Doesn’t dieting get boring? Counting calories and feeling deprived, and dragging
through day after day until you can go off your diet is no way to lose weight. Try these
six creative ways to weight loss and eradicate the boredom from weight loss plans
forever.
1. Switch the focus from taking things out of your diet to adding things in: On
most diets we make lists of foods to eliminate: “no chocolate”, “no desserts”, “no eating
out” in order to reduce calorie intake and this leads to cravings and feelings of
deprivation. Instead, plan on adding things into your diet that are good for you: more
glasses of water, more fresh fruits, more vegetables, and more whole grains. If you
actually succeed at eating and drinking more of these healthy and filling things, you won’
t be hungry for some of the empty calories you’re used to eating, and the result will be
weight loss!
2. Keep a journal, but make it fun: If you know that writing down everything you
eat helps you lose weight, but you hate the idea, switch things up a bit; keep a record
of how many minutes you exercise each day, or how many fruits and vegetables you
eat—go for a record!
I know one woman who likes to track her “calories saved” every time she craves
something high-calorie but instead walks away…”saved 550 calories driving by DQ
instead of going in and ordering a blizzard” might be one of her entries. Then you can
see the cumulative results of your positive actions add up during the week with lots of
calories that you passed up.
3. Establish a reward system just like one that worked for you when you were a
kid! I like to use pretty little stickers of flowers or smiley faces and give myself one in
the margin of my appointment book for every day that I walk more than 10,000 steps
or eat fewer than 1600 calories, for instance. When I accumulate a certain number of
stickers, say 20 in a month, I treat myself to something worth that many ‘points’ like a
massage or a pedicure or a new book. Be sure you know what you’re working towards
to give yourself that extra motivation, and start burning more calories and eating fewer
to help you get to your weight loss goal.
4. Pedometer challenges. There are several websites that host pedometer logs and
goals, and most pedometers come with an insert of ideas for you to get walking! The
suggested daily number of steps—10,000—is about 5 miles. This includes any walking
you do during the day, so you can get more in by parking a little farther away, taking
steps instead of the elevator (even going down stairs adds to your accumulated steps),
or walking up and down the aisles at the grocery store. Start by logging your usual
daily steps for a week so you get an idea of your starting point. Then strive to add
another 1000 every week until you get to your own personal daily goal.
Here’s an FYI: You burn about 100 calories for every mile you walk, which equals about
2000 steps. This makes it fun to go out and aim to burn 100 calories during a run to
the grocery store and feel good about all the walking you’re doing when you have to
take those steps anyway!
5. Switch up the diets. You may have found that there is a diet plan that works for
you, but you just can’t stay on it for more than a few weeks. If you can stay on Atkins
or Weight Watchers or Medifast for nearly a month, but then can’t manage another
day, set a goal of just a few weeks for each diet. Instead of going off the diet and back
to your usual way of eating (which lead to your weight gain), you’ll continue to see
weight loss results every week as you continue to eat fewer calories . . . it doesn’t really
matter which plan you are on! You might set some other goals that work for you for
short terms, like “pack your lunch every day for 2 weeks” or “eat vegetarian at dinner
for 2 weeks” or “have 5 small meals a day for the next 2 weeks”. These are all steps
that reduce calories for most people and will lead to weight loss even though it’s an
unusual way to go about dieting.
6. Games and blogs: Some people write blogs to journal their journey of weight loss
and this may give you motivation to keep going—especially if you dare to make it
public! One journalist wrote daily dieting blurbs on twitter throughout the day. She
said it worked well for her because it kept her accountable—she knew people were
watching and, what’s more, they were rooting for her.
Another blogger asked for a sponsor each week during the 52 weeks of her diet—each
seven days she lost weight for the follower who was cheering on her efforts and that
kept her motivated.
Look for games to motivate you towards your weight loss goal. One game works on a
bingo-like board, with a board of 16 squares for you to cover every time you perform a
certain activity: it might be eating a fresh fruit or having a healthy breakfast; having 6
glasses of water in one day; or going for a 5,000 step walk (about 2-1/2 miles). Play
with others in your family, make up new activities, or challenge yourself to going for a
‘blackout’ and cover every square on the board!
Diets are dreary and exercise can be something we don’t look forward to. In order to
lose weight through eating fewer calories and burning more calories, strive to make
eating healthy and exercising fun any way you can. Then developing healthy eating and
exercise habits will be something you can look forward to as you shed those unwanted
pounds.
Look for the “Healthy Eating Line-up” game and order one for yourself today!
through day after day until you can go off your diet is no way to lose weight. Try these
six creative ways to weight loss and eradicate the boredom from weight loss plans
forever.
1. Switch the focus from taking things out of your diet to adding things in: On
most diets we make lists of foods to eliminate: “no chocolate”, “no desserts”, “no eating
out” in order to reduce calorie intake and this leads to cravings and feelings of
deprivation. Instead, plan on adding things into your diet that are good for you: more
glasses of water, more fresh fruits, more vegetables, and more whole grains. If you
actually succeed at eating and drinking more of these healthy and filling things, you won’
t be hungry for some of the empty calories you’re used to eating, and the result will be
weight loss!
2. Keep a journal, but make it fun: If you know that writing down everything you
eat helps you lose weight, but you hate the idea, switch things up a bit; keep a record
of how many minutes you exercise each day, or how many fruits and vegetables you
eat—go for a record!
I know one woman who likes to track her “calories saved” every time she craves
something high-calorie but instead walks away…”saved 550 calories driving by DQ
instead of going in and ordering a blizzard” might be one of her entries. Then you can
see the cumulative results of your positive actions add up during the week with lots of
calories that you passed up.
3. Establish a reward system just like one that worked for you when you were a
kid! I like to use pretty little stickers of flowers or smiley faces and give myself one in
the margin of my appointment book for every day that I walk more than 10,000 steps
or eat fewer than 1600 calories, for instance. When I accumulate a certain number of
stickers, say 20 in a month, I treat myself to something worth that many ‘points’ like a
massage or a pedicure or a new book. Be sure you know what you’re working towards
to give yourself that extra motivation, and start burning more calories and eating fewer
to help you get to your weight loss goal.
4. Pedometer challenges. There are several websites that host pedometer logs and
goals, and most pedometers come with an insert of ideas for you to get walking! The
suggested daily number of steps—10,000—is about 5 miles. This includes any walking
you do during the day, so you can get more in by parking a little farther away, taking
steps instead of the elevator (even going down stairs adds to your accumulated steps),
or walking up and down the aisles at the grocery store. Start by logging your usual
daily steps for a week so you get an idea of your starting point. Then strive to add
another 1000 every week until you get to your own personal daily goal.
Here’s an FYI: You burn about 100 calories for every mile you walk, which equals about
2000 steps. This makes it fun to go out and aim to burn 100 calories during a run to
the grocery store and feel good about all the walking you’re doing when you have to
take those steps anyway!
5. Switch up the diets. You may have found that there is a diet plan that works for
you, but you just can’t stay on it for more than a few weeks. If you can stay on Atkins
or Weight Watchers or Medifast for nearly a month, but then can’t manage another
day, set a goal of just a few weeks for each diet. Instead of going off the diet and back
to your usual way of eating (which lead to your weight gain), you’ll continue to see
weight loss results every week as you continue to eat fewer calories . . . it doesn’t really
matter which plan you are on! You might set some other goals that work for you for
short terms, like “pack your lunch every day for 2 weeks” or “eat vegetarian at dinner
for 2 weeks” or “have 5 small meals a day for the next 2 weeks”. These are all steps
that reduce calories for most people and will lead to weight loss even though it’s an
unusual way to go about dieting.
6. Games and blogs: Some people write blogs to journal their journey of weight loss
and this may give you motivation to keep going—especially if you dare to make it
public! One journalist wrote daily dieting blurbs on twitter throughout the day. She
said it worked well for her because it kept her accountable—she knew people were
watching and, what’s more, they were rooting for her.
Another blogger asked for a sponsor each week during the 52 weeks of her diet—each
seven days she lost weight for the follower who was cheering on her efforts and that
kept her motivated.
Look for games to motivate you towards your weight loss goal. One game works on a
bingo-like board, with a board of 16 squares for you to cover every time you perform a
certain activity: it might be eating a fresh fruit or having a healthy breakfast; having 6
glasses of water in one day; or going for a 5,000 step walk (about 2-1/2 miles). Play
with others in your family, make up new activities, or challenge yourself to going for a
‘blackout’ and cover every square on the board!
Diets are dreary and exercise can be something we don’t look forward to. In order to
lose weight through eating fewer calories and burning more calories, strive to make
eating healthy and exercising fun any way you can. Then developing healthy eating and
exercise habits will be something you can look forward to as you shed those unwanted
pounds.
Look for the “Healthy Eating Line-up” game and order one for yourself today!
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Six Creative Ways to A Thinner You!