CHRISTINA! @ Dinner at Christina’s!!

JENN @ Cooking a weigh the lbs!

JENNY K. She lost weight (successfully!) last year with Weight Watchers.

Using Random.org you guys WON! E-mail me your address and you will be sent a coupon to try any Sargento Cheese product. My e-mail is slim-shoppin@comcast.net.

I am so happy it’s a long weekend this weekend! It’s a little cooler than I would like considering this is the last weekend our local pool is open. It’s in the mid-60’s right now in Chicago-land and that’s a little too cold for pool time!

Today I wanted to talk about motivation and how to keep going when you’ve been working at losing weight for a while. I’ve had my struggles over the years of going up and down, but since February I have lost 30 pounds, but have been hovering (or maintaining that I should say) for a few months now. It’s time to kick it up again.

Last week, I decided I would implement a walking program, walking to and from work, as well as a half hour at lunch. Well, I did that for 2 days until I got sick. I woke up last Monday not feeling so hot, so I drove to work instead of walking. I ended up leaving early, had the chills, a fever and just felt blah! I stayed home from work on Tuesday, after the kids left for school, I went back to sleep and slept until 2:30 p.m! By Wednesday I was feeling a little better, but really had no appetite all week. It rained several days as well, which also put a damper on my walking plan. The old me would just say forget it, and go back to doing nothing. BUT the NEW me is going to set out and do what I wanted to last week which is implement my walking plan!!

Most people who I’ve interviewed who have been successful losers are constantly pushing themselves in new directions and making new goals. I think that is the key to keep your motivation high.

One of the first people I met during my Weight Loss Superstars series was Keith Ahrens. He lost 200 pounds WITHOUT surgery and has kept it off ever since. He said what kept him going was that each day was another opportunity to add on what he did the day before. He had this quote on his website KEITHAHRENS.COM which I really love:

Another Day – By Keith Ahrens
Tuesday, 13 April 2010

What I did today doesn’t really matter anymore. It may have been a good day or a bad day. But I must focus on what’s ahead of me. What will I do tomorrow and how will I accomplish my goals for tomorrow, whatever they may be? When I wake up tomorrow I have another opportunity to do what I dreamed of today.

If you haven’t seen his before and after, here’s the cover of his book he wrote as well as a great after picture with 200 lbs. of CHEESE-ITS!

Buy this book!

That's a lot of CHEESE-ITS!

So, if what you want to do doesn’t work out for a day – or a week – or even a few weeks- just keep going and continue on, and you’ll keep seeing results.

My new weight loss goal is to be 20 pounds less by the end of December.

What would you like to accomplish by the end of the year?? It’s going to be here before you know it!!

About 4 months ago, the search began to replace the old vending machine with candy and chips with a healthier version. Well, today was finally the day! The machine was delivered to my office and I was super happy.

Here's the old machines being emptied out...

The guys moving it off the truck

This is the side of the machine

The old vending company didn't remove their machines on time, so they had to kind of move things around for it to fit.

So what kinds of things do we have to choose from?

“Hippie Chips”

Pirate’s Booty, Apple Straws and Kettle Corn Pop corn

Different flavors of Clif Bars/Active Water, Blue Sky organic Cola and Rootbeer

Mojo Bars and organic cookies with no trans fats.

So, I will not tell a lie, it was a little shocking for some people, but the majority of my friends at work were really excited about it. I think it will grow on some people who right now, will miss M & M’s and Snicker’s Bars. However, Study findings published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM) show that employees have a higher rate of job satisfaction when their employer is concerned about their health.

It’s a small step, but building on more steps can create a great and healthy atmosphere at any office.

Would your co-workers revolt at such a drastic change or do you think they would embrace it?

The company I used is in the Chicago land location and is called Healthy U Vending. You can check out their site here. The owner’s name is “T” and he said business is BOOMING! So that’s a nice thought that other companies/schools/hospitals are going to change what they offer too.

If you don’t live in the Chicago area, you can just google Healthy Vending for your state and see what pops up. Maybe you can make a change at your workplace or if you are the boss, you can offer this to your staff!

The first thing is I ALWAYS eat breakfast at my desk when I get here. Obviously that doesn’t work for everyone, but if you work in a cubicle, or at a desk where that is an option, I highly recommend that..

The reason I do this, is by the time I get to work by 8:30, get settled in, get my coffee, etc..it’s already about 8:45 and if I am eating a bagel sandwich, or oatmeal, or quiche with fruit, it takes me a while to eat this, so by the time I am done it’s about 9:15 and I am full for a while, so no need for a morning snack. I’ve found that if I eat BEFORE I get to work @ around 7:30 ish, then I am starving by 10:00 a.m. and I am thinking about food, or worse, if a rep comes to our office with goodies, I’m tempted to have some!

This week, thanks to my sister who bought me 100 calorie bagel thins at an outlet store, I’ve had a breakfast sammy for work every day. Normally I will make it at home, wrap it in foil and then bring it with me, but sometimes it gets soggy. So I bring an egg, 1 slice of cheese, 2 slices of reduced fat salami and my bagel thin. I’ll cook the egg in the microwave in a small dish for a minute, toast my bagel so it’s nice and crunchy and warm, assemble it and it’s ready to go.

The other thing I do is stock my desk. I used to stock it with things like fat free pringles, pretzels, granola bars, etc… That isn’t real food of course, so I’ve switched to healthier choices. In my desk drawer, I have whole wheat angel hair pasta (you can cook that in the microwave at work in a big bowl in about 6 minutes!) I have in the freezer at work, many different kinds of frozen veggies. I’ve heated up snow peas and drizzled my thai peanut sauce on it for a snack. Or I can make soup by adding water, some chicken stock, the angle hair pasta, frozen veggies and cook for about 5 minutes in the microwave or until the veggies are as tender as you like. I also have nuts, cans of healthy choice soup, so I can eat that too if I get hungry at any point during the day. If I am craving something sweet, I store some of my totally deluxe healthy home made muffins in the freezer at work, and that can be heated up in 30 seconds with a nice cup of tea, that totally hits the spot! (Look under categories for “Muffins of the Week” to see the many choices of homemade muffins I’ve made).

One thing I will post more about tomorrow, is I have successfully started changing things at work, such as suggesting on swapping out our M&M, snickers laden vending machine with a healthier version. I approached the idea to the principals of my firm and they were all on board! It is being delivered to my office tomorrow morning! I’ll take a picture so you can see what it looks like. This is the company I found who is providing is with this service! So, if I am in a situation where I want candy, at least now I can choose a better alternative. And you can use your debit card, so no cash is needed!

The other thing I started at my company is a salad club. Every Tuesday, 5 of us bring a veggie or fruit to share as well as a bag of greens. Yesterday we had things like strawberries, carrots, zucchini, garbanzo beans, black beans, cucumbers, quinoa, walnuts, tomatoes, green peppers, etc… it was amazing! And there are usually enought leftovers to do that twice a week.

Do you work near a restaurant that has a salad bar? I sometimes will accessorize my lunch by bringing brown rice, then I’ll go to the restaurant, get some veggies for a few dollars and add that to my brown rice for a little stir fry action. I keep several variaties of my favorite stir fry at work, so that’s a great option.

The other thing I have been doing, is having a larger lunch 500-600 calories, this way I am still full for the rest of the work day, no afternoon snack needed and I just go home to make dinner.

It’s been super hot out of course, but when it gets cooler, several of the women in my office will go for a walk around the neighbrhood for 30-45 minutes. It’s a great way to get away from your desk, have great conversation and you are ready to face the rest of your day energized!

So, that’s some of the things that help me. It can be a rough enviornment when there is always other food around, donuts, birthday cake, candy at co-workers desk, etc… BUT, if you can slowy change your enviornment to suit your lifestyle better, it makes things a lot easier.

Office Living: How to Shop for the Desk Life

There’s no two ways about it: starting a new diet is hard. You aren’t just changing the way you eat; often you are also engaged in changing the way you think and the way you live (if you accept the notion that you are what you eat). You have to learn to look at food in a new way, depending on what motivates you. Some foods can become your enemy while others are your new best friends. You often have to cut back on dining out (or stop altogether), learn to prepare and cook a whole slew of new recipes (or at least alter some of your favorites), and start keeping track of what you eat (including counting calories, points, or whatever complicated system will tell you when you’ve had enough). And all of this can be time consuming and frustrating.

Now factor in a desk job that makes it difficult for you to eat right. Between a schedule jam-packed with meetings (does no one take an hour for lunch anymore???), lunches with clients (for some reason, restaurants frown on you bringing your own food), and late nights chained to your desk (when you should be cooking a healthy meal), you’re beginning to despair that you’ll ever get your diet on track! And yet, there are a lot of ways you can stick to your diet even when you’re stuck at your desk.

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare. If you find that you are too rushed in the morning to prep your foods for the day, or that by the time you get home at night all you can do is think about hitting the hay, then take time to make and pre-package foods on the weekend. Buy snacks like fruits, veggies, or nuts in bulk and pack them into individual-serving-size baggies so you can grab them on the go. And cook useful items like grilled chicken or fish so that you can throw them in a salad or slap them on some bread when you’re in a rush.

2. Set a timer. You don’t want to let yourself get too hungry throughout the day, so set the alarm on your desktop or cell to go off at certain times of day to remind you to grab a snack. This way you won’t hit mid-afternoon without eating and end up splurging at the vending machine. As a bonus, small meals spread throughout the day will keep your energy level fairly consistent and help you avoid highs and lows that can leave you bouncing off the walls or snoozing on your keyboard.

3. Schedule in lunch. If you find that your calendar keeps populating with lunchtime meetings, simply fill in a daily lunch-hour for the month so that you make sure your diet stays on track and you take a breather during the day to keep your stress level down (you emotional eaters out there know what I’m talking about!)

4. Order salad (dressing on the side). If you can’t squirm out of a lunch meeting at a restaurant, embrace the idea of “first do no harm”. Get yourself a small salad to tide you over until you can get back to the office and have your real lunch.

5. Share your secret. Sometimes the best way to stick with a diet is to have a buddy for support and encouragement. So tell people at work what you’re up to (they’re bound to be a bit more understanding if they know why you’re blowing off margarita Mondays) and see if anyone wants to join you in your quest to become the healthiest, happiest, best version of you!

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Thanks Dana! Those are some great tips! I think it is hard to stay on track when there are so many food distractions through out the day. My office has 2 luncheons every week and the leftovers are put on the counter. My new rule which I have followed very well this year is that if it isn’t a fruit or veggie, I’m not eating it! So far, so good!

What office tips do you have?

So, imagine my delight yesterday when I was reading it and they mentioned a site called HEALTHY DINING FINDER!

Let’s face it, for most people who are trying to lose weight, it can be near impossible to stay on track when you go out. Sure you can go online and see what’s on the menu and kind of guess on the calories, but you may think you are making a healthy choice, when in reality you are not.

All you need to do is enter your zip code and pick out your price point. I chose as an example P.F. Chang’s. It will give you the best choices on the menu health wise and you can make a great decision even before you enter the restaurant door!

Example of menu choices at P.F. Chang's

One thing you need to pay attention to is the PORTION size. Notice it says that a certain dish is 2 or even 4 portions, so you would only want to eat half, or 1/4 of it!.

You can also search for a price point below $10.00 and this will grab most fast food places, below is an example of choices from Quiznos

Menu choices at Quiznos

So, I think this is a great tool to assist you in staying on track AND enjoying going out.

How do you handle going out to dinner while trying to lose weight/or maintain your weight…any tips??