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Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #29: Don’t Follow The Fads

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fad dietsToday’s Weight Loss on a Budget Tip – #29: Don’t Follow The Fads!  This tip is really easy to understand and follow.  The bottom-line is that weight loss is an Industry!  Any industry needs products, diverse products.  If you’re in business, you also have to create new products to keep your marketshare and keep your customers interested.  The way this works in the diet industry is that there are new fads, books and workout styles that become popular each year and those that die out.  Sometimes the old diet and exercise fads will come back, and sometimes they are exposed as fads and abandoned by their followers.  Buying into all of these plans and equipment can be very expensive, especially if you don’t lose weight with these plans.

So, so how does knowing this save you money?

  • Don’t spend money on fad diet products – You don’t have to buy the latest diet book, workout aid or pill to lose weight.  You can change your eating and exercise and see results without special supplements or an online personal trainer.  I’m not saying that there aren’t great books, workouts and programs out there for you to buy.  There definitely are, but if you can’t afford them, avoid them.
  • Get as Much Information as Possible on Diet Books Before You Buy – Read the reviews online on sites like Amazon.  Research the science behind the diet books.  Borrow the book from a public library or on Kindle and Nook’s borrowing system.  Know what you are committing to and whether you truly believe it will work for you by doing your research.  You’ll save money on books that aren’t good or good for you.
  • Don’t Buy Equipment that You Don’t Need – I know that the infomercial on Saturday afternoon promised quick weight loss results, but you may not need it.  You may really believe that you will use that elliptical machine if you buy it, but don’t if it’s just going to become a high priced clothes hanger.  You have to be realistic and frugal because there will be a large variety of diet products to choose from.  It’s easy to spend a lot of money on trial and error.  Focus on affordable items like an ab wheel, free weights, yoga mat, lifting gloves, weight bench and workout DVDs.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #27: Bring Your Lunch From Home

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It’s almost the end of our Weight Loss on a Budget Challenge so I just have a few more tips.  Today’s Tip #27: Bring Your Lunch From Home.

bring your own lunchThere are 3 major benefits to bringing your lunch to work or while you are out.

  1. Saving Money – Buying your lunch everyday can be very expensive.  The cheaper options (dollar menus for example) tend to be very convenient, but also FULL of empty calories, fatty meats and simple carbs.  You can save money by planning out your meals according to your daily budget.  Create your own healthy meal plan with low cost items like greek yogurt, low sodium deli meat, cereal, bulk items (nuts, beans, etc), cottage cheese, apples, oranges, protein shakes, etc.
  2. Calorie Control and Healthy Ingredients – When your make your lunch, you know exactly what’s in it.  You will have selected the ingredients and you’ll know how the food was prepared.  Also, you will have already considered things like calories and the nutritional value (vitamins, fiber, etc).  If you have a calorie goal for the day, it’s easier to stay on track because youl know in advance what your calorie counts should be.
  3. Portion Control – When you order your lunch, sometimes you may not be aware of what the true portion size is for what you’re eating because you’re on the run.  You may think you’re eating 1 serving of a food when you are really eating 4 servings.  That’s because there are so many great restaurants out there that have huge portions that don’t work for people who want to cut back to lose weight.  In the end, you may feel like you’re getting a deal on food, but you are sabotaging your weight loss efforts with those huge portions.  In addition, many of us were raised to eat everything on our plates, so the thought of not eating what we just paid top dollar for doesn’t compute.  Thus we end up eating more food than we need to.  That leads to guilt because we don’t want to “waste” food, so we eat it.  When you make your own lunch, you can better control how much food you eat.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #26: Use Free Weight Loss and Fitness Apps

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Mobile apps are part of our daily lives.  Today for our Weight Loss on a Budget Tip for day 26, we want to encourage you to try some great, free weight loss and fitness focused apps. Tip #26: Use Free Weight Loss and Fitness Apps.

weight loss apps

My Fitness Pal – This is a calorie counter app, online community and database that contains the nutritional information for million foods. This app can really help you stay on track with your eating. Hundreds of BWLW members are on the site so check out this list of their usernames.  It’s FREE

Nike Training Club – This app from Nike gives you access to over 10o workouts at the click of a button.  It includes some great High Intensity Interval Training routines to help you burn calories.  You can set up goals and you’re rewarded for your progress.  It’s like a personal trainer in your pocket because there is a cool audio feature that talks to your to help you stay motivated during your workout.  Very user friendly.  It’s FREE.

Loseit – Track calories, workouts and your overall weight loss progress with this app.  You can keep track of macronutrients, sleep patterns and even your blood pressure so you see a great snapshot of your health as you work on your overall wellness.  My favorite part of this FREE app is the bar code scanning.  It saves me a lot of time when I’m logging what I’ve eaten (protein powders, dairy, etc).

Fooducate – If you want to really know what’s in your food and get some help with making food decisions based on nutrition, get this FREE app.  It will open your eyes.  Their site says that “Fooducate’s scientific algorithms grade each product and provide simple, concise explanations. Grading system developed by scientists, dietitians and concerned parents.”  They emphasize REAL, unprocessed foods.

 

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #25: Save Money at the Doctor’s Office

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Losing weight can help you achieve Tip #25: Saving Money at the Doctor’s Office.  “A person who is obese has annual medical costs $1,429 higher than someone of a normal weight, according to the CDC.” – Bankrate.com

save money medicine

  • Losing weight can reduce your risk factors for things like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers.
  • Reduce medications for diseases for which symptoms are improved when you lose weight.
  • Weight loss and getting healthy can help improve your immune system, thus helping you to stay our of the doctor’s office for common colds or infections.
  • “$1,850 more per year in medical costs for an overweight person than for someone of healthy weight, among employees at the Mayo Clinic and their adult dependents. $3,086 more per year in medical costs for a Mayo worker with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 to 40. $5,530 more per year in medical costs for a Mayo worker with a BMI above 40. By comparison, smokers’ medical costs were only $1,274 a year higher than nonsmokers’, who generally die earlier.” – Reuters

A few weeks ago, I posted an article where I outlined how obesity could cause you to have higher interest rates.  Here is part of that article:

Why being overweight could now cost more to insure.

It is an accepted medical fact that being overweight can increase a person’s risk for disease and complications from other treatments to the point that it can be life threatening or develop into chronic conditions. Obesity is linked to asthma, type-2 diabetes, stroke risk, high blood pressure, cardiac issues and recently a direct link between being overweight and an increased risk of breast cancer has been found. For health insurers, this flags those who are overweight as high risks for coverage. Federal regulations prohibit insurers from denying or limiting coverage to those who are overweight by denying it qualification as a pre-existing condition, but they have put in options for health insurers to charge higher rates to the obese.

How much higher will my rates be if I am overweight?

According to the new federal regulations, you could be charged anywhere from 30 to 50% more for the same health insurance that someone who has a healthy BMI is paying. For employers, this will help defray the costs of the group insurance plans they help carry.  The many of the people with health issues that the new health mandates are supposed to be helping get affordable coverage may become stuck in the catch-22 of having to pay higher rates than before.

6 Essential Habits for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off

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healthy habits weight lossLosing weight is really difficult to start with, but on top of that we all want to keep the weight off for good. There are healthy habits you can adopt NOW in order to increase your chances of keeping the weight off long term. Here are 6 tips that can help.

1. Don’t call what you’re doing a “diet.” This will set you up for failure immediately. Diets are quick, short term solutions for weight loss that usually are not permanent. If you are looking for permanent, long term weight loss, you need to think about it as a lifestyle change. Diets aren’t bad; they can help kick your metabolism into gear so that you can lose weight more easily. But a diet isn’t going to give you long-term success; changes in your lifestyle and food choices will.

2. Set weight loss goals. Goals are one of the most important parts of the weight loss process. The problem is, too many people say “I want to lose x number of pounds.” That is great but sometimes it’s not enough in terms of goal setting. Instead, start making your lifestyle changes gradually and make several mini-goals at a time. Sure, you can say that you want to lose 100 lbs, but it may be easier to stay motivated if you say you want to lose 10 pounds in the next 6 weeks or that you want to be able to walk a mile in addition to losing weight.

3. Reward yourself. …but please don’t make the mistake of rewarding yourself with food. If you can create rewards that are encouraging, but don’t involve messing up your lifestyle changes, they can be really good motivators. Effective rewards are desirable, timely, and contingent on meeting a particular goal. Use several smaller rewards for smaller goals, too. For example, if you went through a month of walking for 30 minutes every day, you can reward yourself with a haircut or a trip to the spa.

4. Figure out why you gained weight in the first place. Your Big WHY! – This is one of the hardest parts of maintaining long-term weight loss, but you do have to do some self evaluation. Why did you start overeating in the first place? What happened that made you want to overeat? Was there a life event/trauma? Were you struggling with a hormonal imbalance like PMS or a chemical imbalance that caused mood issues? Do you have a health issue? What happened to make you start neglecting your diet? Once you figure that out, you need to take steps that help you deal with those issues effectively later on. This will help you prevent similar issues in the future.

5. Understand portion sizes. If you understand how portion sizes are supposed to work, you’re going to be better off. We have an issue in the United States where we fill our plates to overflowing, and you really can’t do this. Even healthy foods can be bad if your portions are too big. A good rule to go by is the “fist rule.” A serving of healthy food is about the size of your fist; the smaller you are the smaller your fist is, and the smaller your portions will be. Keeping a food diary can help control your potions too.

6. Follow the 80/20 rule. You don’t have to be perfect all of the time, trust me. The key is balance and moderation. It’s going to take a lot of effort to maintain this lifestyle, so it’s okay to slack every once in awhile. If you live by healthy habits 80% of the time, slacking a little for the other 20% is okay (as long as you don’t go absolutely crazy and ruin what you did all week). Give yourself a treat on the weekend after being “good” all week.

Is Belly Fat Different Than Other Body Fat?

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belly fatMany people don’t realize that belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is actually different than the rest of your body. The belly fat has been linked to risk for a number of different types of things, from insulin issues, metabolism issues, heart disease, increased cancer risk, and increased type 2 diabetes risk. Even if you’re not overweight, the fat that is in your abdomen can cause a lot of issues.

The body has three different types of fat in it. Check them out:

  • Triglycerides circulate in your bloodstream. It makes up about 95 percent of the fat within your body.
  • Subcutaneous fat, which is the layer that lies directly below the skin’s surface, between the skin and the abdominal wall.
  • Visceral fat is the kind located deep within your belly.

It’s not so much what is in the visceral fat that causes the problem; it’s where the fat is located. It is actually found beneath your stomach muscles, which means that they’re the closest thing to your internal organs. Because of this placement, your internal organs start to use it for energy because it’s more efficient than getting energy from your skin fat. Your body acts much like you do; efficiency is key.  If you have an option between two places to get the same exact thing, you’re going to go to the place that is closer.

So, why is this dangerous? In old times, people assumed that fat was just stored energy, but it’s actually much more active than that. All fat cells continually secrete hormones and chemicals; these hormones and chemicals are healthy if you’re at a normal weight, they actually do good things, like regulate insulin, help to regulate appetite by allowing you to feel satisfied after eating, and even help burn stored fat. Essentially, this fat acts how fat is supposed to act. The fat does standard metabolic functions and is absolutely nothing that you have to worry about. That’s why it’s unhealthy to be without fat; you can actually starve yourself or, at the very least, get ill, if you have no fat on your body at all.

Where the problem comes in is when you are overweight or obese. If you are overweight or obese, your body has more fat cells, and those cells are much larger than they should be. These larger cells, as you would expect, work harder and secrete more hormones and chemicals than you need. Essentially, you’re getting “too much of a good thing,” which is when it becomes a very bad thing. The chemicals that come out of your fat cells start to impact your health over time. These chemicals play a huge role in diseases like diabetes, stroke, heart attack, and even certain cancers.

Alright, so why does belly fat get the short end of the stick? Don’t all fats do this? Absolutely not! Visceral fat cells actually produce more of those chemicals to start with, so if you’ve got a lot of fat in your stomach region, those chemicals are actually being produced at toxic levels. As I mentioned above, those toxins are getting into your internal organs because the visceral fat is where your internal organs are getting their “energy” from. So basically, by having the excess stomach fat, you’re actually poisoning yourself in a way in terms of what the fat is leaching into your body. That is incredibly scary.

This is why good health is important. Exercise and diet are incredibly important parts of keeping you healthy. If you’ve noticed that you have an excess of belly fat, make sure to talk to your doctor as soon as possible. The great thing is that belly fat responds well to time tested weight loss methods of eating and exercise. You doctor or health care professional can help you to get on a eating and fitness plan that can help you lose weight in that region so that you don’t continue to cause damage to your body.

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #22: Skip Diet Foods, Drinks & Pre-packed “Healthy” Snacks

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diet foods diet drinks pre-packagedIt’s day 22 of our October Challenge and we are focused on how we can save some money while losing the weight at the same time.  Today’s Weight Loss on a Budget Tip: #22 – Skip Diet Foods and Pre-packed “Healthy” Snacks.

That’s right!  I’m talking about snack packs, frozen diet meals and powdered diet drinks.  You just don’t need them to lose weight.  Focus on eating REAL, unprocessed foods and drinking lots of water.

Diet Snack Packs – You save money by buying in larger quantities and breaking the food down.  You can repackage your own snacks that you buy in bulk.  Weight or divide out the food in small, low calorie portions and put it in sandwich bags.  It’s all about portion control.  You ALSO should not be fooled into thinking that just because you ate 3 100 calorie packages that it wasn’t as bad, because they are diet portions. 🙂  Most people don’t just have one portion of diet products, they have 2 or 3.

Diet Drinks – When it comes to diet drinks, sometimes the extreme sweetness just continues to keep your sweet tooth alive, super charging it.  You never divorce yourself from the sugar rush with these drinks, thus your cravings continue to rage on.  Drink more water and save your money.  Drink tea with a little natural sweetener like honey or agave when your willpower is low.

Frozen Diet Meals – Do you research and really consider how much money you’re spending on frozen diet meals.  Could you avoid things like sodium and preservatives by not eating those foods?  How much money would you save if you made your own meals and ate leftovers as well?  Are the foods too high in calories, hidden sugars or fats?

Other Diet Foods – If the diet products are being sold at a premium, avoid them.  There are cheaper options.  You don’t have to buy something because it’s labelled low-fat or diet. Buy the most health food you can afford.  That should be your goal.  Don’t let the marketing tactics suck you in.

 

 

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #21: Look for Free Weight Loss Related Offers Online

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free offers weight loss relatedWeight Loss on a Budget Tip #21: Look for Free Weight Loss Related Offers Online!  That’s right!  If you are willing to do the work you can find lots of offers for free stuff online that can help you with your weight loss efforts.  Here are just a few examples (some are limited time offers):

Free Meal Plans:

Sites where you can find offers for free stuff:

Take your time and do your research.  Check out the websites for your favorite brands and plan how to buy them.

Don’t worry about how fast you lose the weight

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Weight Loss Inspiration:  Don’t worry about your pace or how quickly you are losing weight. Focus on crossing the finish line. The finish line is your unique weight loss and wellness goals. You will reach them Right on time!!  Just keep going and stay on course.  Victory is on the way and your weight loss journey will evolve the way it is destined to.

weight loss inspiration

Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #18: Make Shopping List Before Going to the Grocery Store

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Today’s Weight Loss on a Budget Tip #18 – Make an Actual Shopping List.  We have all heard the old expression, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.  Well, that saying rings true when it comes to eating for weight loss.  Chances are that the majority of what you are eating are foods that you have prepared for yourself.  I talking about homemade, healthy recipes and and healthy convenience foods like, yogurt, whole wheat cereal or low sodium soup.  You can save money and stay on track with your weight loss goals by making a list before heading to the grocery store.  It requires willpower, but you can do it!

  • With a shopping list you will better be able to avoid the negative foods that would contribute to weight gain.
  • With a list you will know what foods your need to buy in accordance with what you plan to eat for the week and what recipes you will be making.
  • If you assess what you have at home and what you need to buy before your regular weekly trip to the store, you will make less trips to the grocery store during the week, saving gas…thus saving money.
  • A list will help you void overbuying or buying the things you don’t need.  Save money $$$
  • Don’t worry about the brand names, just get the foods on your list.  Ingredients should be your focus, so as long as the food label nutrition info shows that the food is healthy the brand name is secondary.  Not buying brand names can save you $$$.
  • Compare prices.  You may have one brand on your list, but another brand is on sale.  Embrace your options.
  • Avoid impulse purchases and being lured into buying things you don’t need based on sales and special offer displays.
  • After making your list, look at the website for the store you are going to and look for deals on the items you plan to buy.  You can of course look at your coupons as well, if you are “couponing”.
  • Don’t shop when you are hungry or having strong cravings because you’ll be more likely to divert from your list.
  • There are some good list building, meal planning and family focused apps out there that allow you to manage your list on your phone.  Fooducate is one example of this.

If you need help putting a list together, we’ve got shopping lists that you can take to the store with you as a part of our Free Meal Plans.  Check out our 4 week plans.  One is for vegetarians and the other is just clean eating.

shopping list