Part 2: What can you do to make weight loss easier?

What else can make my and your weight loss easier?  One very simple idea......more movement.

It is a fact that if we burn more calories than we take in, we will lose weight.  When I was working for WW I burned more calories.  I was busy running from meeting to meeting, setting up rooms, moving around rather large meeting rooms, etc.  I don't have that anymore.  Now, I am in my little 3-bedroom ranch with 6 other people.  There is not a whole lot of room to move.  Soooooooooooooooooooo, what am I going to do about it?  Move more!  It's a simple concept, I know but not as easy to put into practice.  Here are some practical ways that I am concentrating on to get more movement and burn more calories:

1. Run my own errands.  I have 4 kids that are old enough to run errands for me around the house and yard. Every time I send one of my kids downstairs to get something for me, I am missing out on more steps in my day.  Sometimes I need to have my kids help because it's impossible for me to home school 4 kids, take care of a toddler and keep everything else in my life together by myself.  I need help.  The kids must help.  This said, I know that I send them to get things way too often.  I am going to make a concerted effort get off my duff and do it myself.

2. Exercise at least 4 days per week.  I have been averaging 3-4 days per week of exercise for the past several weeks now.  It's time to be sure that I get at least 4 days per week.  There will be no more 3 days of exercise weeks in my calendar.  Speaking of the calendar.  I'm going to highlight the days of the week that I exercise so I am sure to get in my 4 days.  It's amazing how easily the week slips by if I don't keep track of my days.  This exercise I am talking about it extra exercise that I don't get in normal daily activity.  I realize that as a mother of 5 I get lots of normal movement each day but I obviously need more so I need to exercise 4 mornings per week.

3. When I do my arm exercises in the morning I need to stand up.  I have gotten in the great habit over the past few months of lifting weights on my exercise mornings.  The only problem is that I do these exercises sitting down.  I have recently learned in my WW meetings that standing alone burns more calories than sitting.  That makes perfect sense.  This morning I did my arm exercises standing instead.  It also sped up the process.  I was less tempted to sit an do nothing in between sets.

4. Make time with my family an activity. Sometimes this is easy for us.  We love to hike. We like to find new and old parks and trails to go hiking.  It's great family time and great exercise.  It's a much better activity than sitting in front of the TV together.  Finding good family activities is easy for us on the weekends.  If we have time we will go on one hike per weekend.  During the week it's more of a challenge.  After a long day, it's hard for us to get up and be active.  We would much rather sit in the living room and watch TV before bed. I am going to make more family time outside by going on more hikes, walking around the neighborhood, going the park or playing with the kids in the yard.

5. Stay up and active while waiting for the kids.  My kids are very active.  Now that fall is coming our calendar is full of activities.  While Jason is at football practice I need to get out of my car and play on the playground with the kids.  While Gabriella and Josiah are at dance I need to go shopping or go walk the mall (just a mile away) instead of sitting in the waiting room.  There is even a basketball hoop in the parking lot.  I need to keep a basketball in the car so when we have 10 minutes to sit before class ends we can shoot some hoops.

6. Stay off of the computer.  I love checking my email and goofing around on the computer. The problem is that computer time is sitting time.  I need to check my email twice a day, check my blog once a day and do my other computer things only once a day.  For the rest of the day, I need to stay off of the computer.  It sucks time away from my life as well as adds a few fat cells.  I will keep my email up on my computer so I can check it standing up when I need to.  It's a lot less tempting to stay on the computer when I am standing by it instead of sitting.

I would love to hear more tips from all of you about how you move more each day.  I could certainly use some more ideas.  I know there is more I can do if I just think a little harder or have some of you recommending things.  Feel free to comment and add suggestions for all to read.

Have a great day.  More ways to make weight loss easier next blog.

Corinna

"Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." -Proverbs 30:5

What can you do to make weight loss easier?

I promised you that my next blog would not be complaining about the weight loss process.  I did plenty of that in the last two posts.  This time I'm going to tackle my problems with my weight loss.  It's time to hear about some solutions instead of complaining about the problems.

My first complaint in my last blogs was that I am no longer a Weight Watchers Leader.  I was very successful keeping the weight off while being a Weight Watchers Leader.  You can imagine that talking about Weight Loss as a job several times per week would certainly motivate you to keep the weight off. I even lost a little more weight while working for Weight Watchers.  I had to weigh in for my Territory Manager once per month.  That kept me on track.  I didn't want her to see a gain on my paperwork and I certainly didn't want her to see that I was over my goal so while being an employee for Weight Watchers I never weighed in over my goal.

What can I do now to make my weight loss compare to that time?  Well, I could go back to work for Weight Watchers.  It's been a thought but I don't think it's feasible in my life right now.  My husband works two jobs and there is no was he could do that with me working too. I would have to get day care and that is something I don't want to do.  So it looks like I need some other accountability.  Where can I get that?  I have accountability at several places in my life. I've built it purposely.  My first place of accountability is with my husband, Bryan.  He will question me if he sees me eating ridiculously.  He will question me if I tell him that I am gaining weight.  He will help keep me in check if I am struggling and specifically ask him to help me.

Another place for accountability is right here on this blog.  I am accountable to you.  There is something humbling about posting your weight loss struggles and successes on the internet for all to see.  I want to give you good tips.  I certainly don't want to tell you how I have fallen off the wagon. I surely don't want to tell you how I ate a whole pint of ice cream myself or ate my way through the last party I attended.  That keeps me in line.  Knowing that I am going to report to you how things are going keeps me going in the right direction.  I'm faaaaaaar from perfect. I have had to tell you about many of my imperfections but I believe that I would have more flubs if I didn't have you all to be accountable to.  I want you to be proud of me.  Recently, I found out that someone who reads this blog actually recommended my blog on his own website.  I was the perfect Weight Watcher for the next two days thinking about all of the people out there who depend on my blog to help them.  That is a great amount of accountability.

A third place I have built accountability in my life is my Weight Watchers meetings.  I believe in the meetings.  I go nearly every week.  It is rare for me to miss a meeting.  And when I go, I don't just weigh in and leave. It's important for me to stay to hear the great ideas presented in the meetings.  It's important to me that I participate in the meeting too.  I may not speak up in every meeting but I make eye contact with the leader and members. I nod my head and speak up whenever I feel what I have to say could be valuable as long as I am not speaking so much that I am taking over the meeting.  It is great accountability to have someone besides myself weighing me in at my meeting.

I have several friends who are Weight Watchers members.  One of them is one of my best friends.  She is a lifetime member and her husband joined recently too.  It sounds like he will be a Lifetime member soon too.  Occasionally we go to the same meeting but even if we don't it's nice to be able to talk WW when we see each other and cheer each other on.  I also made a ton of WW friends while being a Leader.  I keep in contact with many of those friends via email.  Some of them share their struggles with me.  Some of them share their triumphs with me.  Some of them ask me for help and I jump at the chance because I love helping people lose weight.  Some of them email me tips and suggestions after reading my blogs.  I met hundreds of WW members while being a leader and they all became very important to me.  Each email I receive is very important to me and becomes a great place of accountability. One of them has even become a meeting buddy.  Sometimes our schedules don't jive but when they do, we go to meetings together and keep each other accountable.

Wow!  Who knew that one could get so much accountability for weight loss support?  I can actually think of more people and places I could tell you about but school starts tomorrow so I should probably do some lesson plans.

Find yourself some accountability. Whether you are a WW member or just someone doing your own weight loss plan, accountability is important.  The accountability I had as a WW Leader was something that helped me with my journey but it's not something to complain about because I don't have it anymore.  It's something that I can duplicate in my own life by being creative with my resources.

Have a great day.  I will talk more about more solutions I have found to my complaints in my next blog.

Corinna

"Then Moses said to the Israelites: See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; he has filled him with divine spirit, with skill, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft." -Exodus 35:30-33