How to Lose Weight as a Writer

Learning how to lose weight as a writer is a matter of changing old habits and developing new ones. The good news is that all the tips here are really easy to follow and have the impact of doing more than just losing weight. Writers have a unique role. Most of us don't work 9-5. We don't have regular days off. When we feel the urge to write, there is no stopping us and when we have writer's block, there's no starting us. This type of lifestyle can lead to a metabolism that is somewhat off kilter as our bodies follow the patterns of our minds.

The first step to losing weight is to understand how it's done. Basically, to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume and stay away from the scale. That's right, forget about the scale because muscle weighs more than fat. As you start to gain muscle and lose fat, your scale may not move or may even go up at times, but you really are getting in better shape.

Reduce your plate size. One of the easiest changes I've made was to reduce my plate size. As a child, I hated to eat and I remember being pushed to clean my plate. As an adult, just to be rebellious I often leave food on my plate. However, it's not always an easy habit to get into. Using a smaller plate helps to reduce the amount of food on your plate, so you can clean your plate and still eat less in one sitting.

Eat small portions throughout the day. Instead of sitting down for large meals, eat small meals on a regular basis. While you may be eating more, you are also keeping your metabolism busy. When you go for long periods of time without eating, your body thinks it's starving and begins to burn calories, but not from fat. Instead, muscle is used.

Get up and move around. My schedule is to take a walk after I eat. It may be a short walk around the apartment building, but it aids in digestion and gives me time to step away from the computer. My son goes with me, so it also gives us some time together. This also has the added benefit of making me question what I eat. For instance, when I want that brownie late at night, I have to question whether I really feel like taking a walk.

Exercise while sitting. Writers sometimes have to sit and space out as part of their job. We are actually working when we do this. In our minds, stories are being created and articles are being written. We can exercise as well when we do this. Fast repetitious stomach muscle contractions help to burn fat off of the waistline, as do "butt crunches".

Blog about your experience. We writers love to blog! If we blog about our weight loss, it helps us to stay focused on the elements of healthy weight loss. That's because we don't want to be giving unhealthy advice to the world.

Use your posture. One of the reasons that writers get large waistlines is because we may slouch at our computers. I myself am guilty of that. Not only is slouching horrible for your posture, but it also makes your trunk muscles turn to fat as they go unused. I bet you never thought that sitting up straight was going to help your weight, did you?

These techniques offer a multitude of benefits to writers. We get to spend more time with our families, feel better, look good and even come up with new ideas to fast forward our writing careers. Who ever would have thought that a writer's weight loss could do so much?