One key to losing weight? Cut out one thing worth 200 calories every day - and be patient

If you think you have to make huge changes to lose weight, you're wrong. Research is proving it.

"We have too many rules in dieting and I always say that rules ruin the game," says Dr. Mark Moyad. He's in charge of preventive and alternative medicine at the University of Michigan. 

He studies a ton of research but one of the simplest studies ever has got him the most excited.

For two years, 200 people were followed.

"The rule was to cut back on about 25% of your daily intake of calories every day over two years. They only cut back on about 11% - the average weight loss was 15 lbs. 

You want to try this? Here's the game plan.

"Pick one little item that comes in at about 200-250 calories a day of your life, remove it. That's it. Pick whatever you want, is it a scoop of ice cream? Is that a candy bar? Is that a bag of chips? Is that a cookie? Is that two tablespoons of mayonnaise? Pick it, whatever fits your personality, remove it and be patient and watch pounds come off."

And the patients involved in this study didn't just lose weight, everything got better.

"In the end, they cut back very little but weight loss was still dramatic. And so then they looked at cholesterol, blood sugar and all of it improved."

So cutting out a couple hundred calories means knowing how many calories you're eating. It's a good idea to track calories for a few days so then you can eyeball what you're eating then eliminate what you want.