Surprisingly easy way to lose 12 pounds by next year....

Today's Post: Friday, 10-29-2010

There are a number of ways to lose fat that even though some people will find them harder than others are actually quite easy in and of themselves.

Switching to these ways initially can be a bit harder for some people. But once that’s done, continuing them is almost ridiculously easy.

Not drinking soft drinks is one of these things since both regular and diet soft drinks two main effects are making the people who drink them fat & sending money to the soft drink companies.

But people who drink 2 or 3 or 4 soft drinks a day and have for many years who drink other things instead and simply stop drinking soft drinks entirely can lose even more fat and weight in a year than 12 pounds. In fact, one source suggests that they will lose from 30 to 60 pounds from doing this.

But what if there was an additional way that was just a touch more challenging to do initially, that would help you lose 2 pounds in the next 12 months.

I’ve actually already recommended this method as a way to find time to exercise that will work for many people.

And, I knew that many studies have found that people who use this method are less fat than people who don’t.

But what is new today, is some information on how fast it apparently works.

Most people today average watching TV from 2.5 to over 5 hours a day.

There are a number of ways to cut back TV watching to 2 hours a day or 14 hours a week.

Here’s the news, if you cut back from average levels of TV watching to 14 hours a week or less, I just found out that there is a study showing you will virtually automatically burn an extra 120 calories a day – every week for a total of 840 calories a week AND 3600 calories a month.

But there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. That means that once you do this TV cut back and sustain it, a year from now you have a good chance of being 12 pounds less fat!

But it gets better. The soft drinks and packaged snacks and the like that tend to make and keep you fat are most heavily advertised on TV. That means that it will be MUCH easier for you to stop eating and drinking these things.

So you may well lose more than the 12 pounds!

Besides missing all those adds for fattening junk foods and soft drinks, there are two reasons you will burn more calories.

1. Watching TV burns less calories than sleeping! Virtually no matter what you do in the time you no longer watch TV will burn more calories. And, if you go from 28 hours a week of TV watching a week to something like 12, you mulitply that additional calories per hour times 16 hours a week!

2. Doing moderate physical activities like walking, gardening, light housework, playing ping pong at a less than expert level, slow dancing, or tai chi all burn calories, help you stay healthy, and be less fat.

And, vigorous exercise such as interval cardio and strength training, burns more calories per hour, burns calories up to several hours a day after you do them, AND adds more muscle to you so the food you eat powers your exercising and your added muscle instead of your fat.

If you do some of each every week, moderate physical activities, interval cardio, and strength training, it will help you lose fat without as much food restriction which makes that part easier to do and keep doing, it ensures the weight you lose is virtually all fat. You will also lose more inches and look better sooner!

And with 16 hours a week you no longer are sitting in front of your TV, doing half an hour to an hour a day of such exercises can become MUCH more doable. You may even find time for an hour a day of exercise. With 16 hours freed up, you’ll even have 9 hours left over!

But the exciting part of the information I got today is that even people who don’t get that serious about doing more exercise will burn that many more calories when they cut back on their TV watching!

Just watching less TV is that effective!

I get an email several times a month from, YOU Docs Daily by Mehmet C. Oz, MD, and Michael F. Roizen, MD with health articles. Each issue has links to several articles, I’ve seen 3 per issue.

Here is the link to their article on cutting back on TV watching.:

http://www.realage.com/blogs/doctor-oz-roizen/the-easy-thing-skinny-people-do?eid=7230&memberid=32683095 .

They also include the idea of using some of the time you do watch TV to do moderate exercise by watching it from a stationary bicycle or treadmill.

And, they have some ideas on how to cut back on your TV watching.

Here are some more from me.

Many people spend a lot of time watching TV news and weather. I find I enjoy that myself. But unless they are interviewing someone I’ll otherwise not get to see or are discussing breaking news or something you’d like to see but otherwise would not, the times they run these items are often NOT convenient or you have to stay up late and lose sleep to see them.

And, they are SLOW! Between the time used on commercials and stories you have no interest in and the fact that you can read more about news you ARE interested in – in just 10 minutes – than they could cover in half an hour, they are really slow. Ninety per cent of the time or more you can get more stories of interest to you from reading the articles of interest from a newspaper or a well done news site such as the one Yahoo now has. And, you can read these articles at time of YOUR choosing and in far less time than watching them on TV. For weather, this is also true. And, the website for the Weather Channel is just one of the online sources that will give you instant access to your local weather conditions right now AND the forecast for weather likely to happen next. The Weather Channel even has the forecast for the next 10 days that is often quite accurate.

The other thing you can do is to rate all the TV shows that you have been watching from must see to usually like to see to OK but not great to kind of yucky but you are too lazy to turn off the TV. Then eliminate everything but the must see shows and either the bottom half of the usually like to see or just watch those half the time instead of every time.

You can also pre-record the shows you do plan to watch. That way you can set up to watch them when it’s convenient for you and time spent on hobbies you like, time with people you care about, exercise, and sleep can take priority in your schedule. In addition, you can zip through commercials that are not of interest or that you’ve already seen and see your show in 40 minutes instead of an hour.

It’s also been found that if you have a TV in your bedroom and put it elsewhere in your home or give it away or send it to the recyclers, you will watch less TV AND both your sleep and your sex life will improve!