What weight are you carrying on your shoulders—literally? Think about what’s in your handbag. Cell phone? Laptop? A bulging makeup kit? Netbook? Work files? And that’s just one bag. Most of us carry a laptop or sometimes a gym bag, too.
Ideally you should never be carrying more than 10% of you body weight. So if you weigh 120 pounds, you should be carrying 12 pounds or less. But one survey asking women to weigh their bags found that the typical bag is about 15 pounds. If that were a turkey, that would feed 15 people! Here are ways to lose the weight.
Pare down your makeup kit
If you’re like most women, you have a full makeup kit: foundation, several shades of lipstick, concealer, mascara, eye curler, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner… phew! But realistically you won’t use all of that. Leave your makeup tools at home, and bring only what you need to touch up your makeup. For example, leave the bottle of liquid foundation at home, and just use a powder compact. Bring blush and maybe concealer, and just one tube of lipstick or gloss. There, that’s all you need!
Go through your bag everyday
At night, remove all the things you don’t need the next day. You may have had to bring a toy for your son when you went to the park Sunday afternoon, but why drag it to work the next day? Also take out and file your receipts, half-finished water bottles, and all the odds and ends we tend to dump into the black hole of our bag pockets.
Choose a back-friendly bag
Backpacks and messenger bags distribute the weight equally across the body. Also remember that leather bags are heavier than canvas. By all means use a leather bag if that’s your style, but adjust the weight of the contents so you aren’t weighed down.
If a backpack’s not your style and you have to bring a lot of things, divide into two small bags so you can distribute the weight. You can also leave one of the bags in a locked compartment of your desk or in the bag.
Switch where you carry the bag
Our instinct is to carry our bag on the side of our non-dominant hand (left if you’re right handed). Switching it to the other side every 20 minutes can prevent aches and pains.
Photo from pursepage.com
I always carry too many things, “just in case.” And you’re right, it’s killing my back!
Ever since I became a mom my bag’s become like a portable toy chest. Thanks for this really important health reminder (especially since carrying toddlers is already killing my back!)