Employee Health

Employee health seems to be the new buzzword. It is spoken about by our CEO at our monthly staff meetings, we get e-mail messages about various runs and racing events that are held around here, we had a health screening about a month ago, and we've had weekly lunch seminars that talk about eating healthy.

As for me, I'm 6'4" and, per all the lit I read, I'm supposed to way 30lbs less than I do. I'd go down the shower drain if I weighed that and only my feet would prevent me from being lost forever in the city system. I drink lots of Mountain Dew Live Wire, Pepsi, and regular Mountain Dew. I have a small gut, but that doesn't stop one of my favorite sister-in-laws from always asking me if I am losing weight (drives my wife nuts). Also, I walked into the building last month at the same time as our CEO and *he* asked if I had been losing weight.

Am I? No, not really. I fluctuate 3-4 lbs up and down.

The things that have worked for me are these:

1. When you are trying to unwind from a long day, and sit watching two episodes of MASH, don't eat.
2. Don't have a bowl of ice cream with choc syrup *and* choc chips.
3. During the day, don't have a 3 Musketeers bar @ 2.
4. During the day, take two 15 minute breaks - one ~10, one ~3 - and walk outside. Even if it's cold, get some fresh air. Go with a co-worker and *don't* talk about work.
5. Instead of eating a huge lunch, eat less.
6. Drink less beer on the weekends.
7. Mow the yard with a push mower or self-propelled - not a riding one - and walk briskly.

And here's the biggest thing: Take smaller portions of every thing you put on your plate and *don't* go back for seconds.

I also have read and been told that if you're serious about losing weight, eat breakfast. I haven't bought into that yet. I get up @ 6:15, wake the kids up @ 6:30 - I have a 10 year-old and 12 year-old - and getting them out the door by 7 takes more energy than it should. My son came downstairs this AM, freaking out because his jeans that fit earlier this week "all of a sudden" don't fit. We got the issue resolved - he put on a pair of shorts.