Potato Chips

My trainer gave me a fabulous tip yesterday. We were chatting a little between sets, as I cought my breath in preperation for my ball squats (that's where you put a big stability ball behind your back, lean against the wall, and do squats, great thigh workout). I mentioned that I was sitting on a ball at work now, and would find myself bouncing on it constantly. He said, "If a chip a day equals a pound a year, then that has to do something."

What? Did he just say what I think he said? A chip a day, one single, solitary, lonely little potato chip per day, equals one pound! Can it really be that simple? Lets see, so twice a week, I've been getting a particular coffee drink from a famous coffee chain. My drink has 380 calories. So if I cut just 10 of those out per year, there's a pound. Well, what if I stop drinking them all together? That's 11 pounds in a year, just by stopping my twice a week coffee habit and replacing that caffeine with a no cal drink (and yes, my no cal morning drink is full of caffeine, and yes it's soda!)

Gee, if that little change can make such a big difference in a year, what else can I change. Well, my afternoon walks (which I admit I haven't done as often as I should in the past couple weeks, I blame it on the heat, but that's a poor excuse), I burn more than 400 extra calories that I would sitting on my butt for that 45 minutes to an hour. So, lets say I go for an afternoon walk 5 days a week, every week for one year. That's 30 pounds lost in the year!

I knew I loved math for a reason. Seeing these numbers add up is driving home a point for me. If I cut one little thing out a day that I may have otherwise eaten, or replace it with something with slightly fewer calories, I can make a huge difference.

I'd love to hear about other ideas for making small changes for big results. Do you have any tips to share?

Healthy and Happy Living