Taking Care Of My Weight Problem

Question received by a reader:

Hi – great site!  I have learned a lot reading your posts.  Keep it up.  I have a question for you.  I am in my early 40′s and am really trying hard to lose weight but am not having any luck.  I must admit that I’m not very active but have been trying to get more active.  Can you give me some tips on how I can take care of my weight problem?

- Anna (Toronto, Ontario)

Anna – Like you, I am in my 40′s and it is difficult for me to get active but to be frank, you have to get active if you want to lose weight.  Cutting back on calories will certainly help but you need to do something in order to help accellerate your weight loss.  It doesn’t have to be a regimented program.

For example my son takes karate classes every Friday and I normally attend to watch him and help him.  I’ve learned a few of the moves and practice at home with him.  While they may seem very basic, for a big guy running the moves for 30-60 minutes gives me a workout!

What else can you do?

1. Walk the house.  If you don’t enjoy walking outside, or are self-conscious about your weight you can walk around the house.  My son has allergies so we walk the house, and the stairs.
2. Housework.  The best.  Vacuum the floors and carpets.  Do the bed, dust – whatever you need to do just do it.  Housework will keep you active AND keep your house clean and spotless!
3. If you work – go out for a walk or at minimum get up off your chair and stretch or head to the water cooler and fill up a glass or pitcher with water.  I used to go out for a walk at lunch for 15-30 minutes every day.  It kept my mind focused and alert.

You also need to cut back calories – look at the “invisible” calories.  I call them invisible becuase we consume them without even realizing that we have.  Several items fall into this category:

• Granola bars that are coated in chocolate
• High sugar cereals like Froot Loops and such
• Bread (try buying thin sliced bread)
• Soda pop (yes, we consume it without even thinking)
• Snack crackers – some of them are VERY high in fat and calories!  You need to read labels
• Cookies, cakes and other baked goodies — need I say more?
• Juices – most juices are very high in calories because of the added sugars.  Choose juices that are NOT FROM CONCENTRATE.  You are really limited as to flavors, and normally you can only find orange juice that falls into this category.  Even then there is a lot of natural sugar so I dilute the orange juice by adding half juice and half water OR half soda water – like Perrier water.  I prefer the Perrier water because if gives the orange juice a bubbly, almost carbonated taste.

Anna I hope that these ideas help you.  I hope you will share your weight loss and lifestyle change successes with us!

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