I wrote a while back about the weight loss project I’ve had going for the past 2-3 years. A couple of people have asked me if I have followed a particular food or exercise plan. I never even bothered trying something like Atkins or joining Weight Watchers. When I started I knew that the biggest challenge I would face was sticking to whatever I decided to do. So if I went on a restrictive diet I knew that the chances were that I wouldn’t stick to it, and being a miser I hated the idea of spending money on something I was sure I could do on my own.
But I did spend some time thinking about the best approach. I concluded that I needed to make small changes which didn’t disturb the rest of my life too much. I needed to figure out what would slot nicely into my everyday routine. The easiest thing to start with was my commute to work. Soon after I started my job I fell into the habit of catching the bus to and from Waterloo. But as I was using an Oyster card each time I travelled it cost me money.
This gave me a big financial incentive to start walking. The 3 mile round trip actually provides a decent amount of exercise, and every time I walk in I’m saving myself £1.35. Not a vast amount granted, but across a month that’s well over £50, or £600 a year. If I had a pre paid travel card I’d feel like if I didn’t use it I wasn’t getting my money’s worth, which would conflict with the goal of exercising more. So by ensuring that my twin goals of losing weight and saving money are not working against each other I’m much more likely to achieve them both.