weight watchers

5 Melodies to Melt the Pounds

Don Grier1 Comment

Counting calories, exercising, and mindfulness are all common tools for weight loss.  But one critical tool that people sometimes fail to consider is music.  The right song at the right time can drive through that last mile.  It can take your mind away from the stress and away from late night refrigerator raids.  Lastly, a timely tune can inspire you through the hardship, the self-loathing and to a new you.

  • Person playing Guitar
    Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

I can testify to the power of music in curbing the calories and the negative thoughts.  I could name 100’s of songs that kept me going in my 170 lbs. weight loss journey.  More importantly, music has been instrumental in keeping the weight off. 

Each person is different.  My songs may not be your songs but here are my Top 5. 

  1. Theme from Rocky – This one is my favorite song for two scenarios.  First, it is hard to stop going no matter how tired you are when you here the first note of the Rocky theme.  Many times, I was on my last leg only to go another mile after hearing Rocky.  Second, I have a food strategy based on the Rocky theme.  The equivalent of an Apollo Creed, first round punch is my weekend eating habits.   In my case, I tend to eat too many Smart Points (unhealthy calories for you not in WW) on Saturday after a long week and my Saturday weigh-in.  I usually end up with very few weekly Smart Points by Sunday.  That is when the first chime of the Rocky song comes into my head.  The rest of the week I eat healthy, exercise and gain back some of the weekly Smart Points.  The whole time that I am doing the Rocky strategy the tune is running in the back of my mind.  If you want to use this strategy, here is a link to the Rocky Theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=liPSTWdYiKs
  2. Don’t Stop Believing, Journey – There were many reasons for me to give up when I first started losing weight.  Tipping the scale at over 350 lbs. with sleep apnea and a heart condition to boot, it was hard to believe I would ever turn it around.  Roadblocks and obstacles stood around every corner.  But,  that is when I would crank up Journey and run through the stirring chorus “Don’t stop believin’, Hold on to that feelin” .  The feeling and dream that I held on to was I could again be healthy.   NEVER stop believing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjzHMhBtf0
  3. One Thing Remains, Jesus Culture – This may be the least traditional weight loss song, but to me this is the most important.  Self-hatred and fear were two things I had to overcome both in getting healthy and life in general.  When you don’t know were to turn, you should seek love.  To me,  Jesus is love.  And as the song goes “His love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me”.  This has become my favorite song when facing the negative thoughts and fears running through my mind.  I am forever grateful for our Life Teen Minister for introducing it to me.  Another benefit of this song is I sing it so loud when it comes on that I am sure to drop a pound or two.  For you have not had an opportunity to hear it, here is a link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ
  4. Shake it Off, Taylor Swift  – My cycling instructor Corey often mashes up songs with those of Taylor Swift to inspire us.  He says that Taylor Swift goes with everything and he is right, especially when it comes to weight loss.  Besides the song being so danceable that you must move, its lyrics are compelling.  To paraphrase, if you have a bad day, instead of eating a bag of M&M’s just shake if off!  I included a link just in case you were heading to the refrigerator now to drown your day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM
  5. YMCA, Village People –  This is a no brainer.  First, it talks about going to the gym!  So,  if you are thinking about staying on the couch, just turn this oldie up.  Second, it is even more danceable than Shake It Off and it comes with its own choreographed dance moves!   Last some of the lyrics resonate including the initial ones “Young man, there’s no need to feel down. I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground. I said, young man, ’cause you’re in a new town. There’s no need to be unhappy.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeADaAg0f_w

Get happy and lift yourself off the ground!  Find your own songs or use these to melt the pounds and become healthy!

Change Your Environment, Change Your Life!

Don Grier

The key to improving your health and losing weight is your environment.  We in the 21st century live in a toxic environment.  Artificial food, false friends, and feelings of discontent lead to stress, weight gain and self-medication.  To embark on a journey toward health, we need to put away the fast food, vitriol and anxiety of everyday living to embrace real food, real experiences, mindfulness and thankfulness.

Man in field of bluebonnets
55 Bday Picture

I know I lived in that environment up until a few years back and experienced its negative consequences.   With ready access to Quarter Pounders, Diet Cokes, and M&Ms, I doubled my size and diminished my disposition.  These unhealthy eating practices were exacerbated by too much face time at work and Facebook for leisure.   The result was an unhealthy, grumpy middle-aged man who could not walk around the block.  Something had to change!  Only when I started to change my environment did I change my life!

There were three aspects to my environment that I decided to change in January 2015.  Weighing more than all but three of the heaviest players in the NFL with a goods deal less muscle tone and height, I had to take the following actions to change my environment and restore my hearth:

  1. Changed my food environment.  The first aspect that I set out to change was my pantry.  There were several nemeses that I had to swap out.  The first was Ice Cream.  I was an absolute ice cream fanatic.  So much so that I created an acronym for my Ice Cream addiction – ICR.  This is how it is used.  Once my kids could drive, I would call out – “Hey, Kyle can you go on an ICR.  Get me a large M&M blizzard and get something for everyone else.”   ICR if you have not figured out yet is Ice Cream Run and it supplemented the ice cream I already had in the freezer.  In addition to Ice Cream, I kept a pantry well stocked of chips, peanut M&Ms, and a big 1-gallon plastic container of mixed nuts.  All available for ready access whenever I became stressed.  This had to change so I sought out alternatives. 

I initially replaced my DQ Blizzard with Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches and eventually Non-Fat Greek yogurt with Banana’s (I still stay away from Ice Cream totally since it is a trigger food). I replaced peanut M&M’s overtime with WW Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie flavored bars that are individually wrapped, the same calories of a two peanut M&M’s and less likely to gouge on by the cupful! I replaced chips with a crunchy, healthy alternative that absorbs Salsa just as well – Broccoli. I dealt with my Mixed Nut affliction in a similar way that I did Peanut M&Ms. I swapped out the tub full of Mixed Nuts from Costco with individual packets of smaller size that are less likely to gouge on in fits of stress eating. These and other food changes got me one third of the way to a better environment.

2. Changed my social and work environment. The next thing I needed to do was change up how I spent my time. During the day and into the early evening I was spending time locked to a desk in conference calls or directing my team. At night, I read the latest political debates late into the night on Facebook. Both resulted in too much work time and not enough downtime. Additionally, the constant diatribe of uncivility on social media was stressing me out. I could feel the cortisol racing through my veins as I dealt with the next work issue or latest political debate.

I decided to take two measures to change my social and work environment.  First, I vowed to get up and move for 10 minutes each hour and to block out 1 hour for working out in the morning.   Additionally, I vowed to leave no later than 7 PM unless the world was ending.  At first, I thought these actions would detract from my work effort, but I was wrong.  Instead, it fostered communication between my team and I and provided me with the respite to come up with better actions.

The second thing I did was make a determined effort to spend less time on social media and to spend that time on positive feeds. I accomplished this in two ways. I monitored and reduced my time reading social media. When I could not reduce it as much as I hoped, I decided to change my feeds and to listen to mindful podcasts. I actively sought out positive Facebook groups such as Spreading Positivity and liked their content. Over time, my Facebook feeds have changed because of this determined effort from politics to positive messages. Many of these serve as inspirations to my blogs! I have switched my environment from Trump to Tranquility!

3. Changed my internal environment. The most important environment to change to get healthy is the internal dialogue running through your head. The change in the social and work environment helped a lot in this endeavor, but I was still having negative thoughts. To counter them, I took up meditation and mindfulness. I have used the Headspace application as well as the Christian Meditation blog to get mind off the problems running in my head to the progress I am making in my heart!

Changing your environment is the first step to changing to the new you!  I did it and so can you!

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

Don’t Stop Believing: A Weight Loss Journey in Three Intervals

Don Grier3 Comments

Over the last few months, I have been training to be a Spin Instructor.   The thought that I could be a spin instructor a few years back was unimaginable.  Cresting at 358 lbs., I could not ride a bike for more than a few minutes without one of two things happening.  Either I would throw out my back, or so much pressure would be applied to a certain area that it would become numb, worse yet.

Guy on Cycle
I am on the Edge of Glory

I only started to do spin after I had dropped some weight.  Then, I fell in love with spinning.  Part of it was the music, part of it was the exhilaration, but most of it was my instructor, Corey Ellis.  You can read more about this hero of health in this blog. Heroes of Health Series, Episode 2 – Corey the Cycling King

I knew I had to go that extra step after finishing 4 hours of spinning during Lifetime Fitness St. Jude’s Fund Raiser – Ride for a Reason.  I decided to get certified as a Spin Instructor.  The added benefit is I get to be trained to Corey.  See the picture of me, Corey, Kaisa, and another cyclist after the Race for the Cure.

lifetime

On October 20th, I will get the chance to teach part of a Spin Class for the first time and I am totally stoked.   I have come up with my Simple Set (a series of spinning intervals timed to a music) that speaks to both my weight loss journey and obstacles that we all need to overcome in life.

I have come up for a title and a subtitle for my Simple Set.  The main title is For Excellence We Strive.  The secondary title is called “Don’t Stop Believing, Even When You Are Living on A Prayer, Because You Could Be on The Edge of Glory” (a careful read will tell you the name of my songs!).  Here is the meaning of the two titles.

The main title is “For Excellence We Strive” for two reasons.  First, it is the motto for my class at West Point, the class of 85 (more later).  The second reason is during the training, the cyclist will have three opportunities to strive for excellence only to be beat it in the next interval.  Why?  Because the excellence of today is the mediocrity of tomorrow.  You must always strive for excellence, and when you achieve your goal, it is not time to revel and become complacent.  No, it’s time to strap on your cycling shoes, clip in, and race to beat your previous best!

I will not repeat the second title but instead tell you why I picked the three songs:

  • Don’t Stop Believing – Journey. This first song represents the start of my weight loss journey and simulates climbing up a hill that slowly ascends.  As you make the first few steps on the path to health, it is important not to stop believing you can do it.  Even though the climb is getting harder after the first few moments of success, you need to keep pushing.
  • Living on a Prayer – Bon Jovi. This second song is prefect for the mid part of any weight loss journey.  Three times in this song, you climb up as you pray that you overcome the next obstacle that is in your way.  And three times, you reach the exhilaration as you find success; only to meet the next hill.  I also picked this song because it has the lyric “Oh your half way there, oh Living on a Prayer”.   I remember my half way there moment on my weight loss journey.  It was at my 30th West Point Reunion when I had lost one half of my weight goal (see picture below)

Picture of Classmates
Half Way There – West Point Reunion

Also, many times as I got stuck, I was Living on A Prayer.  Praying that I would not give up.  Praying that I could do it.  Praying for a New Life!

  • On the Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga. I will not lie.  I picked this last song as a tribute to Lady Gaga after seeing her performance on a “Star is Born”.  But, then I realized how well it fit.  Ask any Lifetime member of Wellness that Works (the organization formerly known as Weight Watchers) and they will tell you the last few pounds to your goal are the hardest.  But it is essential not to stop when you are on the Edge of Glory.  The song is perfect for this last set because during the verses you climb large hills but then at the end you feel the exhilaration of the chorus as you spin out at 110 RPMs!

So, there you have it.  I am on the Edge of Glory and hopefully I will achieve it on October 20th.  If interested, message or text me when we solidify the exact time.  It will be at Lifetime Fitness Austin (still trying to figure if it is North or South).