Losing Weight the Couch Potato Way

By Janet Angel  |   Submitted On December 17, 2006

   

If you hate exercise, love sitting on the couch watching football games or soap operas and yelling the answers to game show questions, but know that you need to lose weight and get healthier you might want to try Losing Weight and getting fit The Couch Potato Way.

The Couch Potato no longer needs to feel embarrassed by the title. This program will cause thousands of people to claim their spot on the couch next to other family members. The one change will be that more family members will fit on the same couch!

Couch Potatoes generally have some things in common. They tend to have self-sabotaging habits that prevent them from reaching their weight loss and fitness goals.

Losing Weight and getting fit The Couch Potato Way game plan:

WEEK ONE:

1. Put on your most comfortable Couch Potato clothing. Be sure that you do not have anything tight around your waist or arms. Take your shoes off. No shoes on the coffee table. Get your Remote Control and get comfortable. Scared yet?
LEAVE THE TELEPHONE IN ANOTHER ROOM.

2. OOOPS, Get up because you forgot your snacks. So, don't call out for your spouse or your children or your roommate to get your snacks. GET UP and go to the kitchen now. You can dance into the kitchen...move your arms, sing a tune, be happy you are going to get a snack! So, choose your snack. The only thing you MUST include with whatever snack you choose is a variety of of raw veggies with NO FAT dressing. So, chop up some celery, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, whatever you would enjoy. Now, get some LOW FAT (no transfat) Tortilla Chips or other Baked Chips. make a bowl of tomato -based Taco Dip or salsa, or use store bought. Try the one that is MILD or HOT. These foods will help you BURN CALORIES. It has been proven that Cayenne Pepper (red pepper) contains thermogenic properties that will stimulate your metabolism.

3. Bring the snacks into your TV room. Carry one tray at a time. So that means you might have to walk back to the kitchen three times. You will do it, why? Because you are excited about what you are about to watch on TV, AND because NO ONE KNOWS you are on the Couch Potato Fitness Plan.

4. Next, get comfortable again. OOOPS...you forgot your beverage. GET UP and go to the kitchen (you can't call anyone to get things for you) pour yourself a nice tall glass of your favorite beverage. Also, pour a tall glass of ice water. Carry your favorite beverage in first. Walk back to the kitchen to get your water.

5. Now sit down on the couch and get yourself settled in for the show, whatever it is. Make yourself a deal now. EACH time there is a commercial break, or your team scores a point, you must stand up and do some "move." Like a victory dance!

You must get INVOLVED as though you were actually sitting at the game and everyone around you is jumping up when they are excited about a play. If you can't get up, then you must do special arm movements during the commercial. While sitting down you just pick up each foot and run while sitting. It's easy, just lift one foot and then the other and allow yourself to run in place, only you are sitting not standing! EASY!!

6. When you reach for your chips or your glass you MUST take a sip or a bite and then PUT THE food or GLASS DOWN. REACH out and pick it up AGAIN and take another sip/bite. Each time you reach for anything and eat or drink you MUST PUT IT BACK DOWN. EASY enough?!

7. OKAY, commercial time...do your dance and then walk to the bathroom to urinate! You'll have plenty of time to get back before the next part of the show. Commercials generally run at least 3 minutes a segment.

8. Do you get it yet? You are making extra trips, extra movements, drinking more water, more fluid, eating foods that help burn calories and having fun! So, GET UP again and go make a phone call from another room. Call someone who knows about your Couch Potato Fitness Plan. Stay on the phone no more than one to two minutes and say, "Gotta go, my program/game is starting. I'll call you back."

9. Get settled on the couch again, or the chair if you are on the computer. While you are watching your program start to move your legs, Just keep your feet on the floor and move your legs, sway them, tap your hands on your legs and MOVE to the movement of whatever you are watching. GET INVOLVED!! This will be like virtual football. "The quarter back goes back, back, cocks his arm to throw...sees the Tight End in the end zone and wham...lets one sail!" Stand up and watch as your throw either hits the hands of your receiver or it misses. PRETEND THAT QUARTER BACK IS YOU...OR PRETEND THAT YOU ARE A RUNNING BACK, THE COACH, WHOMEVER GETS YOU EXCITED ABOUT THE GAME.

10. Reach for a snack. CHEW 22 times. Reach again, repeat! Don't forget to drink WATER (iced water) in between snacks. Now REACH FOR a celery stick and take a bite. DELICIOUS!

11. Okay...let's move out beyond game time. You get the idea now. MOVE, CREATE EXTRA STEPS, REACH FOR HEALTHIER SNACKS THAT TASTE GOOD TO YOU, AND ONES THAT WILL HELP YOU BURN MORE CALORIES.

12. Your regular day should consist of MORE STEPS. So, take the stairs at the office. Park your car further away and walk the extra 30-40 yards. NO ONE will know that you are doing the COUCH POTATO WORK OUT. No one will have to know that you are getting healthier. NO GYMS, NO MACHINES, NONE OF THAT! You are going to surprise everyone as the pounds just start falling away. Why? Because no one knows you are working out, no one will tease you about your program. No one needs to know except for one or two support people in the family or a close friend.

13. In a store, walk EVERY AISLE, even though you may know where the product is that you want. Takes about fifteen minutes to walk up and down every aisle with a shopping cart, even longer depending upon the store. So ENJOY EVERY TRIP YOU TAKE...

14. Sing a song that you love in your mind, or wear HEADPHONES. (Listening to either a tape or the radio) That alone CHANGES YOUR MENTAL ATTITUDE. NO ONE IS TELLING YOU TO WORK OUT OR LOSE WEIGHT...YOU are in control and the weight will begin to fall off. Why? Because you are giving yourself permission to be healthier!

15. HOUSE CHORES...do the same thing. Make a mental note to go up the stairs or out to the garage MORE THAN ONE TIME for things that you will need. THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF convenience planning. YOU ARE PLANNING to get well, not create a life with everything at your fingertips. During the summer you can even mow the lawn while you listen to your favorite game on your headphones. You can wash dishes, do the laundry or any other household chore with your headphones on listening to great music or your favorite show.

16. SPEND TIME WITH YOUR SPOUSE/LOVED ONES doing something you all enjoyl COOKING!
Make it like a game. Everyone has to make one part of the meal. Do the DANCE of SUCCESS because you are all ready healthier than you were one week ago. And don't forget your WATER BOTTLE. Take water with you every where you go. It is time now to add one teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to your water bottle. Apple Cider Vinegar acts like a rotter-rooter for fat in the body. Drinking this mixture (you can add a little honey too if you'd like) can help you lose inches off of your waistline.

17. DON"T ask for help from colleagues/secretaries when you know you can walk to the copy room yourself and make the copies. Don't ask family members to run down to the basement to get you something, THIS IS YOUR time to silently GET FIT! So, show off FOR YOURSELF. I'll bet your pants are loose all ready, you have a little more energy. You probably don't think about food as often, but YOU DO THINK ABOUT ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS THAT YOU ENJOY! That's the fun of this program. ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY LIFE! You are reprogramming yourself.

18. Couch Potatoes THINK that they have to LIVE UP to their label, so they are often afraid to lose weight. Everyone that knows you might see you as the FAT person, the LAZY person. NO MORE OF THAT! YOU CAN BE A THIN COUCH POTATO ...don't you have friends who are fit and who still watch football, basketball, hockey, baseball, soccer, game shows, soap operas, etc.? Sure you do! You do know people who are thin, who eat a little "junk" food, who drink some soda, beer, or wine and still look great.

19. Next, GET YOURSELF A SMALL TAPE RECORDER (or a small pocket notebook). I want you to make your own Positive- SELF HELP TAPE (or pocket full of positives) booklet. Here's all you do: Record the following types of phrases into the tape recorder and when you are finished, you will listen to this tape privately with your headphones whenever you are going to participate in a passive activity, or one that you would be safe listening to music while doing. You are going to be a hypnotist for yourself. This is really a form of self-hypnosis and it WORKS! (I've used this technique with professional bowlers and other sports figures. They take themselves through the correct form for their sport and it helps retrain the expectation portion of your thought system. You will BEGIN TO EXPECT GREAT THINGS AND THEY WILL HAPPEN!)

"I LOVE MYSELF! I like everything about myself. I enjoy living my secret Couch Potato Fitness Plan. It makes me feel good. Every day in every way I am getting healthier. I am shrinking and my clothes are getting big on me. I LOVE the feeling of getting well. I LOVE that I AM DOING IT ALL BY MYSELF. I enjoy music, I enjoy participating in life. I am getting healthier than my wildest dreams! I am I am I am!! I take more steps today than I did yesterday, and I LOVE IT! I love motion as much as I love sitting down watching my favorite things on TV. My energy is contagious! I am getting better and better looking every day! I am writing a list of things I want to accomplish daily. I LOVE accomplishing the things on my list! It makes me feel good. No one needs to know what is on my list. Everyone around me is beginning to think I look great! Because I DO LOOK BETTER AND BETTER EVERY DAY! Everyone wants to know my secret. When I accomplish my weight and fitness goals I WILL SHARE MY COUCH POTATO FITNESS PROGRAM WITH THEM!! I give myself a mental hug because I DESERVE IT! WAY TO GO_________(say your name). I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!"

20. Now take the Couch Potato Plan and expand it into other areas of your life. KEEP YOUR DESIRES to YOURSELF. You can share your success AFTER YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS! Change the tape as you want to accomplish other things in your life.

These are the 20 steps to living a wonderful Couch Potato Fitness life! YOU CAN DO IT!! NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW....JUST YOU! So, fellow Couch Potatoes sit down and GET FIT!!

Wishing you all much success! You can write to me and visit me at http://www.totallywell.com

Sincerely,

Janet Angel, PhD is an expert in wellness and psychology with over 22 years in private counseling. She has helped thousands of people achieve their personal and professional goals using various self-improvement tools. She is an accomplished author, and guest on TV and Radio programs who speaks about the Power Within You to create the life that you really desire. To learn more about getting well physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, visit http://www.totallywell.com and sign up for her free Newsletter and upcoming seminars.

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