It was a syndrome that was unheard of in my growing up years. I first encountered this term “Couch Potato” in an Archie Comic Digest and asked my mother what it meant. Even she was not too clear about it then, but now everyone knows what it means. In fact most people have a resident example living with them.
SO how do you get a Couch Potato, who sits and stares at the TV Screen continuous all evening and munches snacks almost nonstop, to do little things that will help in Weight Reduction?! It may surprise you but just tweaking a few bits and pieces can give you a routine that is much healthier than the one being currently followed. I will out line a few changes that can be made and if adhered to and sustained, will definitely result in weight loss.
A couch is bad enough but a bed is worse. Please do not place your TV in your bedroom. It is a bad idea. It not only increases the mindless and numbing programming that you watch, it also affects the time you sleep. In fact it causes your quality of sleep to diminish if you are sharing the room with someone who keeps surfing the channels even if a single program is not worth watching.
After you have placed the TV and all its paraphernalia in a neutral room or a living area in common usage, place the Remote Controls for the TV, DVD player, etc, all on top of the TV even after you have switched it on. Every time you want to switch a channel get up off the couch and change it. One positive side effect for the wives will be that the husbands will have to limit their power surfing of channels to the duration that they are willing to stand near the TV.
Switch the munchies to healthier one. Instead of potato chips have popcorn. Add some cucumber with freshly squeezed lime juice and salt on the menu. In winters carrots cut into sticks and served with a yogurt based dip are also a good option. Serve your snacks in style on a plate; don’t dig into the packet directly.
During commercial breaks, get up and walk around the room instead of watching the same advertisement repeated for the infinite time. Do some stretches. In a regular serial break you can stand up and touch your toes (if you can reach them) ten times. I have tried it out and it is possible, at last time wise. For it being possible inclination wise, that will depend on you.
Even when you are watching the program, sit in a correct upright posture. This is to avoid undue pressure on your spine and it will burn more calories than just lying there in the chair. Also if you can put a mattress on the floor rather than a sofa you will exercise those many more calories when you sit down and get up. Try and wriggle your toes, swing your arms and legs, in fact do whatever you can to avoid being totally inactive.
Simple enough changes to implement and effective as well.
