Weight Loss & Wellness Blog

It's only the beginning of November and the holiday decorations are up!  I noticed this

recently as I was driving through Lansdowne Towne Center.  And I've already heard my first holiday song on the radio. Yikes!  So it doesn't hurt to start planning now as to how you will stay on your weight loss protocol during the holidays!

Here are a few tips to keep in mind: 

• Plan ahead!  I always remind our clients that planning is more than half the battle.  If you have your vegetables prepared and easily accessible, you will not be as tempted to eat something that is not on the protocol.
• Keep plenty of Ideal Protein foods on hand and take them with you.
• Eat an Ideal Protein food before you go to a restaurant, party or dinner.
• Let your friends, family, and colleagues know you are following a healthy diet. When it is time to choose restaurants or menu items for parties, they will know ahead of time to include healthier options.
• Start collecting recipes of healthy appetizers, entrees or desserts now so you can be prepared when it's time to shop for parties or bring a dish to a party.  We have a brand new Ideal Protein recipe book with lots of amazing recipes.
• Remember that you are making a choice not to eat certain foods this holiday season, you are not depriving yourself.
• If you are on maintenance, add an Ideal Protein food to your diet every day.  This will help keep your weight in check.
• Attend the healthy cooking demo on Monday, November 14 at 6:30 pm in Lansdowne.  You'll get some wonderful recipe ideas for the holidays.  Yummy!
• Sign up for the Strategies for Coping with the Holidays workshop on Saturday, November 19.  You don't have to do this alone.
• Keep your weekly visit appointments.  You'll want to stay accountable and be supported during this season.

I'd love to hear any tips you may have!

Karen Wayne is on the move. A Rotarian breakfast here and a Women’s Club lunch there are all in a day’s work. Chamber events followed by a Red Cross evening gala are no problem for Karen.

Karen has a long-term association with the American Red Cross that goes back to when she was eight and collected pennies for the organization. This commitment continued to run like a thread through her life from the time she served as a volunteer during the Vietnam War all the way to her current position as the Executive Director of the American Red Cross of Loudoun and Prince William Counties.

Karen has a stressful job and describes herself as a stress eater. Furthermore, she can’t afford to be sluggish and needs to have a lot of energy in her role.

Karen also found herself in need of a diet that would work for her as hard as she works. She started on the Ideal Protein Diet in April after seeing several friends experience success on the program. The pivotal moment came for Karen when a friend took her by the hand and personally introduced her to Jennifer Seven of 7Company Weight Loss & Wellness Center at a Sterling Women’s Club meeting. She began the program right away.

Karen has lost 44 pounds already despite her active social life. She’s learned techniques to deal with the frequent meetings and events that revolve around food. Karen has learned to ask for plain chicken and bring her own salad dressing. She’ll bring an Ideal Protein bar and grab coffee at a breakfast meeting instead of relying on an uncertain menu.

Karen likes what she’s seen from 7Company, including the focus on a healthy lifestyle, getting recipes that she can use, and adding “real food” back into her diet. She’s also enjoyed Ideal Protein peanut butter bars and puddings that help to satisfy her sweet tooth and bottles of Sweet Leaf Stevia peppermint or vanilla that she’ll use to flavor a glass of water. Karen hopes that others who have battled weight gain will give the diet a try.

Karen has loved the different reactions she’s gotten from family and friends and feels like she’s a walking commercial. One cousin responded after seeing her: “I wanna go on that diet!” After posting photos recently on Facebook, Karen received comments that she looks good and that she looks young. At a Chamber event she waved at someone who indicated be their “Who is that woman?” reaction that due to her weight loss that they didn’t recognize her; Karen had to speak to them before they realized who she was.

In fact, Karen has had such success navigating the culinary hazards of the non-profit circuit that she’s upped her goal from what she originally set. If Karen tackles this with the same vigor and focus she does her life and work responsibilities, we have no doubt she’ll continue to succeed! Go, Karen!

What's your story?  Could yours be the next Ideal Protein success?

Kathi Bird teaches classes on cake decorating so she knows a thing or two about sweets.  It’s just that now she doesn’t even taste her creations or those of her students.

Weight has been an issue for Kathi most of her life. In fact Kathi claims that she was blessed by her great, great grandma, a Cherokee Indian, with apple-shaped hips.

Prior to gastric bypass surgery in 2003 though, Kathi had ballooned to a weight of 254 lbs. She was able to get down to a weight that was healthy and worked for her. Then a number of family members passed away; the stress caused her to gain 50 lbs in a short period of time.

Kathi’s first exposure to 7Company and Ideal Protein were when she saw friends turn thin on the diet. She was motivated by a desire to be stronger, more active, and to rejuvenate her body, declaring that she wasn’t going to be “a fat grandma”.

Due to the gastric bypass surgery, 7Company has had to work with Kathi to adjust her diet, including allowing her to eat more restricted items. Still, Kathi has faced this with determination, saying that the food tastes great and she loves it, also adding that she’s “too old to do this again”.  Since February Kathi has lost 40 lbs.

Kathi likes that she doesn’t have to exercise on the Ideal Protein diet and has found the diet to be portable since one can get good, fresh produce anywhere, including on vacation. She especially likes the chocolate-flavored soy snacks and crispy cereal. One of her favorite treats is turning the chocolate pudding mix into a chocolate milkshake.

Kathi says that nothing has gone in her mouth that wasn’t on the approved list, and she’s found it motivating to see the weight come off. Kathi is a gardener who can now spend hours longer in her garden without feeling fatigued. Previously, she found it tiring to take a 40 pound bag of pellets up a flight of stairs to her pellet stove. After just one month on the Ideal Protein diet, Kathi would put the bag under one arm and run up those same stairs.

She’s become so passionate about the Ideal Protein diet and the difference it’s made for her that Kathi will be representing 7Company at Chamber and other community and women’s organizations’ meetings and events. She wants to show people her “before” photo and the way she looks now and get more people on a path to healthy living.

A few have already witnessed first-hand Kathi’s amazing transformation over the past few months and have started on the Ideal Protein diet from 7Company. Yes, it appears that three of her cake decorating students may no longer be eating cakes they’ve baked either.

What's your story?  Could yours be the next Ideal Protein success?