Lose 10 Pounds in a Month!!! (yeah, right)

Lots of people have a New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get healthy. I prefer to set actual goals, with a plan of action. Step by step, I can follow my plan, and achieve the goals I set for myself. Here are some tips to start a weight loss journey.

1.       Increase water intake and cut out salt. This one is going to be tough for me, because I love me some salt. There are varying opinions on how much water a person should be drinking per day, but if it’s more than you typically drink, it’s a good way to start. Salt intake leads to bloating, which is counterproductive to weight/size loss.

2.       Start exercising. If you are a couch potato, start small. Take a brisk walk that will elevate your heart rate for at least 10 minutes per day. You will want to work yourself up to one hour of exercise per day, and include strength training.

3.       Record what you eat. Much like tracking your daily spending to see where your money leaks are, recording what you eat will give you an accurate picture of your eating habits, good and bad.

4.       Cut out fried foods and fat. Replace them with fruits and vegetables. Think about snacking on baby carrots instead of chips. Put two vegetables on your lunch time sandwich. Add fruit to your morning oatmeal or cereal.

5.       Limit caffeine, chocolate and sugars. This will be tough, but if you want to lose weight, you just have to do it.

6.       Record your exercise. Try to incorporate more physical activity into your day whenever possible, like using stairs, getting off the bus a couple of stops early and walking, Take every opportunity you can to burn off those calories.

7.       Write down your goals and your weight on specific days. Put it somewhere highly visible for you so that you can see if often. It will help to keep you motivated.

8.       Don’t give up, and don’t take a day off, if you want to lose weight. Don’t overdo it, but challenge yourself daily. You will be amazed at what you can do if you put your mind to it.

9.       Make sure you are getting enough rest. A full eight hours of sleep will do more for you than only getting 6 hours of sleep per night.

These are the guidelines that I will be following for the next month. My goal is to lose 10 pounds in  30 days. Seeing as I am going from no exercise at all to doing anything, I think that this should be relatively easy, but we shall see.

I know that there are some folks who are joining in some ‘Weight Loss Challenge’ hosted by a blogger.  I am  taking part in this challenge, and am actually challenging myself, so I’ll be doing this right along with you (Jane).

What other tips do you have for trying to lose some weight?

10 Pound challenge

 I joined the 10-pound Challenge hosted by Newlyweds on a Budget. Lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks, win $$$. Are you in?

The Rules:

1. Lose 10 Pounds in 12 Weeks. That’s less than a pound a week.

2. Participants can sign up at any point in the contest, but the sooner you sign up, the faster you can get started losing weight! Please sign up here.

3. Contest officially begins Jan. 16 and goes through April 9. *if you sign up today, that means you get one whole extra week to work on losing weight!*

4. Participants must declare their participation in the challenge by either posting the snippet above on their blog and/or posting the button on their blog. You can choose one or the other, or both!

5. If you lose 10 pounds or more, you’ll be entered into a drawing at the end of the contest, along with everyone who lost 10 pounds.

Little Ways To Pad Your Emergency Fund

An Emergency Fund is an essential part of a solid financial foundation. It is a cash cushion that you have accumulated over time. It should be easy to access, and to be used only for an emergency.

Some so-called experts will say that you should have 6 months worth of salary in your Emergency fund. Others say that having only $500 to $1000 set aside is a good start. You have to decide what amount is right for you and your family. I am rebuilding my Emergency Fund after having to use it this past fall. I’m starting small, with a goal of $500 by the end of February.

Here are some Microsavings tactics to help pad your Emergency Fund:

·       Automated transfer $25 from your paycheque. You have to start somewhere.

·       At the beginning or end of the week, transfer the last three digits of your bank balance over to your E-fund. (If your balance is $542.68, transfer the $2.68.)

·       Save your pocket change. 50 cents a day can add up over a couple of months.

·       Sell something and put the proceeds in your fund. Kijiji is my personal favourite to sell unwanted items.

·       Add government cheques like GST/HST or your income tax refund.

·       Add amounts equal to your ‘spending – savings’. If you buy groceries and reduce your out of pocket expense by using $7.50 worth of coupons, transfer that amount to your Emergency when you get home from the store. Same goes for your loyalty rewards points accounts.

·       Have a No Spend/Low Spend month to reduce your variable expenses and deposit the difference.

·       Round up your budget categories. If you spend $146.50 on cable/internet, budget $150. At month’s end, sweep remaining funds into your emergency fund account.

·       Replace one bad habit with a good one: If you smoke ( or whatever your vice is), smoke one less cigarette a day, and put $0.30 into your change jar. At month’s end, deposit into your E-fund.

·       Make something you can sell; sewing, knitting, woodworking, and card making are all viable types of side income for boosting your e-fund.

·       Do some babysitting, pet-sitting, house sitting, snow shovelling, attic cleaning or whatever to earn a little extra funds to pad your account.

·       Reduce your consumption of meat for a week or a month. Whatever you would have spent, add to your E-fund.

·       Skip a take-out meal or two (or a month). Save your money instead.

To have a fully funded emergency fund, you have to start somewhere. I am a firm believer that having an Emergency fund is part of a healthy financial plan. I won’t tell you how many months worth of expenses you should have, only that you should have an Emergency Fund. So should we.

Here’s to starting over, in a new year, with renewed hope, and renewed focus. 51 days to $500.

London Gail Club, 2012

Now that Gail has taken down the Gail Club boards, we are on our own to figure out a way to keep our little club going , if that is what we want to do.

Some newcomers have expressed an interest in joining our club, and I have gotten many e-mails about it. One lady has even offered her office space for our group to meet, although I'm not sure if it's in an area that will work for everybody.

My suggestion is this:
1. We work out a schedule to meet monthly, with additional meeting every second week for those who want something more structured to help them with their journey to debt-free forever!

2. We develop a monthly topic schedule and bi-weekly list of tasks/ideas for those who want more than just to meet and chat.

I'd like for us to get together on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 7 p.m., at Coffee Culture on Dundas St (across from the Central Library). This could be our Meet & Greet session and we could decide as a group what days we want to meet, make a meeting schedule and decide on topics and so forth. I think using Gail's books, Debt Free Forever and Never Too Late as our guides for tasks and ideas would be a good way to track what we all are doing.

I'll be emailing a copy of this post out to anyone who has shown any interest in the Club.

Please leave any comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. in the comments if you are part of the club, or want to be.