Basically, the junk has already been eaten, or the money already spent, so it doesn’t do any good to keep eating or spending.

That is hilarious. I must be having a pretty slow day because that was the best thing of the day so far. Thank you!

How do yuo see yourself?

I truly believe losing weight is all mental. If you have a powerful vision of a thinner you, you will become that person but one needs to work so hard on their vision..

Our Weight Watchers facilitator had a great saying about this – if one of us would stumble on a step while walking down a long stairwell, would we throw ourselves down the remaining stairs because we made that mistake? Of course not.

A little stumble is no excuse to throw away a perfectly good path.

Happy holidays to one and all, and all the best to a prosperous and mindful new year!

However, if you’re changing your eating habits to organic or healthier foods, your expenses can actually go up.

My wife and I have agreed to a combo of finances and weight-loss. We are each throwing $100 of our precious “fun money” along with $200 from the house into a hat held by a 3rd party. If by March 1 we both reach our goal, we split the total. If only one of us reaches it, that person gets the whole pot. If neither of us reach our 5% less bodyweight by March, her MOTHER IN LAW gets the $400. I already see the motivation in her eyes!!

The reason lots of people can’t keep up weight loss effort is because they expect too much, too quickly and get desperate. Going extreme feeds into that desperation and makes it more likely a person will burn out in frustration early.

If you’re able to use this “act short term while thinking long term” strategy effectively with weight loss, then more power to you — most people, however, would find that strategy backfires.

Many people could lose all the weight they need to lose simply by replacing artificial beverages with water and packaged convenience foods with fruits & vegetables.

The volume of food represented by an apple is about the same as the volume of a 12-oz bag of chips. But has about 1/6 the calories. Plus, you know, some actual nutrition.

It’s mindful eating, which is approximately the same as mindful spending. I have seen health improvements march hand-in-hand with financial improvements in too many people not to believe that the mental strategies are complementary.

If anyone wonders how did they come up with the name “Forks Over Knives”, it’s what one puts on their forks now, as opposed to having one’s chest cut open in the future.

All 3 of those movies are available on Netflix.

For me going extreme, especially with my diet was the only way I could have done it. In my case it wasn’t eating less food, it was changing what I eat.

I started dieting this month and it’s certainly not helping our finances right now. I hired a nutritionist, which is amazing for the diet but costs me $60 – $100 a month (worth it)

Plus I’ll have to buy some new clothes once I reach my goal weight, but we’re going to save up for that over the next 3 months.

But still… I’m sure we’ll save $$ on the long-term health benefits

4 pounds down and 20 to go!

Now my mantra is “This will be the most important 20 (or 30 or 60) minutes of my day”. I say this when I wake up at 4:30 in the morning to get my butt outta bed and to the gym.

Its the only time I take for me. It clears my head and better prepares me for everything else I am going to do.

I recently decided I’m ready to go down the last size (I never focused on the weight as much as the size/fit of my pants) and simultaneously want to tighten up my spending again and bulk up my savings. I agree that they go hand in hand and look forward to seeing where I am in three months.

I also have some coworkers who are making typical crash diet goals for the new year. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard over the last few weeks (as they gorge on baked goods, burgers & fries, soda, etc) that they have to eat it now because they are going on a diet in the new year.

This is similar to starting on a road trip by driving hundreds of miles in the opposite direction first. It just gives you that many more calories to burn before you’ll see a difference in the body you wanted to change in the first place.

My favorite frugal eating tip, portion control! My meal may be more expensive than average (and yummier) but if I eat less of it per sitting, it lasts me multiple meals and the cost averages out to less. Plus, I can eat anything I want, just not all at once.