Are you an overweight nurse who feels discouraged, because between working long shifts, caring for your family and other personal responsibilities to attend to, you feel too exhausted at the end of the day to exercise and too exhausted to cook healthy meals for yourself and your family? You don’t feel good about your appearance but are too tired to do anything about it, which brings you down, and then you end up giving up on trying to get in shape. Does this sound like you?
Wait, believe it or not, small changes really can make a big difference in how you look and feel! To lose 1 pound per week you need to eliminate 500 calories from your diet every day. When it comes to healthy eating we all know the importance of reading the nutritional labels, paying attention to portions, eating more fruits and vegetables and not skipping meals. But that is often easier said than done!
Here are some suggestions from busy nurse colleagues who have been successful at weight loss. My favorite is to portion out serving sizes ahead of time. That way, when you are starving, you only grab a single serving size instead of the whole bag.
- Small substitutions save lots of calories; for example, drink water instead of soda, have your sandwich
with only 1 slice of bread, skip the calorie dense condiments, poach, broil or bake your entree. - Plan your meals ahead of time for the week and do all the grocery store shopping at once.
- Serve your meals restaurant style and pass on seconds.
- Portion out your snacks into individual servings; avoid eating out of the bag or container.
- Substitute another activity for eating when you are stressed, bored or not hungry. Take a walk, call a friend, pick a new hobby!
Remember, even if you’re too tired or don’t have time for long workouts and complicated diets, it truly is the small changes that add up to a big difference. Start by picking just one small change, stick to it this week then pick another small change for next week and you will be amazed at how easy it becomes is to eliminate those 500 calories every day! Nurses with problems on their weight need to follow these simple yet effective ways to stay fit and healthy.