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There is a new reality show called Money Hungry on VH1 that is part Freaks and Part Biggest Loser. You have people who have put in 10,000 of their own money. The person at the end who loses the most weight gets 100,000. These are not rich people, and the thought is that money will motivate them to lose weight.

With this in mind I busted out my calculator and some old bank statements. What I found was when my family or just my wife and I eat out, we end up spending about 10 bucks a person. Some times more, and some times less.

Then I looked at a meal I had. It had a salad ($1.50), a Chicken Breast ($2.00 purchased in bulk), some frozen veggies ($2.50) and a glass of milk ($.80). That means my meal cost $7 (rounded up). For every meal I eat at home I save $3. If I eat three meals a day 356 days a year I would save $3204 just by eating at home.

Now you might say, “I don’t have time to cook.” In their book 90 Day Fitness Challenge, Phil and Amy Parham talk about cooking on Sundays for the whole week. Previously I mentioned that if you go out to eat you might:

Wait to be seated

Wait to have your order taken

Wait for the kids to pick something from the menu

Wait for them to cook it

Wait for them to give the check

Wait for them to pick up the check

Wait for them to bring back the receipt.

Face it. You’re not really saving any time going out to eat. What you are getting to do is sit down. If you cook you are up and active (burning more calories). When it comes to weight loss, if you take a realistic look at the time and money saved, you can save both time and money by cooking at home.

TV Statistics

TV FACTS Nearly a quarter of adults say they have no physical activity at all in their leisure time and the average teenager spends close to six hours a day in front of a screen of some sort—close to an hour each online and playing video games and another four hours watching TV. The average child spends twenty-eight hours a week in front of the TV and the average adult about thirty-one hours a week doing the same. This amounts to more than two months of continuous TV viewing every year. From the book Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?

Why Are You Exercising?

One of my favorite sayings Chomsky from Jillian Michaels who says that without a WHY, all exercise is torture. When we know the why, we can get through the HOW. Another great tidbit from the book Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat is where he answers the “WHY” of exercising.

With my ideal body I will be able to: Walk to the grocery store without losing my breath Fit in an airplane seat without a seat belt extender Feel pretty/handsome when I wake up Walk around the block with my grandchildren Look at pictures of myself without getting embarrassed Walk up the stairs without becoming winded Stop having pain in my knees Stop taking blood pressure medicine that is weight related Wear a bathing suit without feeling self-conscious Tuck my shirt into my pants and wear a pretty belt without my fat tummy hanging out! Hike Diamond Head without getting winded Spend a ridiculous amount of money on a Burberry outfit (not just the shoes and handbags) Stop seeing my closet and mirrors as the enemy

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FAT NEVER SLEEPS – EVEN WHEN YOU DESERVE A BREAK

I’ve had a few crappy weeks back to back. Here is what has gone down.

1. My Wife’s ex husband has lost his job and is no longer paying child support.
2. My step son had his appendix taken out and had some complications.
3. My father was diagnosed with colon cancer.

This had me staying up late trying to get some money going online, and I was getting 4-5 hours a night. Bad move.
This had me reacting to life instead of analyzing the new circumstances and seeing where my fitness goals would fit in.
This had me eating on the run, with no plan.
In some cases I would enter my calories the following day (when you can’t change anything). Some days I didn’t write down anything at all.

What happened? Well the lack of sleep lead to a lack of will power, and an increase in the “I don’t care” attitude. This lead to the vending machine being my best friends. Items like snickers, Doritos, and other goodies made there way back into my diet. The result? I gained about 3 lbs. I saw 205 come back to the scale, and said “OK that’s enough of that.”

What I’ve done is I’ve tried to make the best out of bad situations. I always walk from the parking lot to the hospital. I take the stairs (in some cases twice) to make sure I got SOME activity. I’ve tried to make better bad choices (chicken instead of big mac, grilled instead of fried).

You’re Not Hiding Anything

While it would nice if we got a “pass” when emergencies hit and a hamburger magically had zero calories. This is not the case. Neil Young has a song called “Hey Hey My My (into the black), and one of the lines is “Rust Never Sleeps.” I have a bike in the garage with some rust on the handlebars. If I don’t do something about it, the handle bars will eventually turn to rust – because rust never sleeps. Well in the same way, fat never sleeps. If you keep eating more than you burn, your fat cells get bigger. This is a fact. It doesn’t change because you had a bad week. While the reason you are fading from your goals is understandable, in the end, weight loss has to be in a “no excuse” zone. You just need to evaluate, and come up with a new plan.

You may think you’re hiding this from the world, but you’re not. You may stash away food and eat in the middle of the night, but in the morning when you go to zip up your pants and they don’t fit – we all know. You can’t hid it anymore.

Get Back Up

Life is not always fair. However, we wouldn’t appreciate the flat roads if we didn’t climb the occasional hill. Whe life has some big hurdles, reassess the situation and figure out where you ca fit your health goals. If they don’t fit, cut something out (might I suggest TV and you tube?). You need to keep yourself a priority. Having a “I’ll do it later” attitude will not work. Why? Because you’ve been saying it for years, and guess what? IT’S LATER. I got knocked down this week with all the things in my life, but I’m getting back up. I have a new plan to allow me to tend to my Dad, get some exercise in, eat healthy on the run, and keep going. If I can do it, you can do it.

Get Hey hey my my (into the black) by Neil young in iTunes

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