Archive for the ‘Wellness Coaching’ Category

How to Make Healthier Choices When Eating at Fast Food Restaurants

We all know that eating at fast food restaurants is terrible for our health. It makes us fat, lazy, bloated and sick. Just one cheeseburger will double your daily calorie requirement, and the salads, yogurts and diet sodas they sell are not really all that much healthier. They are the biggest reason for the obesity epidemic in America today, and there does not seem to be any way of making them disappear from our ever growing suburban landscapes. 

If you are really serious about getting or staying in shape, fast food restaurants are not on your path to success. Sometimes, though, these restaurants may seem like the only option other than starvation. Long road trips, co-worker lunches, and other situations may force you into choosing between bad or worse. This can be devastating to anyone trying to lose weight or trying to change their bad eating habits to good.

Listed below are 7 tips that will help you make healthier choices if you are ever forced to eat fast food. It is inevitably going to happen in todays fast paced world. You might as well be prepared!

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #1: Get Less For Your Money

So-called value meals really only offer you extra calories, saturated fat, sugar, and other diet killers. The only way this could be beneficial is if you are saving up for bypass surgery. Getting twice as many fries for only 20 cents more is not a good deal. Fast food packs a lot of unhealthiness into a small package as it is, so super-sizing it is only adding fuel to the fire.

Think about it this way. Is 20 cents really worth eating an entire weeks worth of fat and calories in one sitting? Paying extra to ruin your health makes no sense. Ordering the small size may not be as cheap per pound of food, but it will save a fortune when working off pounds of fat later.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #2: Discover Your Inner Child

Sadly, a reasonably sized portion for an adult is now only found on the children’s menu! Want to get healthy sides like fruit or carrots? Again, only on the childrens menu! It is great that kids are getting healthier options, but what about adults? We need good nutrition too! Don’t be ashamed to order the junior hamburger or even the kids’ meal. You are the only one who can control what you eat and how much of it.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #3: No All Salads Are Created Equal

Just because it has lettuce does not mean it is healthy. A Big Mac has lettuce, and you know it would not be any healthier if it was called a Big Mac Salad. Don’t be fooled by clever naming tricks. Use common sense when selecting a salad, and make sure all the ingredients are vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins you recognize. Also, do not go through all that effort just to drown your healthy meal in a pool of fatty dressing! Ask for vinaigrette.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #4: Have It Your Way

Most restaurants honor your requests if you ask them. Hold the mayo and high-corn-syrup ketchup, and ask for more pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. Substitute the breaded chicken breast for the grilled chicken breast. Ask for extra vegetables. Ask for wheat buns instead of white. And by all means, hold the cheese! Most of the time you can not savor the flavor when it is packed into a sandwich anyway.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #5: You Are What You Drink

The most profitable menu items for restaurants are soft drinks. Costing almost nothing to make, they want you to get as big a size as possible and pay for it. What you’ll get is tons of sugar and chemicals. And maybe eventually, diabetes! Soda and diet soda will ruin your figure and your health. Order iced tea or water instead. If someone is holding a gun to your head and making you order a soda, get the small.

Of course the best advice I can give you is to make your own fast food at home in the form of a soy-based protein meal replacement. This is how I lost 70 pounds in 4 months and have kept it off for over 15 years. It usually takes me about 3 minutes to make, which is less time than it takes to wait in the drive-thru line at any McDonalds.

I rarely go to fast food restaurants anymore, but when I do I follow the tips listed above. Losing weight and keeping it off for good is about making healthy decisions about what you eat, no matter where you are eating.

So you’ve had a bad day at the office, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it…

Do you work with a tornado? You know the kind of person who always seems surrounded by drama in their personal and professional lives?  Any attempt by their colleagues to get them to change their ways falls on deaf ears.  Can you see them heading for burnout in a couple of year’s time? 

Research from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales found that 45 per cent of people questioned say they have suffered from stress, citing unattainable targets, poor management and bad work-life balance as the causes.  Employees claim their work stress levels also affecting their home life, with half saying it impacted on their health and 41 per cent reporting it was detrimental to their social life.  The expert highlights those in the financial sector as being renowned for being stressed.

Therefore employers have a duty of care to protect their staff.  Staff who perform well become an asset not a burden. 

Believe it or not some people actually love a crisis.  In fact when things get too predictable they get bored!  But how do you tackle someone who thrives under stress, but for whom this habit is beginning to damage their health and effectiveness? 

 Here are 10 Top Tips on how to recognise and cope with stress

Performance management and stress could be discussed at an annual Appraisal.  An employee may not realise the impact stress could have on their performance.  If their needs lie at the heart of their behaviour, this may subconsciously drive their choices and decisions.  These needs may include a need to be in control, a need to be liked or a strong need for perfection, all of which could create scenarios with stressful outcomes.  Offer them one2One coaching or mentoring support, this will help them identify what behaviour or habits they need to change and what new approaches they can adopt.  This could then be progressed through an action plan, reviewed periodically.  A Personal Coach or Mentor will hold them accountable to take some action. Recommend that they have a health check with their GP, and to start taking responsibility for their own stress management.  Stress related illnesses are avoidable, and therefore a complete lifestyle assessment would be beneficial with the emphasis on reducing alcohol intake, eating a sensible diet, and avoidance of junk food. Encourage them to delegate, prioritise and become personally more organised, e.g. by using a task list, setting realistic deadlines, proper diary and time management Provide some opportunities for them to do some strategic planning and to allocate time for this in their schedule Encourage them to learn some relaxation techniques, e.g. by taking up a relaxing hobby like fishing or Tai Chi.  These will have a beneficial effect on their health by reducing stress hormones, lowering blood pressure, creating a happier state of mind leading to better sleep, more energy and resilience to stress. Provide options for them to look into their own work-life balance, i.e. by not taking work home/on holiday and using technology to make this easier for them with remote working for instance Discuss setting realistic goals and not to over commit themselves Introduce some coaching techniques to help them pause and  reflect on the consequences of their behaviour.  They should be encouraged to adopt new ways of handling stressful situations, handling themselves in a crisis, and conflict management – perhaps by attending workshops focussed on emotional intelligence. Help them to identify the warning signs of stress, i.e. binge eating or drinking, poor sleep patterns, aggressive behaviour, or stress related illnesses, e.g. migraine, eczema, IBS. The overall recommendation being that sensible stress management is a long term solution, which although it requires commitment provides a viable solution much more effective than the short-term solution, i.e. going sick and being put on medication.

Setting realistic expectations and identifying if your staff are under stress will save money and improve staff retention and morale in the longer term.  

The Top 5 Breakfast Foods for Healthy Weight Loss!



It is difficult to overestimate the importance of eating breakfast. People who take time for a morning meal consume fewer calories over the course of the day, have a stronger desire to exercise, and are less likely to be overweight or obese.

People who skip breakfast are more likely to snack on junk food throughout the day, and overindugle on fatty meals for lunch and dinner. If you are thinking about devising a healthy weight loss plan of action, think breakfast!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You have probably heard this many times, and it’s true. Even the name says it all. It is meant to break the fast you give your body from not eating since you put your head down on the pillow the night before. How you eat when you wake up in the morning dictates how your day will go. If you are trying to implement a healthy weight loss program, eating a healthy breakfast makes the difference between success and failure.

Just because breakfast is the most important meal of the day doesn’t grant you permission to go into a feeding frenzy. That’s exactly what Americas most popular breakfast restaurants are setting you up for, so make a conscious effort not to buy into it. They peddle fatty scrambled eggs, sugary muffins and donuts, and pancakes covered with enough syrup and whip cream to launch your blood sugar level up into outer space.

Foods loaded with unhealthy fats, added sugars, and refined carbohydrates are not how you want to start your day, especially when you are trying to have a healthy weight loss. They zap your energy levels so you will feel lathargic, and tell your body to store fat instead of burning it. To help you avoid these morning mishaps, fill your cupboards with the following foods to ensure a successful and healthy weight loss.

Healthy Weight Loss Breakfast Food #1: Soy-Protein Shake

This is how I lost 70 pounds 15 years ago and have kept it off ever since. Imagine getting 2,000 calories worth of nutrition for about 180 calories without the fat and sugar. It’s the closest thing you can get to diet magic, and it’s the best way to begin every day. What happens when your body gets the right nutrition? It begins to heal itself in ways you never thought possible. Nothing on any restuarant breakfast menu is going to offer good health like that.

 

Healthy Weight Loss Breakfast Food #2: Green Tea

Making sure you are well hydrated is an important part of breakfast, so why not give your body the best liquid possible? Unplug your coffee maker and find a different route to work that doesn’t pass by a Starbucks. One cup of green tea every morning will give you enough energy to last an entire day, and you will not get the jitters like you might from coffee. Want to know the best part about green tea? It helps your body actually speed up your metabolism! Try finding that weight loss benefit in a fatty, over-priced latte.

Healthy Weight Loss Breakfast Food #3: Oatmeal

Remember when you were a kid and your mother made you eat oatmeal instead of your favorite cereal? That’s because it was healthy…and it still is, no matter how you prepare it. OK, so you can’t dump tons of sugar on it and make it taste like Apple Jacks, that’s a given. But you can sweeten it with fresh fruit or cranberries and raisins to enhance the taste. Just because you are older now and can make your own decisions doesn’t mean your mother wasn’t right.

Healthy Weight Loss Breakfast Food #4: Scrambled Eggs With Vegetables & Steak

So you say you want to splurge sometimes and eat a real American breakfast like the kind you get at a truck stop? I hear you loud and clear. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that…if you want to gain weight. How do you do it while sticking to your healthy weight loss plan? Be creative. Make yourself an egg beater omelet with fresh vegetables and lean meat. Just because a truck stop wants to serve you certain food in a greasy way doesn’t mean you can’t eat te same thing in a healthy way.

Healthy Weight Loss Breakfast Food #5: Fresh Fruit With Granola

Remember that recent high-protein low-carbohydrate diet fad that came and went faster than you could say Atkins? No one is on it anymore, and no one is thinner or healther because of it. Don’t ever let anyone convince you that something like a fresh apple is bad for you. Your body needs carbohydrates and there are few healthier sources than fruit and granola. It makes a great substitute for high sugar cereals. If you can sprinkle some protein powder on top of it, it’s an even better way to start your day.

So there you have it…5 of the best breakfasts you can eat for losing weight in a healthy, natural way. It’s not easy to change your taste pallete, but try these suggestions little by little as replacement for the high fat, high sugar choices that made you gain weight. Living a healthy lifestyle is essential for healthy weight loss, and choosing to eat smart for breakfast is the first step in the right direction.