As a girl, weight is a huge issue for me. No, I don’t have an eating disorder, thank you. (You know, whenever a girl who is not grotesquely overweight says “I want to lose some weight” people immediately accuse her of having an eating disorder. People need to stop doing that. “You don’t need to lose weight!” Well, that’s my choice. It’s not like I’m going to take laxatives or stick a finger down my throat. Calm down people. BUT I DIGRESS.)

You know, sometimes losing weight isn’t as hard as it is made out to be. It’s just that we associate losing weight with unpleasantness because, well, we make it unpleasant. We force ourselves to devote an hour of our time to exercise, and we make a concious effort to curb munchie cravings at 12 AM (and any person knows that curbing those cravings is PAINFUL). But if you want to lose weight without the dread, then you should find ways to incorporate health into your life naturally so that you don’t have to think about or force yourself into doing them.

So here is a list of ways to help you:

1. Brush your teeth after every meal, especially after dinner. You know that nasty sensation when you eat an orange or a piece of chocolate (or basically anything) after you’ve JUST brushed your teeth? Yea, well, it’s ugly, and no one likes an ugly taste in their mouth. Use this as a weapon against those after-meal cravings. Brush your teeth as soon as you finish lunch, and so when you see a rogue Ferrero Rocher laying around the house, your fresh and minty breath will serve as a reminder of the ugliness you will suffer if you do choose to eat that Ferrero Rocher.
2. Carry around less money. If you’re going out for a walk or jog, carry just enough money for a bottle of water (usually 800-1000 won in Korea). If your going on a grocery trip, carry around just enough cash to get what you need (so plan your budget out ahead of time) or at least promise yourself to not go over on the card. What I’ve found out is that if I ever have a lot of money when I leave the house, I end up buying snacks even if I’m not hungry just because I have the money. Imagine how much money you spend on snacks. WHAT A WASTE. And the only things you get out of using money on snacks is fat and a fleeting moment of joy. So if you limit the amount of money you carry around, you’ll be forced to give up buyingsnacks on whim and on the go.
3. If you have retainers, wear them more often. Especially after every meal. This tip only applies if you actually have retainers, but it can go hand in hand with tip number one. First, you need to brush your teeth before putting on retainers unless you want to risk having decayed food particles stuck between the plastic/metal and your teeth. This already sets up the “minty taste that ruins everything” barricade. Second, retainers are bulky, and it is impossible to eat with them, unless you’re a disgusting person. Once you go through the trouble of brushing you teeth and then washing your retainers and then putting them in, you’ll be too lazy to go through that AGAIN when snack cravings come around.
4. Walk wherever you can. This one is kind of obvious. If you can get to some place by walking (or biking I guess) rather than bus, car, or taxi, then walk. Not only is it better for the environment, but it throws in exercise that you don’t have to set aside separate time in the gym for. You won’t even remember that you’re exercising because you’re too focused on getting to your destination.
5. Or if you do plan on setting aside some time to exercise, listen to music so that you have something else to focus on other than your own panting breath and sweat. This one is obvious too.
6. Adding on to this exercise thing, if you like sports, then play sports. If you’re like me and would rather kiss the feet of John Travolta (who I despise by the way. Hairspray? Drag? Really, John, really?) than play sports, then play WII sports! If you have Nintendo Wii, that is. If you don’t then…GG.
7. Do you eat snacks when you’re studying or working? Do you eat snacks when you’re watching TV or surfing youtube for the latest update of Susan Boyle? Figure out your regular snack eating locations and then put your snacks as far away as possible. Humans are usually lazy, and you, dear reader, are most likely human, and therefore you will most likely be very lazy as well. “But I love snacks so much I’d walk miles for them!” Yeah, no. Don’t count on that. I usually do homework in my bedroom and I watch TV in the living room, and in order to get to snacks I have to walk to the other side of the apartment, into the storage area, and dig through miles of Tupperware containers in order to grab a cookie or some chips. It gets tiring after a while. So even if I want a snack while working on an English essay for a blog post, I’m just too lazy to go through that entire ordeal.
8. Start replacing the unhealthy snacks with healthy ones. Okay, so nothing can really replace the sweet and joyful sensation of eating a piece of Cadbury chocolate (cue saliva), but most of the time when you want to eat a snack, you don’t want the snack and you don’t want to eat. You just want something to do. And eating snacks not only gives your mouth something to do, but it throws in some fun for your tastebuds as well. Really guys, that’s stupid. So if you start placing some HEALTHY snacks around your house (in some easily accessible locations), then you will solve both problems of a bored mouth AND losing weight. Eat peanuts, almonds, or cashews instead of chips. Naturally sugary fruits instead of gummy worms and cookies. Just healthy stuff in general (you can google search this on your own). And if you’re allergic to fruits and nuts and whatnot….then just don’t eat, damnit.
9. To Korean people especially: STOP WITH THE RAMEN!! ESPECIALLY THE CUP RAMEN!!! I personally don’t like ramen so I never had a problem with it, but i mean COME ON PEOPLE. IT’S BASICALLY A CUP FULL OF OIL, GREASE, CHEMICALS, AND GOD KNOW WHAT ELSE. Hell, there could be something like rat feces in that crap. Who KNOWS what gets into those cups of doom and cellulite?! (Actually, that’s kind of redundant in a way.)

See people? It’s not all that hard. It’s easier than forcing yourself to do 30 grueling minutes of Stairmaster at the gym. I’m not saying that Stairmaster is useless, but there are easier ways to lose weight and get healthier for those of us who are less motivated. Like me. I hate Stairmaster. If you’re actually serious about losing a lot of weight, then you’ll have to do much more than the things I listed above. But you know, small steps always come first.

–JANE–