weight loss tips

Five New Year Weight Loss Tips

Don Grier

Happy New Year!   I have culled through my content on the Wellness Leadership blog, podcast, and this blog to find the five best tips for those starting a weight loss journey.  Hopefully, these tips will lead you to a healthier, happier New Year.

Visualize Your Why for the New Year

The first thing this New Year is to define your purpose.  Each morning, wake up with a “why” in your heart and head, sometimes two!  What is a “why”?  A “why” is the motivation for taking on something difficult and the purpose for doing so.  A why drives you forward even when you can’t go on.  Why’s are imperative to change a bad habit or get out of a rut.

It is important to have a visual representation of the outcome you want to obtain. This representation will remind you why you are making the change and help keep you motivated when times get tough. One way to do that is to create a Vision Board, a series of pictures and text snippets that visualize your goal. 

Below is the visual representation of my first “why” that I created at WW on the Hay House Vision Board app (located here: Hay House Vision Board).  As represented in this Vision Board, I wanted to lose weight, look decent for my reunion, and get healthy in memory of my parents.

New Year weight loss Vision Board
Make A Vision Board

You can take concrete steps daily this new year to wake up with your why. I accomplish this through journaling and meditation. I use the Gratitude Journal (located here ) to help prompt me to realize my why. 

So, do not wander and wallow in the unknown this New Year.  Instead, visualize your why and build a better future for yourself and others! To read more about developing your why, read this blog.

Put One Foot in Front of the Other this New Year

On January 2nd, you see the same thing in gyms worldwide each New Year. Membership jumps as everyone tries to lose the pounds they put on over the holidays. The February phenomenon follows that as gym attendance takes a significant nosedive.

Often, people who join the gym and leave early in the new year start too fast out of the gate. They decide to try to sprint instead of walk and injure themselves.  

Others failed to take the second step after joining the gym.  Perhaps they were too self-conscious about their appearance in their exercise clothes or afraid to ask for help on the weight machines.   Either way, they did not follow the cardinal rule when starting.  You need to put one foot in front of the other. 

I have experienced the need to take it slow but still go. Weighing over 350 pounds when I started ten New Years ago, I could not walk far because of my joints, so I did low-impact water aerobics. I then progressed over time to the elliptical trainer. By the journey’s end, I was doing four hours of Spinning nonstop or walking 50 miles in one day. Remember, start with baby steps and then progress.

So, like the Winter Warlock in that old holiday favorite – Santa Claus is Coming to Town, just put one foot in front of the other, and you will soon hit your wellness goal. To learn more about this topic, read this blog.

Be Consistent Like Army Football

Army football had a great year, except for that one loss to Navy.   The key to their success is the same key to a positive weight loss journey: consistency! 

The Army football team does not have many plays, but what they do have is run consistently. Each player knows exactly where to block in their Flexbone Triple Option set. This scheme is run only at the Service Academies and requires discipline and consistency. Due to the smaller size of the players, each player needs to execute flawlessly. 

This consistency also served me well, as I lost over 170 lbs! I did not have a lot of plays in my weight loss arsenal, but I consistently did what I did have (tracking points, walking, mindfulness). Each day, I tracked my food, walked a mile, and meditated for at least 10 minutes. Much like the Army team pounds the football down the field, I pounded away the pounds with consistent execution!

To learn other rules of wellness from Army Football, read this blog.

THINK Before You Speak in the New Year

We all know the adage: Think before you speak.   However, take it a step further and follow the acronym THINK this New Year.  

  1. T – Is It Truthful? Here is one of the thoughts that ran through my head when I was 358 lbs.  “I do not have any willpower, and I am too tired to break out of this rut!”  That statement was not truthful, and on second thought, I realized it.  I had jumped out of planes at Airborne school and passed the strict discipline of the black hats.  I had the willpower, so it was not a truthful statement.  If you focus on falsehood instead of the truth, you attack yourself, others, and the wrong problem.
  2. H – Is it Helpful? Do not dwell on the mistakes of the past.  It is not helpful to dwell on the Quarter Pounder you ate.  Instead, it is beneficial to think about what triggered the momentary lapse and plan how you will do better.
  3. I—Is it Inspiring? I cannot tell you how much reading inspiring books and quotes has changed and fashioned my inner dialogue. Don’t preach to the choir; Be Inspired when you communicate to yourself and others!
  4. N—Is it Needed? Too many random, negative thoughts clutter our inner and outer dialogue.  Do not cloud your thoughts with unneeded worries or fears; focus on what’s now and needed!
  5. K – Is it Kind? This is the most critical part of the acronym: Be conspicuously kind to yourself and others.  A kind act to yourself will allow you to drive to improved health when you have a momentary setback.  Being kind to others will have a double whammy.  It will bring you joy and lower stress. 

Stop The Negative Talk, Take a Walk, and Be Thankful.

Some say the key to health is reducing calories, while others say exercise is the key. Both are important, but controlling negative thoughts is the key to weight loss. A positive outlook and a can-do attitude work wonders on your body and soul. 

When striving to get well and be a better leader, you should first stop the negative talk. You must replace “can’t do” with “can do.” 

Also, you need to stop the practice of “worst casting.”  The racing voice inside your head blows the simplest setback into a full-fledged downward spiral. The best way to stop the negative talk is to take a walk.

When your mind is racing, and you’re feeling stressed, don’t reach for a Whataburger – take a walk!  Preferably outside.  It will do three things for you. 

First, it will relieve stress and calm you down.  Especially if you are out in nature, hearing birds singing and smelling the flowers. 

Second, it will allow you to catch up with your thoughts and combine them coherently. One thing that helps with this second one is listening to a relevant audiobook. I cannot tell you how often I solved the latest problem or came up with a blog story by listening to a book.

The last rule is to focus on thankfulness instead of worry and anxiety.  No matter the difficulty of the situation, you can be thankful for the learning experience.  To read more on this topic, check out this blog.

A New Year, A New You

Hopefully, these five tips will help you improve your wellness this New Year. 

Six Amazing Tracking Tips for Weightloss and Wellness

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Last week’s blog was a little out there even for me.  I enjoyed tying the ideas and lives of Winston Churchill and David Bowie about purposeful change together.  If you have not already, you should listen, even to hear me imitate the musical chameleon, Bowie.  But for today’s podcast, I decided to reel it back into a topic a little less out there, a little more meat and potatoes!   That is the importance of tracking your wellness journey, whether it be the meat and potatoes you consume, the steps you walk, or those moments of serendipity that bring you happiness each day!

Some in the wellness industry give tracking a bad name. Some firms even want you to buy prepackaged foods, mixes, and pills so you can avoid what they consider the mundane practice of tracking. Buy our food, lose weight, and leave the monitoring to us! Do our specific exercise routine and watch your muscles grow and your stomach shrink. Better yet, take this pill or shot, and you don’t have to exercise or watch what you eat. 

Let me debunk these claims of the wellness industry.   First and foremost, people like to choose their food and want variety. You should feel liberated in your food choices, not restricted.  Also, what you gain in convenience from prepacked food, you lose in knowing how to eat nutritionally for your body type.  Lastly, when you run out of money for the next shot or order of prepacked food, you have no habits to fall back on and gain weight.  Trust me.  I am the guy who tried every prepackaged diet and exercise routine until I went old-school and decided to take matters into my own hands.

Today, I track the food I eat, my daily exercise routines, and even the beneficial habits I want to adopt and the bad habits I want to limit. It may seem like a lot of work, but trust me, it’s worth it.  Like a science experiment, you must track all variables in your wellness journey. And just like in business, you can only improve what you track. This is not just a personal journey but a proven method that I urge you to consider for your wellness journey.  

The human body is one of the most complicated organisms on the planet.  New things are discovered daily despite being the most studied topic since the existence of science.  Also, no two people are exactly alike.  What works for one person may not work for you.  Therefore, owning your wellness and tracking your habits and the outcomes they produce is essential. 

For ten years, I have tracked my activity, food intake, habits, mindfulness, and sense of well-being. The result? I lost half my body weight, eliminated sleep apnea, improved my disposition, and became more fit.    Here are some recommendations for those of you initiating a tracking habit.

1.  Track everything you eat or drink. 

The best way to lose weight is to track what you eat.  You will better understand portion control and the trigger foods you need to avoid by consciously tracking your food intake.  You use this and weekly weight tracking to determine what works and what foods to avoid.  That way, you can focus on what works rather than trying everything that doesn’t! 

2. Track before you attack. 

The first rule is always to figure out what you will have before departing.  Most restaurants now post nutritional values on menus on their website.  Read the menu, pick your menu items, and record the calories before departing.  Like a good soldier, never eat without a good plan of attack. This preparation gives you a sense of control and confidence in your choices.

3. Indulge but count.  

You can indulge a bit on vacation or a celebration.  While on Vacation, I shared a few desserts with my wife for the first time in a long time.  But I also carefully tracked everything I ate to know I was in striking distance for the week.  By monitoring and not attacking the buffet line, I could enjoy some of the colonial recipes and comfort foods in Virginia on a recent vacation in a controlled manner.  I was able to indulge and avoid the bulge!

4.  Gamification.

Tracking your food, habits, and activities can become mundane, so make a game of it.  I use the Fitbit application and the WW application to track food activity.  In the WW application, I try to get a blue dot award (staying in a recommended point zone) five days a week.  By striving for the Blue Dot, I had fun and learned different approaches to balance activity and food intake.  Likewise, I have step contests with my friends on the Fitbit application and engage in friendly banter and competition.

5. Listen to Your Body and Record Your Well-Being. 

Your body knows what it wants.  That is the reason too many hamburgers and fries cause you to indigestion.    Feed your body with the good stuff.  Choose vegetables and fruit over candy and sugar.  Remember, just like listening to someone, you must listen to your body closely to understand what it says.  Then, record your well-being and compare it to your activity, habits, and food intake. You may think your body is saying I need sleep when, in reality, your body is saying I need to exercise and get energy, or I am dehydrated and need water. 

6.  Three Applications that Help You Track.  

Here are three applications that have helped me track.

WW application.   I am amazed at this application and consider it one of the best mobile applications I have ever used.  This is coming from a guy who built applications for a living.  The best feature is its tracking application, which allows you to scan food bar codes and track the WW points that you use.  It also has a Connect feature that will enable you to connect to other people on the Weight Watchers journey.  In addition, it has a feature that allows you to reach a Weight Watcher employee any time of the day through instant messaging to answer questions and provide inspiration.  This feature once prevented me from eating a seemingly healthy wrap, which was half my allotted food intake!  This application has a monthly subscription, but it is worth it if you want to lose weight.  My Fitness Pal is an alternative free application, but I like WW’s features.

Fitbit is a fantastic application and tool. I use it daily to track my exercise, measure my heart rate and sleep, and participate in competitions with my friends. I no longer have a watch; instead, I wear my Fitbit as a watch. It also has a feature to track the number of glasses of water I drink daily, another critical element of weight loss. One of my most prized possessions from Fitbit is the 100,000-step Olympian Sandal for walking 50 miles daily. 

Happyfeed is a simple but powerful application! Each day, it reminds you to log three things you are happy about. This helps you think of the good stuff and not get depressed. The app also has a feature that allows you to add pictures and look at history.

Streaks allows you to set repeating habits and track them daily. Establishing habits and tracking them is vital in achieving goals related to weight loss and other areas. Some of my habits that help with weight loss are journaling for 15 minutes daily, writing a blog weekly, and praying daily.

In closing, you need to track to keep on track and change well.  You can only change what you measure, and by tracking, you better know what habits you need to change.

Be, Be the Bamboo to Lose Weight and Improve Your Wellness

Don Grier

One of my favorite movies is Caddy Shack.  One of my favorite lines is when Chevy Chase tells Danny his philosophy on life and golf.  He says, “Stop thinking. Let things happen and be, be the ball.”  Chevy then goes on to hit a perfect golf shot blindfolded.  Danny then tries after prodding from Chevy and sends the ball into the pond. Why am I discussing a comedy movie on today’s Change Well podcast?  Like Chevy, I want to pass on some hard-learned lessons using a fitting metaphor.  Hopefully, my metaphor will lead to a successful wellness journey without the need to fish your ball out of a pond.  So, to all the Dannys and Danielles out there, if you want to Change Well, be, be the bamboo.

Why did I pick bamboo, of all things, for my words of wisdom?  Bamboo has many characteristics and traits you should strive for to improve your health and wellness.  Here are a few reasons to be like the bamboo when facing life’s challenges. You can listen to the podcast here

1.  Bend, but don’t break. 

Bamboo, when facing a stiff wind, bends but does not break.  Likewise, when you face a challenge or stressor, you should adapt to the challenge, bending but not falling back to negative behavior such as stress eating.  Practice the resilience of bamboo and be flexible.  If things do not go your way immediately, adapt and go with the flow.  The storm will pass, and you will be stronger when facing the challenge.

2.  Build a robust root system. 

Bamboo is slow-growing.  You do not know the plant is taking root for the first five years.  But during this time, bamboo grows in an extensive root system.  Likewise, a person trying to grow healthy and mentally resilient must nurture a system of habits that will nourish them to become a new, better person.  The first tendrils of wellness may not seem much.  In my case,  my first tentative steps to wellness were small.  I started walking around the block and changing my late afternoon cupful of M&Ms for an apple.  I started with only five minutes of meditating and listening to a poem to nourish my soul. 

But this network of habits built upon each other over time and spread. I tracked the increasing support system of positive, nourishing habits with a phone application called Streaks, which showed growth and consistency.  I went from 5 minutes of meditating to 30 minutes of prayer and 2,000 steps to 10,000.  Like bamboo, the changes from this network of habits were not very noticeable at first but formed a robust root system that nourished explosive growth in wellness over time.

3. Build upon your foundation for explosive growth in wellness.

The five years bamboo spends building roots underground pays off in rapid development.  Once the root system is set, bamboo explodes upward, growing up to thirty-five inches in a single day and thirty meters high overall.  Once you build a network of reinforcing wellness habits, you should seize on it like bamboo and grow to even higher goals.  Once you have your wellness habits set, it is important to keep pressing forward by redefining your goals and changing your why.  Here is an example from my wellness journey. Once I hit my target weight, I pushed on to a new goal of walking fifty miles in one day to support Veterans.  After that, I changed it up, became a certified cycling instructor, and participated in five hours straight in spin classes to raise money for St. Jude’s Hospital.  Having spent all that time and effort building your foundation, be like the bamboo and explode upward, building on each goal using your root system for nourishment.

4.  Adapt to the environment. 

Another fantastic quality of bamboo is that it grows in many different climates. It is resistant to disease and pests and needs little water.  In fact, during hot, dry periods, Bamboo leaves curl up to conserve water.  In a drought, some of the leaves even fall off to self-mulch. 

When you embark on your wellness journey, the adaptability of bamboo provides a powerful example.  If the weather turns cold, like in Des Moines, Iowa, look for an indoor venue to keep your walking habit up.  In my case, I walk around the Des Moines skywalk.  If you are on a work trip out of town, look to the concierge lounge to load up on the vegetable plate instead of having a heavy dinner on an expense count.   You can thrive like bamboo in any environment with some planning and forethought.

5. Strength through simplicity. 

Bamboo’s strength comes from its simplicity.  Unbelievably, bamboo has more compressive strength than concrete and has a comparable strength-to-weight ratio as steel.  This strength is due to its uncomplicated design, a hollow fibrous tube with few leaves or branches.  Likewise, when structuring a strong wellness practice, you should avoid the clutter of fad diets and the latest trends and exercises.  Instead, focus on simple and effective walking practices, sufficient sleep, a well-balanced diet, and quiet time away from stress.  Focusing on the simple and decluttering your life from stressors will strengthen you against life’s challenges. 

Ten Amazing Weight Loss Tips for the Road Warrior

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Some people say losing weight and traveling are diametrically opposed.  I beg to differ!  I lost over 170 lbs. in a year and a half while traveling weekly.  I got on a plane each week at 5 am and left for home on Friday after five.   That year, I lost 3 lbs. or more a week, despite traveling weekly and getting stuck several times over the weekend due to plane delays or twice because of blizzards!  Channeling my inner David Letterman, here are my top ten weight-loss travel tricks!

  • Get a refrigerator when registering!  When registering and later checking in to a hotel, I always ensure I have a fridge.  I can shop for healthy snacks or meals or get some from the breakfast buffet or the concierge lounge spread.  That way, I have a healthy snack if I’m working late. You may already have a refrigerator in an extended-stay hotel like a Residence Inn.  But other business hotels may not have them in the room unless you request them. Get one and get healthy!
  • Check-in with the Concierge Lounge.  While traveling for work, I had access to a concierge lounge back due to my status as a frequent traveler.  I would hit the concierge lounge and load up on vegetables before going to a restaurant for dinner.  I even would skip dinner and eat in the concierge lounge.  The approach still applies even with limited or no travel.  Eat some vegetables or small appetizers at home before ordering or eating out.  Fill up on veggies instead of filling out on steak and burgers!  When you travel often, you usually get access to a concierge lounge.  You can use this access to your advantage if you make the correct choices.  Here is the approach.  For breakfast, fill up on lean protein (hard-boiled eggs, nonfat Greek yogurt, etc.), oatmeal, and fruit.  Also, grab at least two bananas and two apples for your snacks throughout the day.  Lastly, stay hydrated by taking a few bottles of water.  Nine times out of ten, when you are hungry, it is just a substitution for being thirsty!
  • Walk to Work. No Uber for me!  I walk to work unless it is pouring or ten below (sometimes in the Midwest).  I also picked a hotel about a mile away, so you get 2 miles in no matter what.  This at least gets you up and going.  Remember to bring a book on tape (Podcasts and Libby, which, if you are a library member, is free!)  or time your walk with a work call.   It gets you outside, and you barely notice the activity.
  • Coffee Cups are not just for Coffee.  I have a secret weight loss weapon when traveling the road – coffee cups.  This remarkable tool is ubiquitous at hotels.  Here are three simple weight loss hacks related to coffee cups:
    • The first is the obvious one – use it for coffee. Nothing gets the constitution working better than coffee. I drink one cup, and you are ready for the restroom. But stop at one or two, or you will have the opposite result since coffee is a diuretic. Also, if you are walking to the office, you may not make it in time for the restroom!
    • They are the perfect hard-boiled egg container.  Hard-boiled eggs are almost as ubiquitous as coffee cups at the hotel breakfast counter.  They are an ideal source of protein and a great way to satisfy a mid-morning snack or lunch.  A standard coffee cup can hold three large, hard-boiled eggs.  Place a lid on it and label it, and now you have a ready-made free lunch to stick in the office refrigerator!  Coffee cups can also serve as containers for the fresh fruit often set up on the breakfast buffet (don’t forget bananas and apples in your backpack).  You could also use coffee cups for oatmeal.  All three are wholesome snacks or lunch on the run.  You can also save money if not on an expense account.
    • Larger cups for infused water.  I love that many hotels are now providing fruit-infused water at the hotel.  But I do not love the little dinky plastic cups with no lids.  Answer – use coffee cups with lids and get 16 ounces of delicious water (to wipe away the effects of the second coffee).
  • Box it and Bring it To Boots. Portion control is the key to keeping your weight down and your friends happy.  In my case, my friend is a bear/dog named Boots, as shown below. I always think of my buddy Boots when craving a big steak.  I then make a conscious choice.  I eat 5 oz. Instead of 10 oz of a steak, I cut my calories in half and make my dog leap in delight!  This trick also works for a later meal in your trusty fridge but is more fun to give to your dog. Half your plate and make your friend feel great!
  • Eat like a plebe. The faster you eat, the more you repeat (think Buffet).  When I eat out, I return to my training at West Point and eat like a Plebe!  We learned to eat slowly at West Pont by squaring our meals so we would not wolf down food. Here is how you square a meal.  You lift your fork straight, bend your fork at 90 degrees to your mouth, straighten your arm back out, and then bring your fork entirely down.  You do not return your fork until you have thoroughly chewed your food.  On top of this, you needed to take small bites to recite knowledge to senior cadets without your mouth full.  All served to slow how fast we ate and cut down on food intake while practicing good manners.  Over thirty-five years later, I still eat like a Plebe, especially when traveling.
  • Don’t stress; catch up on your rest! If you let it, missing your flight home due to the weather can be stressful.  But it also can be an opportunity to catch up on your rest.  If you can’t leave your hotel, catch up on your snooze time.  Most of us are sleep-deprived anyway, and a few extra hours of rest can do wonders for your metabolism.  On the flip side, overly worrying can lead to stress eating.
  • When late, Meditate. You do not have to get caught up in the noise and bustle when stuck in an airport.  Most airports have a chapel, lounge, or quiet space where you can meditate or pray according to your practice to clear your head.  Here is a guide that can help you out.  https://www.sleepinginairports.net/. One of my favorite places is the chapel at DFW.  But you can also find one of the gates that does not have a flight for an hour.  I keep meditation applications Headspace, Calm, or Hallow for these delays on my iPhone. A plane delay or cancellation does not need to be a reason to go off the wagon. 
  • When it Snows, Find a Skywalk. Getting stuck overnight in a hotel because of a blizzard can curtail your weekend exercise routine.  I do not know about you, but walking on a treadmill does not get it.  I like my walks with some scenery and adventure.  One way to switch it up if you can’t get outside is to find a mall or indoor Skywalk.  Once, I was stuck in Des Moines, Iowa, when my plane was canceled.  Luckily, I did not have to miss my Saturday Morning walk.  I found an entry to the downtown Skywalk about a block away.  After a brief bout with the sub-zero wind chill, I soon walked and got lost in the Skywalk.    It was quite an adventure trying to find my way back through the maze of corridors.  Also, it felt a bit like Maxwell Smart with all the automatic opening doors.  When I was finally done, I had five miles in while braving the cold for only a few minutes.
  • Remember, Three out of Five Ain’t Bad. I cannot claim this last rule since I learned it from a colleague.   Every meal at a restaurant usually includes five options:  bread, appetizer, entrée, dessert, and alcohol.  The simple rule is to keep it to three!  Either Bread, Drink, and an Entrée or some other combination.  Remember, scrap two and keep 3!  While I can’t claim this idea, I can confirm it works and claim the below song parody to emphasize it.  Make like Meatloaf and remember.
I want you,
But I don’t need you,
And there ain’t no way I am ever going to eat you,
Now, don’t be sad,
Because 3 out of 5 ain’t bad!

Because 3 out of 5 ain’t bad! In closing, you can lose weight while traveling.  These are ten, but you may have others.  If so, please feel free to comment. To listen to this and other content on our Change Well podcast, click this link.