Hi Everyone,
here's one of my lists I like to make. Feel free to disagree - it's what
works for me.

1. Plan your meals and snacks and write a shopping list based on it.
This avoids running out of food or not knowing what to eat, as well as
reducing the risk of snacking on inappropriate stuff due to getting
over-hungry.

2. Cheese is a luxury, kind of like caviar.

3. Only ever buy candy/chocolate/cakes/cookies in very small quantities
and avoid high fat, high calorie sweets entirely.

4. Have one treat and one alcoholic drink per day.

5. Wear a pedometer in the house - it inspires you to fetch things you
might otherwise think "I'll get it later" and then never fetch, and it
will greatly encourage you just how much ground you can cover without
leaving the house.

6. Related to 5: Have radios tuned into your favourite station all over
the house. That way, you won't be tempted to stay in one place just in
case you miss anything. Alternatively, if you don't have access to BBC
Radio 4 (yay!) you can listen to audio books, but you might need a
Walkman for that unless your house is wired into a sound system!

7. Always dance to music, whenever you hear music, although be careful
about dancing and driving.

8. Get a cordless phone and pace about while talking to someone.

9. If you can't think of what to eat, eat porridge. It'll even out your
blood sugar and avoid hunger for a few hours while you think about what
else to eat.

10. Go shopping for food frequently. Not only does this mean you can get
more fresh stuff, shopping is exercise!

11. Wear flat, supportive shoes so you can move more easily. Likewise,
wear comfortable clothing that fits properly (even if you have to buy a
bigger size, prior to buying a smaller size in a few weeks).

12. Get yourself measured for a new bra (if you're a woman, of course!).
It won't actually make you thinner, but you'll look a million times
better and your waist will be distinguished from your bust, giving you a
smaller waist measurement. (Actually, this was British comedian Eddie
Izzard's reasoning for why men should wear fake breasts - it makes your
tummy look smaller in comparison!)

13. Get into healthy cooking - try a new recipe every day for a week.
You might not keep it up but the scary thing is always doing a new
recipe for the first time. If you like one of the meals you've cooked,
you are more likely to cook it again, and gradually you will increase
your repatoire of healthy, low points meals.

14. Use fresh herbs as much as possible. Also fresh chillis (try
different sorts), garlic and onions.

15. Spend money on expensive veg, like asparagus or exotic fruit as you
are much less likely to let it moulder in the fridge and it's a healthy
treat.

16. Have a healthy dinner party - invite friends who are trying to lose
weight, or who would like to improve their diets, and experiment on them
with new recipes.

17. Get involved in local ecology projects (the sort that require
Wellington boots and a shovel, like tree planting, or river clearing),
animal shelters (mucking out, hosing out kennels etc), disabled sports
(helpers are always required), furniture reclamation project or
animal/bird surveying (counting creatures in a wood, or on a lake or
whatever). Basically, any hobby that involves humping, dumping and
walking.

You can ever do this sort of thing in a city - I was hearing on the
radio about a project in New York for building allotment gardens (rather
like the fictional project in the movie "Green Card"), which is now
being marketed as "fitness training" to overweight New Yorkers who hate
treadmills and static bicycles! And a project in UK to clear rivers and
streams is also being marketed as an "Outdoor Gym".

18. Don't just watch sport on TV - go to a local, support your local
teams, get involved behind the scenes. Or if sport isn't your thing,
local theatre, dance, music, bands or orchestra. You can burn off 500
calories an hour at a rock concert!

19. Take the dog for a walk. If you haven't got a dog, offer to take a
neighbour's dog for a walk. The majority of pet dogs are overweight
these days, so do a dog a favour.

20. Don't spend too long at the computer, writing daft lists for
everybody.