Tag Archives: losing weight

Losing Weight the Frugal Way

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To lose weight the frugal way is to simple eat less and consume food that are cheaper but still hold nutritional value.

I’m tired of yo-yo diets, and intense workouts that I eventually get tired of and quit.  I knew this at the beginning of the year, but I haven’t found an acceptable substitute until now.

So what is my new magic bullet for losing weight?  Adopting a more frugal lifestyle.  I’m going to set a money limit for how much I can spend a day for food, and stick to that number!

For a month, I’m going to use 2 dollars for breakfast, 3 dollars for lunch, and 5 dollars for dinner, so I’m not going to spend more than $10 a day.  The idea is to come in below $10, not to meet that number everyday!  In fact, I’m really hoping that I can get away with only $6.00 a day.

I plan in creating a journal (as I have in the past), but this time instead of just recording what I ate, I’m going to record the cost of what I ate and do a tally at the end of the day (or the next day) to determine if I met my less than $10 goal or not.

You might be wondering why just a month?

There have been studies that concluded that if you do a task/job or whatever for 21 days in a row, it become habit-forming.  So after those 21 days, the task become part of your routine.

What will I do with the money saved from this new weight loss approach?

I’m going to channel the extra  money into my “Dividend Stocks, Free Lunch Experiment #10“.  The experiment has been repurposed to really provide a meal that I will cook for my family once a week on Thursdays.  Previously, I was saving $40 a week to fund the experiment, but now I think I’ll jump the number up to $50 or $60 a week (depending on how well I do with my calculations above).

What is different this time?

Previously, I had no really big motivator do lose weight, but now that I have a more concrete purpose to back the goal up, it become more rewarding!  It’s also nice to start losing weight at the beginning of the month instead of on an off day.  While not a huge reason, it does make the journal seem more legit.  Another nice aspect is this process is now a win-win.  I win because I will be losing weight and I win again because I will be saving money.

Bests,

MR

Getting Paid To Lose Weight

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Working Out

Many companies are starting to encourage their employees to improve their health.  First they restricted smoking in the office and now many are focusing on the overweight crowd.  Where I work, I’m excited to say that I’m going to get paid to lose weight!  Bonus!

While it’s only a few hundred dollars, it’s perfect for me because I wanted to lose weight anyway.  The thought process by employers is that a healthy employee is a more productive employee!  They are more productive because they are sick less and think better when they are in shape!  I know that this is true in my particular case!

So since I’m now getting paid to lose weight, I decided to create a diet and exercise journal that I will post every Friday.  After a shopping run for the needed foods for my diet and a quick design of the journal spreadsheet, next Friday, I’ll post my results.

Okay, One Problem!

When people go on a diet or start to workout, they usually spend more than if they weren’t on a diet.  For example, both Weight Watchers and a gym memberships add to the cost of getting healthy.  My goal during this process is not only to lose weight, but also to spend less money than I would if I weren’t trying to lose weight!

An alternative goal of mine is to make money off of this diet/exercise process by spending less on food.  This is another way that I will indirectly get paid to lose weight.  I expect that I’ll save more money by spending less on food than what my company will pay me if I meet my weight loss goal.

My Process

Basically it’s a simple routine!  I’m going to eat food like eggs, brocolli, beans, oatmeal and other cheap but healthy foods.  As for working out, I’m going to start out with just situps, pushups, and a leg exercise.

My Current Weight

As of today, I’m 5′ 10″ and I weight 247 lbs.

I think it should be pretty interesting seeing my progress on the amount I save in food expenses vs my regular spending.

-MR

2010 Resolution #1, Losing Weight While Saving Money

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This is my most important Resolution for 2010.  If I fail at all other 2010 Resolutions, I must not fail at this one! 

Here are the Reasons why:

  • My weight is a health risk.  While I’m not huge, my weight has raised my blood pressure, and needs to be lowered.  High blood pressure puts too much strain on the heart. 
  • My kids need me.  Being out of shape makes it hard for me to keep up with my kids.  I want to able to play soccer, basketball, and just plain old play outside with them. 
  • It’s expensive, both in the short and long terms.  By short term, I mean that I don’t need to spend money on extra food when I’m so heavy already.  By long term, I mean if I don’t get into shape, I’m in danger of having a heart attack, diabetes, or other weight related diseases.  Neither is necessary, and need to be fixed now! 
  • I want to enjoy life more fully.  Let’s be honest, when you are in shape, you can do much more than if you aren’t (and often times, it’s cheaper to boot).  I need my health to do fun activities like skiing, tennis, golf, basketball, wave running, boating, hiking, jogging, biking, etc… the list just goes on and on… 
  • Increased energy level.  When I was in shape, I had a lot more energy than I currently do.  This is life energy!  Use it or lose it as they say… 
  • Being thinner (unless to a fault), make you more attractive.  It’s that first impression thing…  If you’re more attractive, people will like you more just by default.  Being healthy puts you in that group.  In fact, I’m often amazed at how a heavier girl can sometimes lose weight and be a total knockout!  I feel bad for young girls (and boys) that are really physically beautiful, but never fully realize it because of the diet that their family practices.
  • Life Insurance is cheaper if you are in shape.  If you are in shape and don’t smoke, you can get life insurance at a very cheap rate (barring any other serious problems…)
  • Reducing the change of back problems.  Yes, I have back problems and my extra weight isn’t helping matters.  While being think won’t prevent you from having back problems.  Being heavier definitely will add stress to your back, thus increasing the likelihood that you will have problems.
  • Weight loss can lessen asthma symptoms and make healthier lungs.  This one I heard from a friend.  I have allergies, so hopefully this will help me too.

 How I’m going to save money:

  • I’m still doing my Lunch Experiment, so I’m not going to spend money for a special diet program.  It would be easier that way, but I want to keep doing my experiment.
  • This year I’m not going to join a gym (besides I have free weights in the basement just laying there waiting for me).  I going to workout 3 days per week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday), for less that 30 minutes per day.
  • Since I’m dieting, I’ll eat less food, that should help me keep costs down.
  • Ideally, I’ll get sick less often, which means less doctor visits.

Now that I’ve mentioned the reasons why, below are my personal details and the spreadsheet that I’m going to use to track my weight loss:

 Personal Details:  I’m 5′ 10″ and I weight 235 (I’m not a round 235 though since I use to lift weights), by normal standards I’m considered obese.  So my goal for the year is to loss at least 40 lbs. (any more than that would be icing on the cake!) 😉

Click here to enlarge this Obesity Chart

Click here to enlarge this Obesity Chart

 

 

This is the amount of weight (in lbs.) that I want to loose in each of the months below:

       
  Jan 9  
  Feb 5  
  Mar 4  
  Apr 4  
  May 3  
  Jun 3  
  Jul 2  
  Aug 2  
  Sep 2  
  Oct 2  
  Nov 2  
  Dec 2  
       

 

Here is my Weight-Loss spreadsheet to track my progress:   The weekly table below is the one I’m going to use record my progress every Saturday, with my results posted on the following Sunday mornings.

             
  Date
Weight/lbs.
Loss/Gain  
             
  01/02/10   135   0  
 
 
 
 
  01/09/10  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  01/16/10  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  01/23/10  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  01/30/10  
 
 
             
  Total Loss for the Month : 0  
             

 

Now that I have the tools and monthly target goals in place, I’m ready to roll with this Resolution! 🙂

-D