Confession time: I am one sneaky woman. It started with sneaking food off of my family’s plates when I was clearing the table. That morphed into sneaking money out of the house and buying candy and unhealthy snacks. Secret binges and shameful solitary eating followed suit.

In retrospect, I can see that most of my sneakiness has been driven by shame—shame about my body, uncertainty about my worth as a person. My fear of letting others know about my struggles puts me at a significant disadvantage. Sure, my pride was protected a little bit (even as it was undermined by my obvious weight gain). But my ability to move forward was, too. My sneaky ways robbed me of a community of support and stymied my ability to ask for help.

That was then. Now that I’m progressing further down the Phase 1 road of the Best Life plan, I’ve been engaging in a little experiment. Why not turn my sneaky ways into something beneficial? Is it possible to be sneaky on my own behalf instead of sabotaging myself by secretive behaviors?

The answer is yes. Here are a few ways I’ve found to get sneaky about health:

• Sneak vegetables. I’m perhaps a bit better at impulse control than a small child, but my inner kid always groans when I see a plate piled high with healthy veggies. Sneaky solution: I’ve been finding ways to get veggies in incognito, from drinking V8 to using vegetables as essential dip-to-mouth conveyors.
• Sneak exercise. January is my least favorite month to hit the gym, and my sedentary self finds much to object to in the icy, windy and uncertain Colorado winter. Sneaky solution: I’ve been following Best Life advice and sneaking in more activity, from parking further away from the store to walking around the block when I need a desk break.
• Sneak a glance. Like many overweight women, the mirror has been an enemy on my road to lifelong health. Until now. Sneaky solution: Instead of spending critical minutes shaming my stomach, hips and thighs, I am contenting myself with quick, sneaky glances that confirm the pounds are slowly dropping off.

How about you? Any sneaky tips and tricks to add to my arsenal?

About Erin Blakemore, Best Life Community Director and Contributor

A California ex-pat with a bookish streak, Erin is a writer, editor, social media strategist, and co-owner of VOCO Creative. After retiring from the Denver Roller Dolls, she traded her skates for hiking boots in her adopted hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Erin’s debut book, The Heroine’s Bookshelf, was published by Harper in 2010, winning the Colorado Book Award for General Nonfiction and garnering coverage in The New York Times, Glamour magazine, Ms. Magazine and more. Erin’s writing has been featured on NPR and in magazines like Bitch, Blackbook, and The Onion A.V. Club. Don’t worry—she won’t bust out the fluent German unless you go first.

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