Step 1: Start a Food Diary 开始饮食记录

    A food diary is an excellent first step to losing weight. Not only does it show you what you eat, it can also help you understand why you eat the way you do, which is often just as important when it comes to long-term weight management. （For example, if you find that you always hit the vending machine after your afternoon meeting, you may eat in response to stress.）

    Simply pick up a spiral notebook that's lying around the house and record everything you eat and drink for at least one week. The most important factor in keeping an effective food diary is to keep it honest. That includes recording "tastes" and samples as well as unexpected treats （like a "free" donut from the break room!）. Many of us eat and drink without being truly conscious of it. Keeping a food diary is the only way to get an accurate idea of what you take in to your body.

    有时候你会无意识地吃下很多东西，记录你的日常饮食是根除这个毛病的好办法。拿个小本子，诚实地记录下你每天吃下的东西，至少记录一星期，这样有助于你了解自己的饮食方式，更对长期的饮食管理非常有帮助。你吃下了什么，你的日记本最清楚。

    Step 2: Learn to Read Nutrition Labels 学会读营养成分标签

    The next step to lose weight without spending money is to educate yourself on how to read nutrition labels. Nutrition labels appear on packaged foods under the heading of "Nutrition Facts" in a rectangular box. These labels include information on the amount per serving of fat and calories, as well as saturated fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, and other important nutritional information. If you cannot locate a nutrition label on the packaging of a certain food, try searching online.

    One of the key areas of a nutrition label is where "Serving Size" and "Servings Per Container" are listed. If you decide to start tracking your daily calorie intake, you will look at this information in conjunction with the number of calories. Only with the serving size can you accurately assess the number of calories you consume when you eat a food or drink a beverage.

    Here is an example: The label on your bag of chips says they provide 160 calories per serving. Unless you take note of the fact that 14 chips constitutes a serving, you might assume the amount of chips you can fit into a bowl is a serving. That's probably a lot more than 14 chips, and therefore a lot more than 160 calories.

    下一步是学会读食品包装上的营养成分标签。这个标签里会详细阐述一份食物包含的脂肪和热量、胆固醇等等。包装上找不到这样的标签，也可以上网去搜寻一下。值得注意的是要看清楚一份食物究竟指的是多少，比如一袋薯片上表明一份含有160卡路里，如果你没看清一份指的是14片薯片，误以为一份是一碗薯片那么多，那你就会吃下远远大于160卡路里的食物了。

    Step 3: Start Measuring Serving Sizes 计量食量

    The next step to losing weight without spending money is to control portions. In the previous step, you learned about serving size （the recommended single portion of a particular food or beverage）. From now on, take a moment to look at the serving size on the nutrition label and measure out （or count out if the serving is a number, such as "three pieces"） controlled portions of foods and beverages.

    Try this experiment: Tomorrow morning at breakfast, pour your usual bowl of cereal without any measuring （Don't add milk yet!）. Then, check the nutrition label for serving size and measure out that amount with a measuring cup. Pour that portion into another bowl. Compare the two portions side by side. You may be surprised at how much more than a recommended serving you are accustomed to eating.

    For a few foods, such as meat, you can't really use a measuring cup, but you don't have to buy a scale to control your portions of those foods. Picturing the size of everyday items can help you to estimate serving size. （For example, a serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.）

    It may seem daunting at first to measure your food, but doing so really is the only way to get a true concept of what normal servings look like. In time, when you have adjusted to seeing what standard servings really are, you will be able to "eyeball" a serving without measuring your food.

    And here's a bonus for budget-watchers -- when you use smaller portions, everything you buy will last longer. That box of cereal in the example will be around days longer than it would have been if you'd continued eating oversized servings. So, controlling portions can save you major cash!

    你知道营养标签上推荐的一份食物究竟有多少吗？试着把它量化。以后吃东西，只吃标准的一份量。可以做个试验，在一只碗中放入你平时一餐吃下的谷物，在另一只碗中称量出标签上的标准量，结果会让你非常吃惊：你多吃下了很多很多！对你要吃的东西都称量出标准量来，开始可能非常繁琐，以后目测就能知道一餐该吃多少了。这样也能让你省不少钱，同样是一袋谷物，你能多吃好多天了。控制食量，甚至还能帮你省下一大部分钱！

    Step 4: Sign Up for a Free Calorie Count Membership 使用免费卡路里计算系统

    Your next step to lose weight without spending money is to sign up for a membership at About.com's Calorie Count. Calorie Count is a free service that allows you to calculate your daily caloric needs, track your calorie intake, search the calorie count of foods, browse for nutritional information, and much more.

    After you answer a few questions about yourself, you will be provided a number of calories you should eat each day if you want to lose weight at a healthy rate. The "eat meter" and "burn meter" both allow you to track your calorie use and your calorie burn.

    Here's how it works: Let's use a half-cup of 2% milk as an example of a food I want to track. First, I visit Calorie Count and log into my account. Then, I will either browse the category of Dairy and Egg Products until I locate milk, or I will simply type "milk" in the search box. Using search I quickly find the entry for reduced-fat milk. Since I measured my portion, I select a half-cup from the drop down menu as my serving size. Then, I click the "Add to Food Log" button.

    Since using Calorie Count means there is record of what I have eaten, keeping my food diary becomes "automatic" and I have an accurate idea of how many calories I am consuming. Calorie Count subtracts these calories from my "Eat Meter" and I instantly see how many calories I have used throughout the day and my remaining "balance".

    Simply log your food and beverages with Calorie Count, stay within your calorie goals, and get some activity in on the "burn meter" -- you are virtually guaranteed to lose weight.

    about.com上有一套供人免费使用的卡路里计算系统，注册之后你能用它计算你一天需要摄入的卡路里量、搜索食物热量表、并能制定健康减肥的日常热量计划。这样的工具能够帮你每天控制好卡路里摄入，以便成功瘦身。

    Step 5: Cut Liquid Calories 减少摄入饮料热量

    Cutting liquid calories from your diet is one of the easiest and most "painless" ways to lose weight. Once you start keeping a food diary, measuring servings, and tracking your caloric intake, you may be surprised at the number of calories you consume in the form of beverages. The good news is you may not need to cut as many food calories once you realize how many liquid calories you can cut.

    And since we all want to lose weight without spending money, consider this: Buying fewer beverages can save you a lot of cash over time （especially if those beverages are coffee drinks or wine!）.

    每天喝下的饮料中含有很多热量，把这些可以不喝的来源剔除掉，是最简单也最"无痛"的减肥方法。如果你可以减少饮料的热量摄入，你可能都不需要进行节食了哦！同时，少买饮料，还能省不少钱，尤其是咖啡或者酒类。

    Here is an example of a person's caloric intake just from beverages as recorded in her food diary:

    A.M.

    orange juice, 8-oz. glass = 112 calories

    coffee, 2 cups, 4 packets sugar = 92 calories

    Mid-Morning

    mocha frappe = 230 calories

    Lunch

    soda, 16-oz. cup = 200 calories

    Afternoon

    apple juice, 8-oz. container = 117 calories

    Dinner

    iced tea, sweetened, 16-oz. glass = 140 calories

    P.M.

    white wine, two 3.5-oz. glasses = 168 calories

    GRAND TOTAL = a whopping 1,059 calories

    If this person cuts just half of the calories from her daily beverage intake by choosing water instead, she could lose a pound per week with no other changes! So, put down that can of soda and fill up a glass at the tap to save tons of calories and a chunk of change!