Monopoly Diet Plan?
I did some quick searches, but couldn’t find anything on the web about this… I’m going to try it.
One of the problems with calorie counting is keeping track of them. There’s plenty of methods out there: there are electronic calculators out there for it, people write down their calories or points, and there are many software packages (some of these are quite good). I’ve used the latter two ways in the past and it works for a week or two, but a few missed days and it’s game over!
What if you use play money to keep track of your daily calories? Calorie intake is a lot like a daily budget and having some physical connection to those numbers could not only keep you on track, but help teach just how much you should be eating.
Let each penny be one calorie… (So $1 of play money is 100 Calories). With some decent play money (or a similar scale with monopoly money) this should be easy to work with. Going out to eat? Take your money with you and ask for nutritional information (or bring one of those restaurant Calorie guides with you). Run out for the day and REALLY need to use more? Carry one IOU slip with you each week (these could be created on your own quite easily)… Don’t forget to pay the bank back! (I’ll be using an index card file as my “bank.”)
Give yourself that daily “salary” ($1200 perhaps) and pay your way to getting in shape.