'Motivational Corner' helps Fraser keep on track
Bill Fraser says he’s now lost 23 1/2 pounds since starting his healthy lifestyle changes one month ago.
He has had his pants taken in, too, because he has also slimmed down 2 1/4 inches.
This week was going well, he said on Thursday, but the week before had been challenging.
First, he had to attend two events where the meal was a buffet laden with off-limits items like french fries, potatoes and sweets. Still, he was able to resist most of the bad stuff, having a salad instead.
“I didn’t do too awful, awful bad.” he said. His only real cheat, he added, was a glass of wine at one of the dinners.
The other challenge he faced was having a hard time getting to the gym.
Normally he would go before work, he said, but early-morning meetings kept him from getting there. However, he said, it all worked out, because he discovered that he enjoys going to the gym at night.
“When I go home, I’m relaxed and I’m ready to go to bed,” he said, adding that he finds he has much more energy to do his workout after dinner than on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, and it also helps burn off some of the carbohydrates he ate during the day.
From now on, he said, he’s going to go to the gym at night whenever possible. This week he will be starting his new exercise program, which involves doubling his weight routine, and he said he’s looking forward to it.
During the course of this challenge, he continued, he has been having a lot of new experiences, especially with trying different foods.
“I’ve been experimenting over the past week with some new foods,” he said.
At a restaurant last week, he said, he ordered a chicken breast and it was served with a side that looked like potatoes. When he asked the server, he found out the side was actually radishes cooked in olive oil — an acceptable vegetable on his meal plan. They were quite good, he added, with a similar texture to potatoes but with a better flavour.
He has also developed a taste for fillet of sole, which he had never tried before starting this plan. “I find it quite nice.”’ Fraser said that variety is very important, because you have to make sure you don’t get bored.
Lately, instead of the usual broccoli- cauliflower mix for vegetables, he has been substituting things like peppers, mushrooms, onions and baked sweet potato.
Another thing he has learned in the last couple of weeks, he said, is to avoid eating carbohydrates later in the day. The meal plan limits carbs — like whole wheat bread, or brown rice or pasta — to one meal a day, and Fraser had been eating them at suppertime. His counsellor, however, said it’s better to eat them at breakfast or lunch so that you have an opportunity to work them off during the day.
Fraser added he has also found some new ways of keeping himself on track. In his office, he has what he calls his “motivational corner,” where he posts the newspaper articles following his progress and other items that encourage him to keep on even when things get tough.
In the same corner of his office is his fridge, which is always stocked with healthy foods.
“Make sure you have the right food available. That’s key,” he said.
“It’s important to make sure you plan ahead.”
Besides the fridge, he said, he also keeps a package of almonds in his vehicle, and takes an apple or orange with him if he thinks he won’t have time for his regular snack. That way he doesn’t end up eating too much because of being so hungry.
It helps to keep problem foods unavailable, too, he said — if it’s not right there, you’re less likely to eat it.
“I guess my tip of the week for everybody is to make sure you have more healthy choices available, and try not to have too many unhealthy foods at home,” he said.
He is also encouraging local businesses to try to make healthy snacks available to their employees.
Many workplaces have already started adding healthier options to the usual vending machine full of pop, chips and chocolate bars, he said, but more should be doing the same. “It’s just to have an alternative,” he said.
