Step 1:Start a Food Diary

第一步:开始饮食记录

A food diary is an excellent fiirst 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 vending¹ machine after your afternoon meeting, you may eat in response to stress.)

减肥记录是重要的减肥第一步。不仅记录下你吃了什么，而且还能帮助你明白为什么这么吃，这是长期减肥计划的重要一点。(例如，如果你发现总是在下午会议后去自动贩卖机买东西，你可能是为了缓解压力而吃的。

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 recording² "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.

选一本笔记本放在屋子里，每周至少一次记录下你吃、喝的每一样东西。有效的饮食日记最重要的一点就是诚实的记录，包括“口味”和样品，还有出乎意料的招待(像休息室里“免费的”甜甜圈)。我们中的很多人没有准确地记得吃喝过什么，保持饮食记录有助于了解自己的饮食方式。

Step 2: Learn to Read Nutrition Labels

第二步: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 saturated³ fat,cholesterol, dietary fiber⁴, and other important nutritional⁵ information. If you cannot locate a nutrition label on the packaging of a certain food, try searching online.

不用花钱减肥的下一步是训练自己学会读食品包装上的营养成分标签。在食品包装的背面，营养成分标题下的表格就是营养成分标签。这些标签内包括脂肪和卡路里，还有饱和脂肪、胆固醇、饮食纤维和其他重要营养成分的信息。如果你找不到食物包装上的标签，可以上网搜索一下。

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 intake⁶, you will look at this information in conjunction with the number of calories. Only with the serving size can you accurately⁷ assess the number of calories you consume when you eat a food or drink a beverage⁸.

营养标签中重要一点是区分“分量大小”和“净重量”。如果你决定开始记录每日卡路里摄入量，就应该注意与卡路里有关的信息。根据分量大小能准确地判断出当你吃东西或者喝饮料时消耗的卡路里量。

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.

以下是一个例子: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

第三步二计量食量

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 beverages⁹.

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.

不用花钱减肥的下一步是控制量。之前一步让你了解了食量(被推荐的一份特别食物或饮料)，从这之后，要关注营养标签上的食量并且量出(或者如果食物量是数字就数出，例如“三片”)食物和饮料的规定份数。

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.)

做一下这个实验:明天早晨的早餐，在一只碗中放人你平时一餐吃下的谷物(不加牛奶)，在另一只碗中称量出标签上的标准量，对比两份早餐，结果会让你非常吃惊:你多吃下了很多很多!

It may seem daunting¹⁰ 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. Intime, when you have adjusted to seeing what standard servings really are, you will be able to "eyeball" a serving without measuring your food.

对少数食物，例如肉，不可能真用器具去量，你不用为了控制那些食物的量而买称。测量每天的食物有助于你估计食物量(例如，肉的量是一副扑克牌的大小)。

And here’s a bonus for budget-watchers一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!

一开始称量可能非常繁琐，但是这么做是摄人正常食物量的唯一方法。以后等适应了食物量标准，不用称量你就能目测出食物量了。

Step 4: Sign Up for a Free Calorie Count Membership

还有一个对省钱观察家来说的好处，当你吃更小一份时，每份食物都能吃更久。以麦片为例，同样一盒麦片控制食量后就比之前吃更多天。因此控制食量能帮你省一大部分钱!

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, browse¹¹ for nutritional information, and much more.

第四步:使用免费卡路里计算系统

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" bath allow you to track your calorie use and your calorie burn.

不用花钱减肥的下一步是在about.com网站上的卡路里计算系统申请一个会员。卡路里计算系统可以免费帮助你计算每天要摄人的卡路里量、追踪你的卡路里摄入量、搜寻食物卡路里含量和提供您随意翻看营养信息等等。

Here’s how it works: Let's use a half-cup ofi 2% milk as an example of a food !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.

当你回答了自身的几个问题后，如果你想健康减肥的话，系统会提供你每天应摄人的卡路里量。“摄人量”和“消耗量”可以追踪你的卡路里摄人和消耗。

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".

下面是它的工作原理:把半杯含量为2%的牛奶当做我想追踪的样品食物。首先，我登录卡路里计算系统并且进人我的账户。然后，我随便翻阅乳品和蛋制品的种类直到选择牛奶，或者我会直接打出“milk”单词在搜索栏，快速地搜索出牛奶。计算出我的分量后，我从数量递减菜单中选半杯作为我的食量，然后点击添加到食物日志的按钮。

Simply log your food and beverages with Calorie Count, stay within your calorie goals, and get some activity in on the "burn meter'，一you are virtually guaranteed to lose weight.

应用卡路里计算系统就有了我所吃食物的记录，这使我的食物日记变成“自动日志”，并且对我消耗了多少卡路里了如指掌。卡路里计算系统从我的“摄人量”追踪那些卡路里，我可以了解一天中我消耗了多少卡路里和我维持的“平衡”。

Step 5: Cut Liquid Calories

用卡路里简单地记录你的食物和饮料，坚持你的卡路里目标，在“消耗量”上得到信心，你肯定能瘦身成功。

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

第五步:减少摄人饮料热量

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!).

从你的食谱中减少摄人饮料热量是最简单、最“无痛”的减肥方法。既然你开始记录食物日记、测量食物量、追踪卡路里摄入，那么你消耗的饮料中的卡路里量也会使你大吃一惊。好消息是当你减少饮料热量之后，你可能都不需要进行节食了。

既然我们都希望不花钱就能减肥，少买饮料能帮你省不少钱(尤其是咖啡或酒类)。