[CHANGES] At Work Meetings and Holiday Help

[Sandra Ahten]

Hello everyone,
Are you all snug and cozy as winter has truly descended upon us? I hope so. 
I wanted to let you know that I am available for conducting an “at-work” 
Reasonable Diet support group at your workplace after the first of the year.

Please cut and paste the email below (between the ^^^^)  if you are 
interested, and send it to your “people” in your workplace. (Of course, 
clear it with Personnel or your supervisor first, if need be.)

Following that is a sneak peak of my next NG column (“Creatively Plan a 
Reasonable Holiday Diet”)

Peace,
Sandra


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Are you interested in having a short term (10 week) diet support group here 
at work? Sandra Ahten, a former Weight Watcher leader, who writes the News 
Gazette column “The Reasonable Diet,” has two noon-time openings for 
“at-work” group starting in January. The Reasonable Diet group/meetings 
supply AIM, (accountability, information and motivation.)

Sandra will come and give a presentation, free of charge, to tell her 
philosophy and determine the interest level. Cost for the 10 weeks, per 
person, will be $120.

We need:
10-15 employees committed for 10 weeks
A conference room
payroll deduction options (preferably)

If you are interested in attending the information meeting please reply to 
me so I can coordinate a date and time for Sandra to come and give her 
presentation.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


“Creatively Plan a Reasonable Holiday Diet”
© 2005 by Sandra Ahten

“Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of 
habit by originality, overcomes everything.”  -- George Lois

Why not try some creativity to solve some of your dieting dilemma this 
holiday season?

I had a client who was struggling with having too many desserts. In despair, 
she would then abandon her whole healthy diet plan. She knew she was in 
trouble when she found herself eating nasty cold french fries out of the 
bottom of her kid’s fast food bag. She decided instead to allow herself to 
have a dessert every day, but not to sabotage the rest of her diet. She 
called it the “Eating-Healthy-Between-Desserts Diet.” She immediately 
started losing again once she stopped sabotaging herself. When she combined 
it with another simple step of asking herself, “What would satisfy me?” she 
was able to replace dessert with fruit on many occasions – and pick up her 
rate of weight loss even more.

Are you ready to devise your own diet? Or are you telling yourself that the 
holidays are not the time to diet? Well, no, they are not the time to embark 
on a whole new way of cooking, learning a new online calorie counting 
program or imposing severe restrictions. But it is a good idea to have 
strategies to help us practice some restraint during the party season.

Try this: Set aside 20 minutes of “creative diet-devising time” at the 
beginning of each week. As you imaginatively make your plan, consult your 
calendar so you can make specific plans for specific days. Use my list of 
ideas below for inspiration. You can modify the strategies or combine them 
with your own. Keep it simple and make it reasonable. Write down your 
day-to-day commitments and absolutely have a happy holiday season!

** What-Mom-Said Diet: Eat 3 balanced meals plus a single treat per day.

** 3-Hour/3-Container Diet: Set aside 3 hours to prepare and fill 3 large 
plastic storage containers with (1) low fat soup, (2) fresh cut-up 
vegetables and (3) fresh prepared fruit. Make a commitment to refilling the 
containers every time they run low.

** Pure-Common-Sense Diet: Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables and drink 
48 ounces of water every day. Exercise 3 times per week for 30 minutes.

** It’s-Not-Christmas-Today Diet: Identify all possible “focus” (non-party) 
days in the week and make plans to not overindulge on those days. On days 
when there are holiday celebrations, find specific “focus” meals. There is 
no need to start the day with a donut, just because you are going to end it 
with a piece of pumpkin pie.

** Easy-Way-Out Diet: Consider splurging with fresh prepared 
calorie-conscious meals delivered to your door twice a week by Seattle 
Sutton. (www.seattlesutton.com) As an alternative, look for prepared healthy 
low-fat deli food and use the salad bar at the grocery store to have fresh 
veggies and fruits prepared and on hand.

** Out-of-Denial Diet: Simply commit to recording every morsel of food that 
goes into your mouth. Those who have “journaled” food consumption in the 
past know that this is a sure-fire way to encourage more responsible 
choices.

** You-Don’t-Have-to-Roll-Me-Home Diet: Commit to not overindulging to the 
point of uncomfortable fullness. This will require eating slowly and being 
selective in your choices.

** Oprah-Tried-This Diet: All eating ceases at 7 pm. This may not work on 
late party nights, but try it on lightly scheduled days and use it in 
combination with the You-Don’t-Have-To-Roll-Me-Home Diet on party nights.

** No “S” Diet: This is my favorite internet diet. Have no sweets, no 
snacks, and no seconds; except on days starting with an “S”: Saturday, 
Sunday, and special occasions. (www.nosdiet.com)

** One-A-Day Diet: Make one really healthy choice every day: An extra walk 
on your lunch hour; passing on the dinner rolls; or no butter on the 
popcorn.

You get the idea. The important thing here is that you not try to follow a 
diet – rather, you should ask yourself what you are willing to do. Then give 
it a fun name that will help you remember it. Lastly, write it down to help 
you reinforce your commitment.

Enjoy your holidays by remembering the wise words of Julia Child:
“Life itself is the proper binge.”