[CHANGES] 1/2price;pizza;tip;links

[Sandra Ahten]

This issue contains:

* HALF PRICE SPECIAL
** PIZZA NIGHT  = DIET NIGHT
*** TODAYS TIP
**** LINK TO YESTERDAYS NEWS GAZETTE ARTICLE

If you have a question or comment – please write at anytime. It’s nice to 
know who is reading and knowing your questions and quandaries can help me 
write my column and my book.
Sincerely,
Sandra --------

* END OF YEAR “SWIM-AGAINST-THE-CURRENT” HALF PRICE SPECIAL

As you can imagine – November and December are pretty quiet times in the 
diet industry. But there are a handful of people who are determined that 
this year is going to be different: This year they are not going  practice  
SAD (the Standard American Diet) which, during the holidays causes 3-5 
pounds of weight gain between Halloween and New Years. Join us if you would 
like to experience weight loss, integrity, and peace of mind!

I’m offering a “Swim-Against-The-Current” Special for the Reasonable Diet 
Groups that meet on Tuesday at 10:30am or Saturday at 9:30am. You can join 
for $42.50 for 5 sessions in 6 weeks (allowing you to miss one session). 
This is half price… all the way through the end of the year. Space is 
limited.


** PIZZA NIGHT = DIET NIGHT

Can it be true?  Is there really a possibility that you could treat your 
family, your schedule and your taste buds to pizza once a week and still 
lose weight? You could make your own low-cal pizza at home, but that might 
not seem like a solution, since a common reason for having pizza is for the 
convenience.

But the answer is: Yes! You can lose weight and still indulge in convenient 
carry-out or delivered pizza. Try these hints.

1) Choose a thin crust variety. Regular crust can have 40-50% more calories 
per slice than thin crust. Deep dish and stuffed crusts can add 70% more 
calories.

2) Order lots of vegetables, but be wary of “veggie specials.” These often 
add extra cheese. Ask before you order, or specifically order vegetables 
ingredients on top of a regular cheese pizza.

3) Start with a salad. Pizza and salad go together and, since you are 
planning ahead, there is no excuse for not adding a bag of pre-cut, 
pre-washed salad greens and favorite low calorie dressing to your grocery 
list right now.

4) If you are eating with others, set your fair share aside (wrap it in 
tinfoil while you slowly enjoy your salad) or order an individual sized 
pizza, so that you won’t feel panic when the grab-fest starts.

5) Portion control is key; but you don’t have to be unreasonable. Setting 
unrealistic expectations might be setting yourself up for failure (and an 
excuse for throwing up your hands in wild abandonment of good conscious 
choices!)  Instead, eat slowly and pay attention by asking yourself, “How 
much will it take to satisfy me?” You might be surprised at the answer.

6) Seek nutritional information. Ask for a brochure or look on the website 
of your local pizza joint. You need information to make knowledgeable 
choices. i.e.  Is it worth it to have meat-lovers instead of as single meat? 
At Dominos 3 pieces of a 14” Meatzza Feast is 930 calories; pepperoni is 
711; and ham is 612.

7) Make your breakfast and lunch choices with dinner in mind. Remind 
yourself that your reward is going to be delivered at the sound of the 
doorbell tonight – so as to make your daytime meals particularly focused on 
healthy choices.

You may have a deeply engrained habit of using pizza as a splurge food. If 
so, it may be daunting to believe that you actually have the self-control to 
order pizza while you are trying to lose weight. Remember though that every 
new behavior and habit starts first with a thought and then with a single 
action.

Once you have invested the time and mental energy into actually searching 
the website, getting the salad from the grocery store, ordering the lighter 
variety, etc – it is much less likely that you’ll go back to an old habit of 
gobbling it down until it’s gone.


*** TODAY’S TIP

A take-and-bake pizza franchise, Papa Murphys offers a very affordable and 
tasty variety of pizza called the “deLite.” For comparison purposes: Their 
large pizza (which is rectangular) is about the same number of grams as a 
Domino’s 14 inch. For 1/8 (of this size) of a cheese pizza calories are:  
Papa Murphys - 163; Dominos - 188; and Monicals  - 210. All of these are 
good options just remember to order the thin crust.

Monicals is a great choice if you are meeting the gang for a pizza night 
out. They have salads, and offer 8” individually sized varieties. Their  
“Happy Heart” 8 inch  is 550 calories for the whole pizza. They also have a 
cheese free pizza – that is 403 calories, but I have to admit – I’ve never 
even considered trying it.
---
Do you have any other pizza tips? Can you have pizza and still lose weight? 
What is your strategy? I’m preparing my next newspaper column on this 
subject and would welcome your input.

**** LINK TO YESTERDAYS NEWS GAZETTE ARTICLE

If you don’t subscribe, or simply missed my latest columns in the News 
Gazette – you can read them at my website. 
http://www.reasonablediet.com/motivation.htm


Self Love As Diet Motivation (November 1, 2005) -- If you are uncomfortable 
with your weight should you try to take off some pounds or endeavor instead 
to accept yourself as you are?

Fake It Till You Make It (October 18, 2005) -- When you are really 
struggling with believing that you’ll never successfully lose weight, it is 
time to “fake it till you make it.”
---
Sandra