You Don't Have To Spend Money To Lose Weight

Some people actually go the expensive route when they decide to lose weight. Some people think the expensive way is the only way to lose weight. There are so many people who want to lose weight and can’t do it on their own that a mega-million dollar industry has sprung up to take advantage of this opportunity. Thank heaven for some of us who write about the real way to lose weight.

Gym memberships, diet pills, and weight loss counselors all cost money. When in fact, you don’t have to spend a dime. You can even save money while you lose unwanted pounds. We don’t always realize it, but as we go through our workday, we can spend a lot of time snacking. You can consume a lot of junk food and drinks and it all costs money.

Maybe you start your day at a coffee shop and you don’t just buy coffee. You get to work and there are pastries in the break room, so why not. I use to do it. I’d look for something to snack on every time I took a break. The average person adds 2 or 3 pounds a year, even if they're careful and don’t overeat. Between the ages of 30 and 40, I personally gained 40 pounds. I had changed jobs. I had a construction job, was outside all day, and was very active and left that for an office job, sitting all day and eating and drinking too much. I didn’t overeat on purpose, I would go along with the others and was snacking throughout the day.

I never ate breakfast at home except maybe on the weekends. I started out at the coffee shop with a roll and coffee, usually one of those designer coffees, I don’t even know how much sugar I was consuming. Mid-morning we’d take a break after being on the phone for 2 or 3 hours and staring at the computer screen, we’d go for coffee and another sweet roll or maybe cookies. Great, more sugar, but for some reason when you are with your friends you pick up the same habits, start to eat the same way they do, and in those days I didn’t think I was fat. Everyone was the same, except for a few guys that had a real weight problem. At Lunch, I usually had a burger and fries and maybe a beer. I was on the phone all day, and we didn’t meet with customers. No break in the afternoon but drinks after work. About an hour of beers or cocktails after work. Now that I think back, I was probably consuming 3000 calories before I came home for dinner. Usually, dinner starts with a cocktail or maybe a bottle of wine with dinner and then meat and potatoes type dinner with dessert, about 2000 more calories, and then maybe a nightcap before bed. I had that job for almost 12 years, I don’t know how I survived. I should have died of a coronary. After I changed jobs my routine changed a lot. I was over 40 and my doctor told me I weighed too much. “ You have to lose at least 20 pounds.”

I joined a HEALTH CLUB, it did help me get in shape but after several years of membership fees, I had barely lost any weight. I was going but because of the extra exercise, I was hungry all the time. I was eating less but I wasn’t eating healthy foods every day or every time I ate. My job kept me busy and often I would skip lunch and just snack or grab fast food at a drive-in window. Finally, my wife told me “ You can’t lose weight if you keep eating like this. You grab a Hot Dog for lunch thinking you’re saving on calories because you’re not eating a big meal, but there’s no nutrition in a hot dog and those diet snacks are all empty calories. You have to eat foods to fuel your body, your metabolism is falling asleep. When you don’t metabolize food the food turns into fat. You have to eat foods that your body can use to create energy for your heart and other organs and for your muscles to have strength. Your body is living off of today’s fast and you’ll never burn the old fat.”

She was right I started by changing my diet. Nothing crazy, I was eating better food. I stayed out of the restaurants for a few months and brought my own food from home. I stayed away from ice cream, I changed to skim milk and non-dairy creamer. I quit buying processed meats like lunch meat and look for better cheese. I’d get the cubes of cheese, I read that if you’re trying to lose weight you should eat one ounce of swiss cheese before every meal. Swiss cheese will help you metabolize your food. I bought the package of cubes and they were a perfect weight, one ounce, and it did work. It’s also really filling. Another little trick that helped me was drinking water with my meal. Even now that I lost 50 pounds, if I go out and eat and we order a beer before a meal, I still get a glass of water to drink while I’m eating. I quit the gym membership after a few years, and I work out at home. I started running after I lost the first 20 pounds. I had a lot more energy and running is one of the best exercises I know for your body and to lose weight. I started out by walking and then built up to a walk and run routine which I still do. Now that I’m in better shape I can run faster and longer with fewer breaks for walking.

There are many ways to spend money on weight loss memberships, low-cal foods, and exercise programs, and don’t forget the gym equipment you can buy for your personal use, but only you can decide that you’re going to lose weight. And after you make that decision nothing will stop you. My biggest investment was a pair of walking shoes that I traded for running shoeing later on.

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If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.