Tips for Busy People Who Want to Lose Weight

According to weightlossmoms.com “Weight loss is a simple equation-burn more calories than you expend.” It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? That is until you walk out your front door and live your life! The truth is; it has never been more difficult to lose weight than it is today.

There are so many food choices available it is almost impossible to avoid them. Around every corner there is an all-you-can-eat buffet. Beside of that is a fast-food restaurant offering double and triple sized combo meals.

Technology is also a deterrent to our weight-loss endeavors. Yes, it has made most of our jobs today much easier and more efficient, but I can’t say the same for our bodies. We drive everywhere we go, and the rest of the time, we are in front of a computer or watching TV. There is not much movement involved with any these activities, so don’t plan on losing much weight.

Successful weight loss involves a combination of eating healthy foods and initiating a daily exercise routine. Unfortunately, our lives are so busy; it is sometimes difficult to find the time to prepare healthy meals or to get enough exercise. This is one of those times that creativity is a necessity.

Here are a few creative suggestions that can help busy people, live their busy lives and still lose weight.

Daily Exercise

1. While at work, run up and down the stairwells or walk/run around the parking lot.

2. When shopping, park at the farthest location from the store you intend to shop at. This way, you will walk further, thus getting more exercise.

3. While watching TV, get those dumb bells out and lift some weights!

4. Every opportunity that you have use the stairs instead of the elevator.

5. Get your children away from the TV and go on a bike ride, jump on the trampoline, go swimming, or put a Fitness video in the DVD player and have everyone participate.

6. Walk or bike to as many places as possible.

7. If you don’t have time to exercise 30 minutes all at once, break it up into 10 minute increments throughout the day.

Making Healthy Food Choices

1. Don’t eat at restaurants with all-you-can eat buffets. They are too tempting!

2. Do your research. If you plan to go to a restaurant, go on their website and see what the lowest calorie food options are and choose them when you get there.

3. During the holidays, wear tight-fitting pants so that you won’t eat as much.

4. I can not stress this enough– read, read, read food labels when grocery shopping. They can be very tricky. Just because it says it is are fat free or low fat doesn’t mean it is the best choice. They may have added sugar to replace the fat and that is even worse.

5. Plan healthy meals before hand and grocery shop accordingly. The internet has an abundance of websites that offer free healthy recipes.

6. Keep a food journal. Myfooddiary.com is an excellent resource to keep track of your calorie intake. It also helps you to be more conscious about your food choices.

7. Portion control. Use your fist as a guide to determine food portions. If it is bigger than your fist, it is too much.

8. Cut back on butter and avoid frying food as much as possible.

9. Don’t give in to dieting scams that promise that you will lose all the weight you want with little or no effort. If it sounds too good to be true, most likely it is too good to be true.

10. Use low-fat or fat-free dairy products such as skim milk or low-fat cheeses.

12. Instead of eating out while at work, pack a healthy lunch. I like to use Heiner’s 35 Bread because it is only 35 calories a slice!

13. When you do have time make extra portions of healthy food and freeze them for times when you are on the go.