weight control

The Essentialist’s Playbook for Weight Loss

Don Grier

Most people try anything and everything to lose weight when first starting.  They will try the latest supplements, liquid diets, eating only select foods (cabbage soup anyone), the hottest fitness craze, eating at only certain times – you get the picture.  Let’s do A through Z and sticks to the wall and un-sticks my diet.

I was a proponent of the more is more approach for years and it didn’t work.  Over the years as my weight climbed and my hope failed, I tried everything, many simultaneously, from being a vegetarian (failed because M&M’s are not meat!), popping Green Tea pills, cleansing in various ways, the latest exercise craze, and on and on… Then I discovered two things.  Weight Watchers (WW) and the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism .  Both teach the same thing – Do less, but better.   The key to weight loss and a better, more successful life is by correctly assessing the few important priorities, focusing on these priorities exclusively, and dumping the rest.  Mr. McKeown provides how to do this in his book and WW in its classed for a Essentialist’s Playbook for Weight Loss.

 You can lose 170+ pounds like me by not doing everything but these three things:

  1. Track everything you eat or drink.  The best way to know how to lose weight is to track what you eat.  By consciously tracking your food intake, you will better understand portion control and the trigger foods you need to avoid.  You use this along with weekly weight tracking to find out what works and what foods to avoid.  That way you focus on what works, rather than trying everything that doesn’t!
  2. Be kind for yourself.  You can’t focus on what is important if you are unhealthy in body or your soul.  It is therefore important to focus on your health both mentally and physically.  Take time to journal positive thoughts, rest, and relax.  A few minutes a day of being kind to yourself will not only help you lose the stress that sabotages most people’s health.
  3. Take time to exercise.  Study upon study have shown that sitting is the equivalent or worse to smoking for health.  It does not take much to get the exercise your body needs and craves.  Get up for 10 minutes every hour and take a walk.  Also, block out 30 minutes in the morning to recharge and energize. 

Bottom line:  You do not need to do A through Z to lose weight and be a better you!  All you need is the essential 1-2-3!  Go out and practice Essentialism to gain a new body and soul.

Baby It’s Cold Outside, But Exercise Anyway!

Don Grier3 Comments

Recently there has been a lot of controversy on the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside”.  Now, I am not going to get into the controversy.  No. Instead, I decided to use the melody, which I love so much, and make new lyrics that are appropriate for those losing weight! 

Here is the song with the lyrics directly below:

I really should go play,

But it’s cold outside,

I got to get away,

But it’s cold outside,

I need to exercise,

So, I don’t get fat,

What do you think of that?

I have to go, go, go,

But my body says no, no, no,

I really should go and do my exercise,

But I despise,

The cold, the cold, the cold, THE COLD!

Most of us hate to exercise when it is cold outside.  But it is a necessity if we are going to keep on our weight loss journey.   So, how do you get your exercise in, when you don’t want to go out?  Here are five tricks of the trade.

  1.  Bundle up and play!  A key to good health is getting sun.  So, the first thing is to layer up and get outdoors.   Winter is a good time for high calorie burning especially if you are in Minnesota which I will be in a few weeks.  So, layer up and have some fun with winter sports such as cross-country skiing, and sledding (as long as you are climbing up the hill after sledding down!)  Take advantage of these great sports that are only available in the winter (or early spring and late autumn when you are in the frozen tundra up north). 
  2. Romp around in your romper!  Those Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Jack LaLanne fans out there know the power of the romper. The founding father of exercise, Jack, and Abe Weisman, Tony Shaloub’s character on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel show us how it is done old school with simple calisthenics.  Whether you are in the warmth you are home or in the Catskills as Abe, old school calisthenics can get your heart pumping.  If you have YouTube,you might even want to one of Jack’s old TV routines shown here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4A3mdG5zbQ
  3. Spin to win! Biking outside is not always available or inviting when the roads are slick.  But you can always do inside cycling and learn from the best!  Read my recent blog on the King of Cycling! https://weightlossleadership.com/2018/06/10/heroes-of-health-series-episode-2-corey-the-cycling-king/   
  4. Take your Dog for a walk!  Some dogs are conditioned to walk in the cold.  Boots, our Bernese Mountain Dog, gets way more active when its get’s colder.  As you can see from his thick coat and bear like appearance, Boots loves the cold and can walk a lot further when it is 30 degrees than 100 degrees in Austin.  So, take care of your body and take your dog on a walk to escape that pesky cat. 
  5. Dance fever. This last one comes from my daughter Kate the Great.  When she gets done from a tough day teaching high school, she goes home, turns on the X-Box and “Just Dance”s.  Whether with an X-box game or to some Venmo videos of Taylor Swift (I personally love “Shake it Off”, dancing is an excellent way to shake off the pounds!
Boots and that Pesky Cat!

These are just five ideas to keep in shape during the winter months.  There are many more like chopping wood for your own fire or hot yoga, but these will suffice for now.  Bottom line:  Don’t get old, just because it is cold.  Exercise and have fun!

Boy It is Cold Outside

I’m Back, Right on Track

Don Grier1 Comment

I was temporarily derailed on my Weight Loss maintenance program the last few weeks.  So much so that my Lifetime standing was potentially threatened.  The first two weigh-ins this month I was off by two lbs. Not the worst thing but I really cherish my Lifetime distinction.

What got me slightly off track?   It was not dramatic.  I did not suddenly binge eat a bunch of M&M’s or stop exercising.  Nor did I stop my other good habits (in fact they saved me – more on that later!).  No, it was three items that without the habits that I learned at Weight Watchers would have derailed me permanently.

I think of these external items as the Weight Gain Axis of Evil!   Before the discipline and training I received at Weight Watchers, this Axis of Evil caused me to balloon up in a matter of weeks.  The diagram below shows the three elements of the Axis:

The Weight Gain Axis of Evil
The Weight Gain Axis of Evil

Here is how they impacted me in my temporary setback.

  1. Travel woes.  Both weeks I was traveling for work out of town and had a delay on some of the flights.  Plus traveling two time zones away.
  2. Work Stress. I was taking on more work responsibility while still retaining my current work.   In addition, I had a packed two-week schedule with deadlines and planes to catch.
  3. Lack of Sleep. I could not sleep for the most part driven by the first two elements of the Axis.  First, I kept thinking it was 5 am when it was 3 am because of the time zone difference.  Second, I had to catch planes early in the morning and late at night.  Third, the work stress and the tight schedule made me anxious making it difficult to fall asleep.

I caved in the past before Weight Watchers when I confronted the Weight Gain Axis of Evil.     I would wake up too early or go to bed too late causing Cortisol to race through my veins.  Then the stress  elevated the cortisol level and the fatigue factor, making me eat more and exercise less. The result in the past; easily a five-pound weight gain in a week with additional weight gain until I could get of the loop.

This time however I was able to recover from the fleeting set back with the lessons I learned from Weight Watchers.  Here are the 5 items that helped me.

  1. Don’t Panic! – Like the Hitchhiker traveling the Galaxy (one of my favorite books), Don’t Panic!  I remembered the rough patches I had before and how I eventually was able to overcome them.  I was not going to let a two-week setback remain permanent.  Remembering my Weight Loss Journey when I lost 170+ pounds, I knew if there were fits and starts in weight loss, there would also be partial setbacks in weight maintenance.
  2. Look beyond the Scale – There are more things to Weight Watchers than just the scale. According to the Lifetime member rules, I only need to weigh in once a month to maintain my status.  But comradery and the friends I have gained at my Round Rock class means more to me then a temporary loss of Lifetime status.  THEY WERE THERE FOR ME AND I WILL BE THERE FOR THEM.
  3. Listen closely at Class – While you are at class enjoying the comradery, listen! Two lessons from the last two classes helped me get back on track.  One was the practice of mindfulness (see 4).  The second was the discussion of the “The Power of Habit”.  After class, I reread excerpts from that book and tweaked a few of my habits that had grown stale and needed tweaking!
  4. Mindfulness – Weight Watchers has teamed with Mind Space to teach members the practice of mindfulness and meditation to overcome stress. After attending and participating in the recent mindfulness exercise that was introduced recently, I restarted my practice to handle the extra stress of the last few weeks. With the calming effect of mindfulness, I increased my sleep and it was deeper also.
  5. Blue Dot Focus – I never lost my habit of tracking even during my set back.  But I did lose the focus of trying to get a blue dot award (staying in a recommended point zone for a day).  I had become astute at using every one of my weekly points and some of my activity points.  In so doing, I had been paying less attention of hitting a blue dot 5 out of the 7 days in a week.  This week, I went back to that goal and in so doing retained some of my weekly points.

My 5 ways to defeat my Weight Gain Axis of Evil may be different from yours.  Indeed, you may have a different Axis.  The point is to examine and to attack your weight gain nemesis with optimism, pluck and the lessons of Weight Watchers.  In closing:

I’m Back,

Right On Track,

Come and Give my Hand A Smack,

Weight Watchers All the Way!

Weight Watchers All the Way!

5 Weapons to Win the War on Weight

Don GrierLeave a comment

Ready for weight loss
Ready for battle with my weapons in weight loss!

For many, losing weight and keeping it off is akin to warfare.  It was for me.  Many days during my year and a half journey to lose a 178 lbs.  I felt like I was in the Battle of the Bulge.  I was pummeled on all sides by my enemies –  junk food, worry, and inactivity.     I needed the right weapons to beat back the break in my defenses and drive to victory.  And I found them in these five key weapons in Weight Loss warfare:

  1. Bananas – The banana is the ultimate weapon in defeating junk food cravings for several reasons.  First, they are very discreet and compact.  You can hide them in your backpack or briefcase and pull them out whenever a junk food frenzy hits!  Indeed, they were my weapon of choice in defeating my arch nemesis – Peanut M&M’s.  Second, they come with their own protection a removable skin that keeps them clean and ready to eat in all sorts of terrain – Nature’s MRE.   Lastly, they sustain for the long haul with their fiber and potassium.  Eat one and you can drive past a full candy bowl without slowing down.
  2. Sneakers are the ultimate weapon against our next enemy of health – inactivity. Sitting and remaining dormant are two of the most powerful armaments in our foe’s arsenal. There are more expensive tools to defeat them – gyms, the latest exercise equipment, etc. – but I have found the trusty sneaker to be the most effective.  Sneakers are like the famous Kalashnikov rifle that the Soviet’s used in WW II.  You could drop the Kalashnikov in the mud or march in the rain and it would always fire when you pulled the trigger.  Likewise, sneakers are a lost cost, effective way to beat inactivity.  For example, when I am out of town for work and know I will be away from the gym, I find a hotel about a mile or two from the workplace, lace up my sneakers and take a twenty-minute walk.  I then switch into my shoes and put them in my backpack; along with my trusty banana that replenishes my potassium!  There they remain until ready for access with my next bout with inactivity – lunch!
  3. Audiobooks – Two other enemies in the struggle against weight gain is lack of knowledge and boredom. Audiobooks are the perfect antidote to both.  Take them on a trek while walking on a trail and you will forget the foes trying to drive you away from your objective.  I have whiled away the hours listening to James Patterson as I worked off the weight.  Next, audiobooks provide you inspiration and knowledge to counter the enemy’s every move.  For example, The Power of Habit taught me how to counter the triggers to eating.  Walking with audiobooks strikes fear in our nemesis to health!
  4. Weight Watchers – An effective game plan and strategy is the greatest force multiplier on the battlefield.  Weight Watchers provides that game plan with its program Freestyle.  The program provides you the structure, support and tools to defeat cravings and the disinformation campaign that our modern lifestyle deploys.
  5. Your Mind – The most powerful weapon in the weight loss struggle is your mind.  The harbingers of weight gain use worry, negativity and self-loathing to distract you and bring you down.  To counter them, practice mindfulness and positive thoughts.  This will counter the senseless eating that often accompanies worry and restlessness.

The winning combination of the five weight loss weapons will bring you success.  Use them and drive to victory and a new you!