COMMON SENSE WEIGHT CONTROL…IT’S AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3!

I’m a big fan of COMMON SENSE. In my program TUNE UP YOUR LIFE, I talk about 7 common sense principles that can help us be our very best.
Well…this past January, I realized I had not been “walking my talk,” and over the holidays, I packed on 20 pounds!

BUSTED!

Say it isn’t so!

Surely my bathroom scales are lying to me!!!

Well…my first reaction was to toss those scales…bad idea. So instead, I rushed out and bought new ones…an equally bad idea. You see, the scales were not the problem…DUH! I had to face the facts…I could no longer button my favorite jeans.

We all know there are tons of benefits for maintaining a healthy weight, but it’s especially critical for me:

First, I have a lousy back. It’s called Scoliosis. Don’t worry…I’m not contagious. It just means I’m crooked…rather, my spine is! Any excess weight exacerbates this issue.

Second, I’m on the road about 120 days a year. That’s a lot of asphalt and altitude. Both are very tough on an already-lousy back.

Third, I’m cheap. I like the clothes in my closet, and I don’t want to go out and buy a new wardrobe because of my “muffin top,” the result of my eating too many…muffin tops!

So…last week, I was particularly interested in this headline: “American Medical Association Re-classifies Obesity as a Disease.”

It was previously known as a “condition.”

I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, so I don’t really understand the “ins and outs” of all of this. What I DO understand is that we as a nation must get a handle on our collective “weight.”

While I’ve never been more than 20 pounds over weight, I consistently struggle with those 20 pounds! Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, founding director of the Weight Management Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and author of The Runner’s Diet explains why. “It’s those last few pounds that seem to be the hardest to lose. It’s an unfortunate law of weight loss: the last 10 pounds are harder to shed than the first 30. That’s because the slimmer you become, the fewer calories you burn just going about your day. For every pound you lose, your metabolism slows by up to 20 calories a day:”

Just this week while standing in the check-out line at my local grocery store, I couldn’t help but notice the magazines prominently displayed, wooing me with the latest, miraculous state-of-the-art techniques for weight loss.

For example:

“LOSE WEIGHT FASTER…New Secrets to Slimming Down”
“Do You NEED That Extra Cookie? Gain Mastery Over Cravings”
“Yes, a Flat Belly Can Be Yours”

These were all on only ONE magazine! I BOUGHT THE MAGAZINE!

Enough said…America is obsessed with weight. This is not “new” news…

What might be “new” news to you is MY method of weight control, which I proudly shared my doctor who took notice of my 20 pound weight loss at a recent check-up.

I have not written a book about it.
I do not have a cool new DVD of it.
I have not been on Dr. Oz touting it.

What I HAVE DONE is LIVE it since my face-off (better stated…”weight-off!”) with my scales last January. And it works…at least it works for me.

Here it is…in 3 common sense steps. Are you ready for these mind-blowing new weight management discoveries?

I. EAT IT AS CLOSE TO THE FARM AS POSSIBLE
2. DRINK AT LEAST 64 OUNCES OF WATER PER DAY
3. MOVE WITH INTENTION AT LEAST 30 MINUTES PER DAY
VOILA’!

Let’s go deep.

1. EAT IT AS CLOSE TO THE FARM AS POSSIBLE

ACTION STEP ONE: Eat fresh, un-processed food. Your mother was right when she said “eat your vegetables!” Dr. Oz agrees with your mother. He says that at least half of our plates should be green. Please don’t go off on a tangent and paint your dishes green! Half of what’s ON your plate should be green (or fresh).

This makes perfect sense to me. In our drive-through culture, we’ve strayed far from the farm (great alliteration, don’t you think?)

When I was a kid, I remember walking through my grandfather’s garden. There was nothing better on this planet than eating one of his vine-ripened tomatoes, juice dripping from my elbows as I scarfed down every sun-kissed bite! My Papa raised lots of good stuff on that little plot of soil in his backyard in Olney, Texas…black eyed peas, cucumbers, turnips, onions… In fact, he was famous for his onion sandwiches made with mounds of mayonnaise slathered onto fresh white bread. You heard me…red onions and mayo…on white bread. That was never one of my favorites!

BUT his fresh sliced tomatoes with mustard on whole wheat bread…now we’re talking!

Nowadays, few if any of us have gardens. So…spend your time and your money in the produce section of your local grocery store. Better yet, go the farmer’s market in your neck of the woods.

2. DRINK AT LEAST 64 OUNCES OF WATER PER DAY

ACTION STEP TWO:

Go to the 99-Cent Store.
Buy an 8 ounce plastic measuring cup.
Fill it up with water 8 times a day.
Drink it!
DUH!

Action Step Two logically leads us to Action Step Three.

3. MOVE WITH INTENTION AT LEAST 30 MINUTES PER DAY

ACTION STEP THREE: Trust me, if you drink 64 ounces of water a day, you WILL “move with intention…” to the bathroom! And that’s the point! Water consumption helps rev up your metabolism!!

The average adult human body is 50-65% water, averaging around 57-60%. When we hit a slump about 2PM and we think we need a shot of caffeine, more than likely what we really need is a stiff DRINK…of WATER! Try it, and see if it doesn’t make a huge difference!

So there you have it in 3 easy-to-remember steps. But just so you know I’m not a weight-loss snob… Folks…I live in Texas…the Mecca of Mexican Food and Birthplace of Bluebell Ice Cream. Trust me, I eat my share of BOTH. BUT I eat them with a heaping helping of common sense, and I “get back to the farm” as quickly as possible.