With about 1,000 waking minutes in everyday, you'll find plenty of opportunities to slip these tips into your routine and watch the scale go down. If you've already begun your weight loss, these can maximize your efforts and speed results. Here are successful strategies to cut calories and burn fat that take 60 seconds or less.

1. Mix a juice spritzer
Combine your favorite juice (half of your usual amount) with plain or sparkling water. You can cut up to 85 calories per glass-and lose 5 pounds or more a year.

2. Walk while you talk
Burn calories while you talk on the phone: Do the laundry (68 calories), set the table (85 calories), or water plants (102 calories).

3. Study the wrapper
At a quick glance, that candy bar appears to contain 220 calories. But a closer look may reveal that it (or a bottle of juice, bag of crackers, or bag of nuts) provides two or more servings--which more than doubles those calories.

4. Sip green tea before a walk
The caffeine frees fatty acids so that you burn fat more easily. And the polyphenols (antioxidant compounds) in green tea appear to work with caffeine to increase calorie burn. (If you have high blood pressure, skip this tip.)

5. Pack a lunch
Dining out more than five times a week may make you eat more--nearly 300 calories a day--than if you dine out less frequently.

6. Dip your bread
Use olive oil in place of butter. It's healthier and may also help you eat less. In a recent study, dippers ate a total of 52 fewer calories on average than those who used butter.

7. Sprinkle flax on cereal
High-fiber, ground flaxseed can help curb your appetite and eliminate calories. Add it to yogurt or muffin and bread mixes. Available in health food stores.

8. Schedule a blood test
About 1 in every 12 women (most of whom don't know it) has an under active thyroid, which can slow down her metabolism.

9. Supersize your H2O
Buy the big bottle when it comes to good-for-you stuff such as water: You'll drink more.

10. Eat a chunky salad
Chop carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, zucchini, or other veggies instead of shredding or slicing. It takes more effort to munch bigger pieces; you'll do more chewing and eat less during the main course.

11. Call a friend
Fill loneliness with talk and companionship--not cookies.

12. Log your food
Writing down what you eat can help you cut calories and stay in control because you're more accountable. No need to record it perfectly or review what you wrote: The benefit is in the writing itself.

13. Buy small
The bigger the package, the more you're likely to eat--up to 44% more, according to one study.

14. Break into a jog
If you already jog, speed up to a sprint. These brief intervals allow you to cover more distance, burn fat and calories-without lengthening your workout. The increased impact will also help make your bones stronger.

15. Drop and do 10
Before you pry open that tub of ice cream, do 10 situps or pushups. Doing something physical can put you back in touch with your body--and your goals.

16. Slurp chunky soup
People who ate soup containing large vegetable pieces reported feeling fuller and ate 20% less during lunch than those who had a pureed soup made of the same ingredients.

17. Blot the fat
You can dab off about a teaspoon of oil-or 40 calories and 4.5 grams of fat-from two slices of pizza.

18. Skip "light" foods
The weight of food--not just the fat and calories--is what fills you up. Eat less and still feel satisfied with low-calorie heavyweights such as oranges, strawberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cooked spinach, collard greens, and broccoli.

19. Order fish
Varieties rich in omega-3 fatty acids--tuna, mackerel, cod, and salmon--may help you drop pounds by improving fat metabolism. Overweight people who ate a reduced-calorie diet that included fish every day lost about 20% more weight than those on a fish-free diet.

20. Trick your taste buds
Sucking on a menthol/eucalyptus cough drop or hard mint can stop cravings instantly.

21. Post inspiration
To keep yourself on track, place quotes in strategic spots where you might need some motivation: on the fridge, TV, dashboard, or computer. Some suggestions: "I'll take this one day at a time."

Written by Sarah Robertson, Prevention

Cool, I"ll bookmark this page.
There"s something funny about number 15. I can imagine going to a shop to buy ice cream and right at the counter after paying I pause and do 10 push ups before I proceed to eat the ice cream. You can imagine the look on people"s faces right? Not all these tips are realistic however nice post op.