Creating Time Pockets

I believe we can do almost anything for 10 minutes. OK, so I can’t hold my breath for 10 minutes or stick my hand over a flame for 10 minutes – but you know what I mean.

In 10 minutes, I can do any one of the following:

• make my bed and pick up any loose items lying
  around my bedroom

• vacuum a room

• empty the dishwasher

• wipe the sink and swish the toilet

If I do one of these things in the morning, another as soon as I get home, the third while I’m making dinner and the last one just before going to bed, my house can be presentable all the time. It may not be perfect, but it won’t embarrass me if someone drops by unexpectedly.

So, why not apply the same 10-Minute-Rule to weight loss? Here’s what else can be done in 10 minutes or less. I can:

• do ab exercises (3 sets of 10 reps each)

• walk briskly to burn a few calories (or use the
  elliptical that’s in my bedroom)

• walk up and down a flight of stairs a few times

• buy fresh produce from the grocery store

• prepare a salad large enough to get me through 2
  or 3 meals

• prepare a pot of home-made soup that’s loaded
  with vegetables (then let it simmer while I’m doing other
  things)

• put the soup in single serving containers for
  the freezer

If you’re asking where these 10-minute pockets of time come from, just consider your current daily schedule to see where you can make minor modifications. For example, getting up 10 minutes earlier isn’t very hard to do (in less than 15 minutes, you can do both the ab exercises AND make the bed).

No matter how busy your workday is, you should be able to take a couple of 10 minute breaks. Numerous studies have shown that taking small breaks actually increases your alertness and mental clarity so you can get more accomplished in less time. If you pack your own lunch, you should be able to eat it and still have plenty of time to burn some calories (or pay some bills to free your evening).

Most television shows have commercial breaks that last 3-5 minutes. If you use this time to pick up around the house, you’ll be able to fit in some exercise before or after your favorite show. If the show is a re-run, just turn it off and commit to getting things done instead. You can even walk in place while watching!

Putting a small television in the kitchen will allow you to watch your favorite show while cooking healthy meals (hint – prepare tomorrow’s dinner today, then just re-heat and do the last-minute prep just before you eat).

Catch up with friends and family members from your cell phone while you’re outside walking instead of sitting on the sofa. As a bonus, the conversation will be more up-beat because of the endorphins that are released while exercising.

Get creative – where else can you create small pockets of time in YOUR day?

Remember…You can do ANYTHING for 10 minutes!

____________________________________________

The Tens Diet is all about tens: 

• 10 daily TO DO items
• 10 minute pockets of time
• 10 repetitions (reps) of exercises
• 10 pounds of weight loss per month

My flight with LL Cool J

Talk about crazy stuff…on Monday, I was on a flight from LAX to St. Louis with LL Cool J. He was headed to the All-Star game, I was going home after a relaxing week enjoying the southern California beaches. I had an opportunity to sit behind him in first class, but we didn’t talk much until our plane had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City.

There were two reasons for this: (1) because the passengers in the back of the plane had fumes causing their eyes to tear – the crew suspected a potential fire on board. At the very least, they were afraid the fumes were noxious; and (2) one of the passengers, who was inbound from Viet Nam, fell very ill and they suspected that we might have been exposed to the swine flu.

We first learned of the sick passenger about an hour into the flight when one of the flight attendants asked if there was a doctor on board who would be willing to take a look at him. I smiled to myself as I was reminded of a scene from Airplane. I wondered where Julie Hagerty was hiding. Little did I know what would later unfold.

We were later told that the CDC had been prepared to meet us in St. Louis. That changed when, a little over 2 hours after they announced they needed a doctor, we had to divert to KC because of the fumes. It was truly surreal – fire trucks greeted us on the runway, prepared for a fiery touchdown. Once everyone was certain that wasn’t going to happen, we proceeded to disembark into the terminal while we waited for the CDC to send a crew to check out the the plane (in full HazMat suits no less).

Back to LL Cool J. Given the circumstances, no one would have blamed him if he didn’t want to pose for photos or to be bothered by the other passengers. After all, we were waiting to learn if they were going to put us back on the same plane for the remainder of the flight. We were worried about an onboard fire and possible exposure to the swine flu. Undoubtedly, he was as worried as the rest of us. Instead, he carried on casual conversations with us, posed for photos and provided warm hugs and smiles. He was a real trooper and an absolute gentleman during the ordeal.

I posted a comment about it on ESPN, and it’s suddenly appearing all over the internet on news reports (they’re not giving me credit for it, though – which would have been nice as it would provide links to my web site ). They just refer to me as “a passenger.” Oh well…I guess that’s as close as I’m going to get for my “15 minutes of fame.” LOL!

LL, his agent, bodyguard and a lovely woman who was accompanying him decided not to get back on the plane. I don’t know whether she was his wife or an assistant – but she was very friendly and gracious as well. She was also somehow able to find a couple of SUVs and drivers to take them across the state from Kansas City to St. Louis at 11:00 p.m. on a Monday night (not an easy thing to do in the midwest).

Many other passengers opted not to get back on the plane (they didn’t find anything wrong, so they put us back on the same one). Those of us who did were a bit nervous and VERY glad to touch down in St. Louis about 2-1/2 hours later than originally scheduled.

Time for exercise?

Probably the most common excuse for not getting enough exercise is “I don’t have time.” Trust me, you’ll be reading a LOT more about this as time goes on.

But, today, I just want to discuss one of the biggest time wasters in our modern lifestyle – trying to restore all the data lost on a crashed computer.

A couple of weeks ago I signed up for an account with Mozy – an online storage vault. The first upload of every single file on my computer took several days (I just set it up before I went out of town for a few days and it was finished when I returned). It would have run silently in the background while I continued working, but doing it while I was gone seemed the easiest.

Now, every single day the program takes a minute (or less) to backup any new files I’ve added or changed, so my data is always backed up. I love it! And the cost? About $5 per month (such a deal!)

Today, I saw that they’re offering really adorable t-shirts for moms and kids for free if you open an account. I can’t tell if I want the “Mom 2.0″ for my daughter or one for my granddaughter that reads “Working on Mommy’s Next Blog Entry.* Be sure to check them out.

One last rave about Mozy…there’s a story on their web site about a guy whose laptop was stolen. The thiefs didn’t realize that all the files they added were being uploaded every day.  All the guy had to do was log in to his Mozy account and he was able to get their photos and files – which allowed him to contact the police with their info. His laptop was retrieved! I love that story! I used to work with the law enforcement community in my “former life” (before I became a weight loss coach) and I can tell you that they’re always grateful for things that make their lives easier.

If you’re not backing up your PC on a regular basis, you could find yourself spending tons of time trying to recapture all your files if something dire happens – even something as simple as a power surge or a bad hard drive.  And THAT’S time you could spend taking better care of yourself instead!

The Scale Experiment

Some people have asked me why I advocate weighing yourself every morning, naked, before you have anything to drink or eat as part of the Tens Diet program. Let me explain the reasons for this by telling you about an experiment I’ve been conducting on myself over the past several weeks.

I first began the practice of weighing myself every day when I first started losing weight consistently. Many diet programs insist that you set just one day a week for “the great weigh-in,” but I didn’t want to wait! I could see the results in the mirror, so I was curious to know for sure whether it was just my imagination or if I really WAS dropping weight on an almost daily basis.

What I found by doing daily weigh-ins surprised me, though.

First of all, I discovered that it IS possible to measure even very small weight changes. I bought a digital scale from a local drug store (it cost less than $20). This scale measures weight in tenths of a pound – such as 128.2, rather than my old hatch-mark type scale that was not only difficult to read, it was adjustable, so I never knew if it was accurate or not. Using a safe, weekly loss of 2 pounds as a goal, we should lose an average of 0.2 to 0.3 pounds per day.

I kept a small notepad in the bathroom so I could record each morning’s reading. When you’re really trying to lose weight, it’s encouraging to see written proof that all your efforts are paying off. Today, I no longer record my daily weight (since I’ve leveled off and am just at the maintenance stage), but it was really helpful while I was actively losing weight.

But, here’s where it got interesting…

Some days I actually weigh more than the day before, even when I follow my eating and exercise plan to the letter. After encountering this several times, I started weighing myself several times throughout the day just to see what was going on. I learned that being constipated (even a little) can make a big difference. Yes, as gross as it may sound, having a bowel movement is measurable!

I learned that not drinking enough water or eating foods with high sodium content (salt) results in retained water. Water weight definitely shows up on the scale. Needless to say, this applies to pre-menstrual bloating as well.

I learned that consuming even one 8-ounce glass of water DOES show up on the scale.

I learned that I “lose” as much as 2-3 pounds every single night – then “gain” it back during the day. I determined this by weighing myself just before going to bed, then weighing myself again first thing the next morning.

So, what can you learn from this little “experiment”? Here’s the list:

1. weight loss products that claim they help you lose weight overnight are probably just relying on the fact that we ALL weigh less in the morning than at night; 

by adding diuretics to help us lose water, many people are convinced that their weight loss pills helped them lose actual weight, when they really lost nothing
more than retained water (or, in some instances, they become
dehydrated – which can be dangerous); 

2. don’t let weight loss products that result in more frequent bowel movements or more complete voiding (by adding laxatives) trick you into believing you are losing fat;
3.  diet programs which record weight changes weekly don’t provide an accurate depiction of the progress being made (by not taking into account all of the things I learned), resulting in feeling disheartened if the scale doesn’t reflect a change from one week to the next);
4. by weighing myself on a daily basis, I learned not to obsess too much over the number on any given day. You can benefit most by knowing that there will be ups and downs reflected on the scale, and that making steady incremental progress for the long haul is all that really matters.

So, get the scale out of the closet where you can step on it
every morning and find out what your REAL numbers are!