UPDATED August 2011: I fixed the links for the blender to go to the revised model.

These are the things which have helped me to lose 30-35 lbs. in 2009.

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Walking our Labradoodle, Layla, is what got me started losing weight and getting fit back in June. After a few months, I was down 10 pounds and in much better shape. Dog-walking has turned out to be excellent for weight loss because you HAVE to do it every day. No escaping the fact that even in the lousiest weather, the dog would like to go around at least one block, if not more. It helps that with Layla and Chewie, the standard poodle we bought as Layla’s companion in October, the dogs are so strong that they pull me along! (I now understand how just a few huskies can haul a sled, a person and hundreds of pounds of gear.)

I bought an Escali scale because it was guaranteed to be accurate even for large people. Most bathroom scales get wildly inaccurate if you go much higher than the upper 200s. This one was guaranteed even above 400 lbs (way beyond what I weighed), and it measures your body fat and your fluids. I love it and highly recommend it.

I then joined Weight Watchers for the first time in my life. I wish I had done that a decade ago. The digital scale, books with point values for food, pocket points calculator and daily food journals have helped me gain control of my over-eating. (The pedometer, not shown, gives me the value of points I’ve earned in fitness each day.) A membership to Weight Watchers pays for itself, since you save the $10/week just in groceries that you’re not eating! Most of the W.W. merchandise is a lot cheaper if you’re a W.W. member and purchase it through the organization.

Finally, my early Christmas present: The Oster Counterforms 2-in-1 blender. Get this one. Seriously, click that right now, unless you already have an excellent blender. I researched blenders far and wide, and was quite surprised how many lousy blenders with cheap parts there are. Most blender reviews were split evenly between the people who loved them and those who complained about the 1 plastic part that breaks almost immediately. I was going to get the “Magic Bullet”, but I was amazed to read all the stories of cheap, broken parts. I know, I know, yours is probably working fine.

This blender had stellar reviews, and when I got mine I found out that they had improved it beyond how it was described on Amazon. It’s a 1000 WATT BLENDER! 1000 WATTS, not 600! All I do is add my smoothie ingredients and hit “frozen drink”; the blender then takes over, alternating the speed and direction until it’s well-mixed.

Here’s a trick I learned: Take the Weight Watchers chocolate smoothie mix, which costs less than a dollar. Add a cup of water (or milk) and then throw in 6-10 ice cubes (depending on their size). With the addition of the ice cubes, the end result is a smoothie that is indistinguishable from a Wendy’s Frosty…and it’s only 1 Weight Watchers point (or 3, with milk)! Let me tell you: A Frosty from Wendy’s is NOT a single point! You can throw in other flavors in small doses. Frozen slices of banana disappear into the chocolate smoothie; you can’t really taste them, they thicken the smoothie and you get a bit of fruit for the day.

Click my link and get that blender! I honestly cannot recommend it enough. For years, we had this cheap plastic Black and Decker blender that may have been from the early 1970s. It leaked, it was noisy, and it made lousy milkshakes. This little $70 blender gets used almost every day, because I have a sweet tooth and a pitcher full of chocolatey (or fruity) goodness will keep me from snacking on stuff that’s far worse.