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Is Weight Watchers A Good Option?

November 23, 2008 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

Weight Watchers seems to be a very popular way of losing weight amongst my female friends.

I’ve been looking into joining weight watchers, as I like to keep my options open, but I have a few reservations.

To start with, while I may be happy to write about my battle to lose weight or to tell anyone I know, I’m not 100% sure if I would like to get involved in a group of complete strangers. I’ve never been particularly good with groups or anything that involves regularly scheduled meetings, so I don’t think I’d feel particularly comfortable going to a meeting by myself. If a friend or colleague was attending as well then I probably would.

The other thing is that while weight watchers has “men only” meetings in some parts of the country, they don’t have any in my area.

Of course if I really wanted to I could always opt for the “Weight Watchers at Home” system, which gives you all the booklets that you’d get normally plus you have access to their consultants.

Breaking Habits

November 22, 2008 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

If, like me, you spend most of your working day sitting at a desk it’s all too easy to let the pounds pile on.

So what can you do?

While it might be a nice idea to advocate going to the gym or getting lots of exercise you need to be realistic.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

I don’t entirely agree with that saying, but I think there is a grain of truth in it.

If you aren’t a fitness freak then you won’t be able to convert yourself into one overnight.

It’s probably easier and more sustainable to try and change small habits gently over time, rather than trying to reinvent yourself.

For example you can walk to the shop instead of driving.

I live within walking distance of the town centre, so I don’t really need to take the car with me if I’m just going out to buy a couple of things, though I would need to take it for a proper weekly shopping trip.

I’m still trying to find a way of exercising that fits with my mentality. I have considered walking, but unless a walk has a purpose I can’t see myself doing it ie. unless walking is to get me from point A to point B I won’t do it.

Another option would be to get some home fitness equipment so that I could exercise while watching TV or listening to the radio.

Snacking Is Bad

November 19, 2008 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

box of tea, coffee and drinking chocolate

Image by natala007 via Flickr

If you’re sitting at a desk all day you probably end up drinking lots of coffee or tea (I know I do!)

So when you’re drinking your tea or coffee you may feel that overwhelming urge to indulge yourself in a snack – maybe a little biscuit or a small bar of chocolate. Wouldn’t it be nice to wash down with that coffee?

Stop!

Snacking is a really bad idea!

If you’re trying to control your waistline and bring down your weight then you need to cut out unncessary snack in between meals.

If you must eat something then try an apple or an orange – I don’t think you can really overdose on fruit!

Tracking Your Weight

November 19, 2008 by Michele Neylon 1 Comment

As I mentioned before, it’s not weight alone that matters, however you do need to keep track of your progress.

So what do you need?

The answer is pretty obvious:

a bathroom weighing scales

Until I went looking for one a couple of weeks ago I hadn’t realised that there were so many different types to choose from!

The one I opted for was the Weight Watchers Body Monitoring Electronic Scale, which was reduced in Argos:
Why did I choose this particular one?

I work in IT, so I like electronics gadgets!

It has a LOT of options, which was why I chose it:

Silver frame with stylish chrome bezel and impact resistant, safety glass platform. – it looks nice
Easy read extra large 48mm clear LCD display. – ie. you don’t need to wear your glasses to see how heavy you are
Measures weight, BMI (body mass index), body fat and body water. – if I can work out how to do that it will be useful … I haven’t yet!
Can be used for weight only. – it’s a weighing scales, so it would want to be able to do that now, wouldn’t it?
Tap start, auto shut off and low battery warning. – the “tap” is more like a “whack”, but we’ll let them off
Records and displays start, last and goal weights. – very handy – though I still haven’t worked out how to get that working!
4 person memory and 5 fitness levels, including athlete mode. – not sure if I’ll find a use for that, but I’m sure others would
Precise positioning indicator ensures even weight distribution for accurate readings. – if it’s not accurate it’s not much use
Measures in st/lb/kg. – very useful for me, as I like being able to use either
High weight capacity 172kg/27st 2lbs/380lb – that’s kind of handy, as some of the cheap scales I’ve seen aren’t able to handle “larger” numbers
Size (W)32, (D)32, (H)3.4cm. – translation – it’s not too bloody big
With BIA technology for body analysis measurements. – I’ve no idea what that is, but it sounds intriguing
Optional carpet feet for accurate readings on carpet. – useful? I’ve no idea
Includes 2 x long life lithium batteries. – I don’t like changing batteries
Manufacturer’s 10 year guarantee. – handy

The next “trick” is keeping a record (though the scales does that for you anyway)I’ve been looking into several options for this, but for the moment I think I’ll just use a spreadsheet, as it’s simple and relatively effective.

Not Eating Is Bad

November 19, 2008 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

If you’re trying to lose weight it’s tempting to think that not eating is a solution.

It’s not.

Changing what you eat, how you eat, how much you eat etc., can all be positive moves in your battle with your waistline, but starving yourself is not a good idea.

Skipping a meal will only make you want to snack or drive the urge to gorge yourself on convenience foods.

Don’t do it.

Starving yourself is not a diet – it’s just a bad idea!

What is Your Ideal Weight?

November 18, 2008 by Michele Neylon 1 Comment

Everyone is different.

It’s one of humanity’s strengths – we’re diverse in more ways than one!

Bearing that in mind when it comes to the ideal weight then it’s obviously not as simple as some might think.

If you are a broad shouldered giant you will be able to carry a lot more weight than a lanky beanpole!

The simplest method for calculating ideal weight is via their BMI (body mass index) which basically takes into account height, gender and weight to come up with a figure. Based on that figure you can then see if someone is overweight etc., etc.

If you want to work out your BMI then there are plenty of tools online to help you.

Here are a couple I found (I’m not saying they’re better or worse than any others!)

You’ll obviously need to know your height AND weight to be able to use any of those tools!

An Apple A Day

November 18, 2008 by Michele Neylon Leave a Comment

Image by SqueakyMarmot via Flickr

As you can gather I have a fondness for old sayings:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Fruit and fresh vegetables are a wonderful source of vitamins and other things that help your body.

Unfortunately my Irish diet of the last couple of years probably wasn’t as rich in fresh fruit and vegetables as it could have been.

Over the past few weeks I’ve replaced any and all snacks with fruit. The easiest fruits to eat are of course tangerines and apples.

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