equal just more than a pound of weight loss.

2. Be strict with your food portions. Eat what you like that’s unique to the holidays, but only eat half a portion. Americans eat 100 pounds more food a year than we did 20 years ago and it’s mostly because of portion sizes. If you could shave off just 250 calories per day from your diet through reducing your portions, that equals 7,500 calories at the end of 30 days. Enough to equal a little more than 2 pounds of weight loss.

3. Make sure to get 7 hours of sleep per night. Studies show people who are sleep deprived eat 300 more calories per day than well rested people. That equals 9,000 calories per 30 days, which is about 2.5 pounds of weight.

4. Walk around the entire mall once before starting to shop. The average mall in the U.S. is 56,000 square feet. You’re going to burn about 100 calories per hour mall walking. (Don’t forget the calorie burn gets higher the more bags you carry with merchandise, so buy buy buy!)

5. Stay hydrated. Almost 65% of our bodies are water, so it’s important to consume enough water so our body functions properly. People who drink an average of 6.5 glasses of water per day consume about 200 fewer calories per day according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That’s 6,000 fewer calories over 30 days equaling almost 2 pounds of weight loss.

6. Meditate. Not managing your stressors properly can cause bad habits centered around food consumption. Just 7 minutes per day of meditating can help you eat less, control cravings, and get trim.

7. Laugh. Research shows that laughing for an hour intensely can burn as many calories as lifting weights for 30 minutes. It gives the body a mini aerobic workout. So no more "Lol" in your texts and posts, do the real thing and laugh off those holiday pounds.

This article made its debut on www.nohoartsdistrict.com

(Jack Witt is a Health and Fitness Coach providing In Home Personal Training, Personal Training at Private Fitness Centers in the North Hollywood, Burbank, Studio City, Sherman Oaks areas, as well as Worksite Health Programs, Corporate Wellness, Life Coaching Products, Keynote Speaking, and Group Exercise Classes.)