Use it or Lose it

Following on with the theme of weight-loss at work (can you tell what’s on my mind this week?), I thought I’d talk about exercising while working today.

Having started a new job this week, after not having worked for a couple of months, I’m feeling exhausted! With all the new information to take in, getting used to the earlier starts and the daily commute, I’m just a little too tired to exercise in the evenings.

While i’m obviously dismayed that my gym membership is going to waste,I’m not beating myself up about the fact that I’m not dragging myself down there each night.

The reason for this is that I’m still actually getting some exercise. In fact, I’m probably getting more exercise at the moment than I have been recently!

I have a 15 minute walk to the bus-stop in the morning and then back home again in the evening. While the bus drops me immediately outside my workplace, I do have to climb several flights of stairs several times a day, as well as fetching and carrying various items from the stores for people fairly frequently.

I’d been wondering why the muscles in my legs, bottom and arms had been aching this week. It only occurred to me today as I could feel the muscles working while I climbing the stairs and carrying boxes that this was the reason for the aches! I’d been using muscles that had been neglected a little recently.

That, really, is the key to maintaining, or even starting, an exercise “regime” while working. Office jobs can be incredibly sedentary. By making them as active as possible - walking to someone’s office to speak to them, rather than emailing or calling them, taking the stairs instead of the lift, and so on - you can begin to increase the number of calories you’re burning with relatively little effort!

Tomorrow, why not try climbing one extra flight of stairs during the day? Maintain that and gradually increase the number of stairs you take on a regular basis.

Following on from yesterday’s post about maintaining weight-loss at work, I thought I’d talk about snacking at work today.

Just as at home, people snack at work for a number of reasons - they might be bored, they may be stressed or just tempted by the treats that co-workers bring in.

Once again, preparation is key to overcoming the snacking demons that can thwart your dieting efforts! Continue Reading »

I started my new job today, working as a receptionist in a hospital IT Department.

My boyfriend enquired whether I thought I’d be able to keep up the good work I’d put in recently with my weight loss with such a big change to my routine. Continue Reading »

Emotions can play havoc with anyone’s appetite. Some people respond to stress by over-eating or by a complete loss of appetite. Loneliness, boredom, sadness – all can lead to an increase in emotional eating. Heck, even happiness can cause overindulgence!

The key to dealing with emotional eating is identifying it. Once emotional eating is established as a cause, then the triggers causing overeating can be recognised. Being aware of the triggers for emotional eating allows action to be taken to avoid or deal with the triggers when they arise.

For instance, if someone recognises that boredom sends them straight to the fridge, they very fact that they know this means they can take action to distract themselves in some other way before the situation gets that far.

While this may seem like a small thing, admitting to emotional eating is a massive step and can be a turning point in a weight loss regime.

If you need a reason to escape your family and friends over the holidays - and while they may be loved ones, sometimes we all need a break - then exercise can be the perfect excuse.

If your holiday companions are aware that you’re watching your weight or are embarking on a healthy living/fitness regime, then they should already have an idea that you’re going to want to get some exercise.

Going for a brisk walk to take in the crisp, fresh winter air will probably bring the offer of one or two people to go along with you - great if you want company.

If you really are hoping to get some exercise and experience a bit of “me-time”, there’s nothing for it other than being honest. Tell them you prefer to exercise alone, as it keeps you motivated or you feel self-conscious exercising in front of people.

Failing that, you may have to threaten to break into a jog to burn off all those extra holiday calories!

Remember - it’s not an excuse. The exercise is necessary for your health and well-being (although the escape is good for your sanity ).

Happy Holidays!

Dieting during the holiday season can be incredibly difficult.

Trying to stick to a strict weight loss regime can be a lot of hard work. The guilt that can be experienced from overindulging in seasonal treats, or from failing to do as much exercise as you had hoped, could spoil your enjoyment of Christmas. Getting slightly off track could even lead you to completely abandon your weight loss goals.

Instead of attempting to stick rigidly to your diet, why not accept beforehand that the holiday season is all about enjoying yourself, enjoying your friends and family. Yes, sometimes there will be a little bit of indulgence, but that it needn’t mean giving up on weight loss.

A little bit of effort and self-control can keep you motivated and on the right track. A New Year also means the chance to renew your weight loss goals and resolve to reach them in 2009.

Like many people, I get cravings for certain foods sometimes, particularly chocolate or other sweet treats. If you absolutely must have something sweet but still want to lose weight, then you will need to figure out a way of incorporating treats into your weight loss regime.

I know many people advocate making sure the cupboards are completely free of temptation, and waiting for the craving to pass. If you know you can’t trust yourself with sweets in the house, then you will probably be best taking this approach.

On the other hand, you may find that if you have nothing sweet to snack on when you’re at home then you might over-indulge when you go out. In that case, you may prefer to keep something tasty in the cupboards, but not too naughty, to enjoy while you’re at home.

There are a few ways in which you can still enjoy tasty treats while losing weight. Of course, they all still require a certain amount of willpower, but if you have that then you can still allow yourself that little bit of indulgence, satisfy your craving and still keep on track.

Fat-free yoghurts are a great way of enjoying something sweet that shouldn’t be too bad for you. It is important, though, to check the label for the number of calories and amount of sugar. Remember: fat-free doesn’t always equate to low-calorie or low-sugar.

For chocolate lovers, try buying “fun-size” or snack sized bars and bags. Even if you buy a multi-pack of these, they are divided into individually wrapped portions, making it easy to keep track of how many calories you are consuming. They do still pack a lot of sugar, fat and calories for their size, but better to have a fun-sized bag of sweets than a family-sized one!

Fruit is always a good choice. The healthy option, enjoying something sweet will also count towards your recommended intake of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Dried fruit also counts towards this, but these can be much higher in sugar and calories that their hydrated counterparts - a serving of dried fruit will be much smaller than the equivalent serving of fresh fruit.

I’d love to hear other people’s ways of coping with food cravings. Do you use distraction techniques or give into them?