Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Great Labyrinth of Weight Loss

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Here is the meeting summary from Saturday, January 21, 2012.

Have you ever been in a labyrinth? You work it from the outside in, making twists and turns to get to the center. Weight loss is a lot like that. We are trying to get to the center, our goal, and we too have twists and turns along the way with ups and downs. Sometimes we hit a dead end, (have a gain/eating binge) and have to have the confidence to work around them and learn from our mistakes.

For us to make it to our goal we have to be willing to make some changes.

There are four levels of change that will help you reach your goals:
1. Environment
2. Beliefs
3. Capabilities
4. Behavior

This week let’s look at just the first level, environment.

When it comes to your environment, it is important for us to identify our danger zones.

Which areas of your life pose the most temptation? Is it the break room at work, the drive home, or maybe your very own kitchen. Identify the places that you’re most likely to engage in unplanned eating.

Now that you know them what needs to happen in order for you to stay in control at these places? Maybe you can declare a certain space a “no eating” zone, or plan to have your own healthy snacks readily available, or maybe even just moving the most tempting foods out of arms reach.

Now let’s focus on specific foods. Which foods are your red light foods, the ones you just cannot stop eating once you start? Remember that you can’t eat it if you never buy it. If it is a food that can be done without then maybe your best bet is to never bring it in the house. Or, maybe you can find a healthy substitute that is lower in PointsPlus values…for example Peter Pan peanut butter replaced with PB2.

Also remember the phrase out of sight out of mind. If it is a food that must be in the house, move it to a place where it won’t be seen very often. Put it in the back of the tallest cabinet for example. If its sitting on the kitchen counter, and that is the first thing you see when you walk in, then 10-1 its going straight into your tummy.

How could power foods help in these types of situations? What can you do to make these foods more assessable? It could help to buy prepackaged bags of baby carrots, buying sliced apples for convenience, or keeping a stash of snacks at home, in the car, and at the office.

Your best bet is to always be prepared with a healthy snack for when hunger strikes!

To help create a healthy work environment getting off to a good start is imperative:
*Give yourself a healthy breakfast that includes protein and fiber to keep you full until lunch so you won’t be roaming for break room goodies.
(A good example might be scrambled eggs with toast and turkey bacon, or oatmeal with milk blueberries and almonds)

*Instead of choosing those high pp lattes, cappuccinos, and coffee with full fat cream, try herbal or green tea instead.

*Bring healthy munchies such as fruit, nuts, popcorn, or snack bars to satisfy the mid-afternoon hunger pains

*Bring your own lunch to work maybe some leftovers from last night or a great homemade sandwich.

*Keep water bottle on hand. Take it everywhere you go! If you feel hungry, have a bottle of water first. You might just be thirsty.

2 comments:

-J.D. Humenay said...

When I was a commuter, I really struggled with the drive home from my stressful job! I'd stop at a coffee shop for a latte, or a drive-thru for fries, or a gas station and grab a candy bar. My drive home was all of 15 minutes- there was NO WAY I'd starve before I got home. But I "needed" it to calm down or reward myself after a hard day (and in my job, every day is a hard day when the FBI can knock on your door when you make a mistake!).

So that said, I decided to always have a drink in the car - a soda that was a "zero", or a bottle of water.

Then I decided to save money AND stress and started taking the bus. It was about a mile to the nearest bus station, and I walked through a beautiful oak-shaded dirt road by a lake. What a beautiful way to start AND end my day? The extra walking got me relaxed and got out the stress on the way home from work. And sitting on the bus reading let me relax. While I never THOUGHT I stressed out in traffic, it was SO nice to just read, or catch up with a friend talking on the phone.

And I was saving money and the planet by not driving! :)

It may be an extreme solution, but it worked for me! Now, I keep a small protien bar in the car and a gallon of water, if I get the munchies, but I find that time on the bus broke that habit.

Leigh-Ann said...

Good suggestions . . . thanks so much!

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