Fazoli’s – A Great Family Choice With Plenty Of Options!

by susan74

If the idea of Fazoli’s conjures up images of cheese laden, high calorie dishes to you… REJOICE! There is hope! The Fazoli’s menu actually has nineteen choices for 600 calories or less! These days they actually have a “400 Calories Or Less” section on their menu. In today’s world where going out to eat often means busting your calorie budget, this is a breath of fresh air without a bun! And if you check your mailbox, you will likely find Fazoli’s coupons with the grocery store sales fliers.

With most entrees you will be given their famous breadsticks, unless you specify otherwise. Specify otherwise. With garlic sauce on them, they are 150 calories each (dry are 100). They are unlimited if you dine-in… so you might want to take your food to go to avoid temptation.

In 2009 Fazoli’s was recognized by Parent’s Magazine as one of the ten best menu’s for kids of all fast casual dining restaurants. They offer five kid’s menu selections, and they are all under 300 calories! Obviously these could work for you, too, if you go through the drive-thru. That might be a good strategy if you just have to consume a breadstick. Another cool thing about Fazoli’s is that they have a “Friendly Reader Program,” in which they will give your child a bookmark; after they read five books and fill out some information about them, they will earn a free kid’s meal.

Let’s talk pasta. The Fazoli’s menu has plenty of low-calorie options.

  • Ravioli with Marinara – 450 calories
  • Ravioli with Meat Sauce – 570 calories
  • Spaghetti, Fettucine, Penne or Bowtie with Marinara – 560 calories
  • Whole Wheat Penne with Marinara – 560 calories
  • Toasted Ravioli (quantity 6) – 340 calories

Yes, you can actually have pizza from the Fazoli’s menu for 600 calories or less!

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Lose 20-Pounds-in-12 Weeks Teleconference Program

by admin

Registration begins August 7.
Group starts August 28 and runs through November 13, 2012

Who:
This group is specifically for the “I know what to do I just don't do it” individual who wants to explore a reasonable (body/mind/spirit) approach to dieting that will result in significant focused weight loss, with most clients establishing a goal to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks.
There are no foods to buy and no gimmicks to swallow.

We will explore the truth that there is no one right diet that is right for everyone, but that you can find a way to successful weight loss that works with your temperament, nutritional needs, lifestyle and family situation. We will help you do just that!
You will learn –

– When to embrace diet and when to embrace “lifestyle” change — what the difference is, what the positive and negative of each is.
– How you can use the best of both (dieting and lifestyle change) and devise your own diet/lifestyle change.
– Learn to transition from times when you can have focused weight loss, to periods of slower trending down, to maintenance.
– How to use calorie counting effectively and easily and when and how to use using “clean eating” with no calorie counting.
– To explore the many reasons why you eat and be given specific tools to help you establish mindful, non-sabotaging eating practices.
–  To use he brain science behind comfort eating and learn how you to re-program your brain.

We will provide program material, daily and weekly support, tried and true ideas, motivation, and accountability. This program is based on The Reasonable Diet's Lose 20 Pounds in 12 Weeks program, which Sandra has used successfully with her clients for nine years – now with an additional component of mindfulness practices to help specifically with impulse control. We will get to the root of why you are overeating.

Guarantee:

You are guaranteed to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks — or your money back! If you comply with 3 simple rules.
1. Attend at least 10 of the 12 weeks sessions.
2. Record the food you eat (not saying you have to count calories, etc…. just asking you to write it if you bite it!)
3. Participate with the  private online group at least 2 x per week.
Cost:

Fee for the group is $240 per month x 3 months.

There is an early bird discount reducing it to $157 per month if you join prior to 8/14/2012.

This program is likely eligible for HSA and a medical deduction on your taxes.
To be sure check with your plan administrator or tax accountant.

Fee  include:
~~ Weekly 1-hour group teleconference session at 7am or 8pm on Mondays. (Also recorded.)
~~  Morning Motivation — a daily 5-minute motivation /check-in call at 7am – that is also accessible as a recording anytime day or night.
~~ Program Binder and material
~~ Online support (facebook and member website)

BONUS:~~ 4 CDs with a daily motivational message (Six Minutes of Sanity Seven Days/ Week) These are a compilation from Sandra's top rated iTunes Podcast.
~~ Workbook
Please click here to express your interest in the group.  I’ll call you to discuss the program and we can decide if we are a good fit for each other and discuss any payment plans or allowances that you may need.
Thanks!

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Interested in More Information about the Group?

by admin

Thanks for your interest. Filling out the form below is for information only. This is not an acceptance into the group and implies no commitment on either your part or my part. I’ll personally call you back within 24 hours or send you and email to set up a time so that we can talk by phone.

Name
Email
Phone
Address1
City
State
Zip

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Reasonable Diet Weight Loss Group with Therapy at Kevin Elliott Counseling

by admin

 

A support group co-facilitated by
Angie Patton (Licensed Practical Counselor)

and
Sandra Ahten (Life, Diet and Wellness Coach/owner of Reasonable Diet.)

Virtually all  insurance accepted.
Sliding scale accepted.

Free Intro Session April 17 6pm (Must RSVP)

When: 6-7 pm, Weekly on Tuesday April 24 – July 10, 2012

Where: Kevin Elliott Counseling, 44. E. Main St., Suite 406, Champaign IL 61821

Who: This group is specifically for the “I know what to do I just don't do it” individual who wants to explore a reasonable (body/mind/spirit) approach to dieting that will result in significant focused weight loss, with most clients establishing a goal to lose 20 pounds in 12 weeks.

There are no foods to buy and no gimmicks to swallow.

We will explore the truth that there is no one right diet that is right for everyone, but that you can find a way to successful weight loss that works with your temperament, nutritional needs, lifestyle and family situation. We will help you do just that!

You will learn –
– When to embrace diet and when to embrace “lifestyle” change — what the difference is, what the positive and negative of each is.

– How you can use the best of both (dieting and lifestyle change) and devise your own diet/lifestyle change.

– Learn to transition from times when you can have focused weight loss, to periods of slower “trending down”, to periods of “maintenance” and then back to “focus” again. (Getting rid of all-or-nothing thinking.)

– How to use calorie counting effectively and easily and when and how to use using “clean eating” with no calorie counting.

– To explore the many reasons why you eat and be given specific tools to help you establish mindfulness based eating habits. You will get rid of the self-sabatoge by learning to practice techniques to curb “impulse control.”

–  To use the brain science behind comfort eating and learn how you to re-program your brain.

We will provide program material, daily and weekly support, tried and true ideas, motivation, and accountability. This program is based on The Reasonable Diet's Lose 20 Pounds in 12 Weeks program, which Sandra has used successfully with her clients for nine years – now with an additional component of therapeutic processing and mindfulness practices being offered with clinical therapist Angie Patton.

We'll get to the root of why you are overeating.

Cost:

Do you have Health Insurance or HSA?
You will only be responsible for your weekly co-pay or deductible. Call today to have Stacie ( Kevin Elliott Counseling office manager) check your insurance benefits. She can find out what your plan will pay and let you know what your co-pay or deductible will be. (217-398-9066)

Sliding scale for uninsured or self-insured.
Fee for the group is $39 per session. Sliding scale will be considered. Payment plans available. Credit card accepted.

This program is likely eligible for HSA and a medical deduction on your taxes.
To be sure check with your plan administrator or tax accountant.

Session fees include:

~~ Weekly 1-hour group in-office sessions with facilitator
~~ Morning Motivation — a daily 5-minute motivation /check-in call at 7am – that is also accessible as a recording anytime day or night.
~~ Program Binder and material
~~ Optional online support (facebook and member website)

BONUS:
~~ 4 CDs with a daily motivational message (Six Minutes of Sanity Seven Days/ Week) These are a compilation from Sandra's top rated iTunes Podcast.
~~ Workbook

Please click here to express your interest in the group and find out more.

Thanks!

 

 


 

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Life Coaching and/or Personal Diet Coaching with Sandra

by admin


What is a Life Coach?
Coaching starts from a premise of sound mental health and helps the client move forward from there.

The difference between therapy and coaching is perhaps more in mindset than in method. Coaches are trained to help the client look to the future more than the past; toward the client's positive attributes and strengths more than the areas that need healing.

Sandra Ahten has been a trained coach since 1998, in private practice since 2005, and certified since 2006. Her specialties are:

~~ Couple's strength building
~~ Diet and wellness and health issues for individuals or couples
~~ Dissertation/degree completion
~~ Project completion
~~ Career changes, especially toward self-employment/entrepreneur
~~ Life after addiction
~~ Parenting challenges
~~ Thriving through mid-life

Fees include weekly or bi-weekly sessions and unlimited email support, and range from $280 and $480 per month for private individual or couples coaching.

An initial 20-minute phone consultation is free for the potential coaching clients. Click here to request consultation. During this consultation both Sandra and the potential client will assess whether they feel there is a good match between coach and client, and agree on the coaching program, fees and meeting schedule.

 

Lynn A.
Dallas TX

It’s a new year, and I am reflective. I want to say that working with Sandra as a weekly coaching client has been a highlight of the last year. She helped me maintain a 20 lb. plus weight loss, which, as I’m sure most of you know, is the other, crucial side of dieting–keeping it off. This has been during the most stressful time of my life as I am in the throes of finishing my doctoral degree. On every call I feel heard, challenged, accepted, and inspired–and I hang up with a sense of hope and resolve. Week in and week out Sandra has nourished in me the ability to create new stories of my life, and the benefits have extended way beyond the weight loss. Sandra has helped me: navigate a dissertation, maneuver a challenging psychology internship, parent with integrity, and rise to the demands of a two-city marriage. It all intertwines, of course, with the weight loss/maintenance. So, to Sandra I say, MANY MANY THANKS. And to anyone who is considering personal coaching with Sandra, I say GO FOR IT!!

Cynthia M.
Paris, France

By working with Sandra as a life coach, not just a diet coach, we addressed these unanswered (and really, unasked) questions about what I wanted in life and why.  I had never really undergone this process and it was quite revealing and gratifying to finally define what I envisioned would make me happy in life.  Finishing my dissertation was just one of the things that I wanted in life, but it was swallowing up many of my resources (time and thoughts, at the very least). Without Sandra coaching me through this time, I honestly don't know what would have happened.  I had been floundering for so long, it's almost like I couldn't feel my own legs anymore.  Sandra got me standing upright and allowed me to feel confident about my decisions by reminding me of what I had designed as my intentional life and the actions that I had detailed for getting there.

 

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Carrot Cake Paves the Road to My Higher Self

by admin

This is the carrot cake I expected! Now imagine a smaller piece with the strawberry cut in half ...and then shave a bit more off of that. For FOURTEEN DOLLARS!! (Image by Alex Ado)

I was four days into my San Francisco vacation having held off on any extravagant dessert. Yes, I was nibbling on dark chocolate and I’d had two cookies, but I was ready for a wedge of heaven and for me that is spelled:  c.a.r.r.o.t c.a.k.e.

 

I stopped in one swanky restaurant and enquired about their dessert offerings. They had six, including a caramel apple strudel ala mode and even a flourless chocolate cake, both which sounded tantalizing, but I was hopeful that with the concentration of eateries down at the wharf that I could find my true desire.

[click to continue…]

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Taco Bell – Be Cautious When Thinking Outside The Bun

by susan74

Let’s be honest. Probably no one thinks of Taco Bell when they ponder a healthy meal. Thinking outside the bun, generally speaking, is no better than ordering a cheeseburger and fries at the fast food restaurant next door. However, whether they are willing to admit it or not, most people are quite fond of the rather economical, tasty fare they offer.

As fast food goes, most items on the Taco Bell menu have over 400 calories per item. Few people have the ability to go there and just order one burrito, taco, etc. But, calorically speaking, the Taco Bell menu does have a little bit of redeeming value here and there, if you plan well. Just ask Christine Dougherty! She is the spokesperson for their “Drive-Thru Diet” and managed to lose 54 pounds over two years by swapping her normal fast food lunch to their “Drive-Thru Diet Menu,” which has seven “fresco” items that each boast under 9 grams of fat. Let’s investigate.

Drive-Thru Diet Menu

  • 150 calories – Fresco Chicken Soft Taco, Fresco Crunchy Taco, Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco
  • 180 calories – Fresco Soft Taco
  • 340 calories – Burrito Supreme – Steak
  • 350 calories – Bean Burrito, Burrito Supreme – Chicken

If tacos are your favorite, many on the Taco Bell menu won’t blow your daily calorie allotment.

  • 200 calories – Crunchy Taco Supreme
  • 230 calories – Soft Taco Supreme – Beef
  • 250 calories – Grilled Steak Soft Taco
  • 270 calories – Crispy Potato Soft Taco
  • 320 calories – Double Decker Taco
  • 350 calories – Double Decker Taco Supreme

Don’t worry, non-taco lovers, there’s something for everyone on the Taco Bell menu!

  • 0 calories – all Border sauce! Sauce it up, friends!
  • 120 calories – Mexican rice
  • 170 calories – Pintos n Cheese
  • 190 calories – Cheese Roll-Up
  • 250 calories – Tostada
  • 270 calories – Meximelt
  • 290 calories – Original Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
  • 300 calories – Bacon Ranch Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
  • 310 calories – Grilled Steak Taquitos
  • 320 calories – Grilled Chicken Taquitos
  • 350 calories – Enchiritos
  • 380 calories – Chili Cheese Burrito
  • 400 calories or less – all Chalupas
  • 400 calories or less – most Gorditas

The Taco Bell menu does not have to be the enemy, if consumed in moderation… and rarely. Best advice: stick to the Fresco items and don’t make Taco Bell a habit!

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Guest Post by My Friend Jennifer: Giving Up the High Cost of Low Living

by admin

My friend Jennifer Boykin from Life After Tampons

Lately, I've realized I can no longer afford the “high cost of low living.”  I started with a little inventory of “why I eat.”

I eat when I get discouraged.  I eat when I feel frustrated.  I eat when things don't go my way.  I eat when I'm tired.  I eat when I need to comfort myself.  I eat when I'm . . . unconscious, unaware, ungrateful, and depleted.

None of this is new.  But it's getting too expensive to live this way.  In fact, I find myself priced out of the Self-Neglect market.

Here's why:

I have a dream.  It's a big one.  In fact, it is THE BIG ONE.

Today, I'm launching my Dream Business.  I'm the very proud creator of a MidLife Reinvention site, Life After Tampons. This is the biggest of the biggest secret dreams I've ever had – to create a community and provide all the resources a woman needs to implement the answer to this one question:

“What would you do if you KNEW you could not fail?”

Well, what I would do is build a community of women who were all doing their Big Dream.

But there is a problem.

The way I care for myself has now become a factor in my ability to produce.   To look at me you wouldn't know it.  I'm still cute and at a normal weight.  But I'm tired.  All the time.  For a long time, I have joked that “my body is just a transportation vehicle to take my brain from one interesting thing to another.”  Funny.  And, as I said,  it's worked for me for a long time.

But now it doesn't.

When it comes to choosing between self-care and self-denial, it helps to take an inventory of the “costs” associated with choosing the latter.  In this case, taken to the extreme, a lack of self-care could ultimately cost me my dream.  And I'm not willing to pay that price.

So, even though I have a boatload of writing and networking and designing and such to do, I find myself willing – just for today – to put all of that aside to eat an apple, fetch a glass of water with a lovely slice of lemon, pause for a couple of Downward Dogs and Sun Salutations.

If I want to serve you – and I do – if I want to bear witness to the manifestation of your dream – and I do – then I MUST take time away from you, from my work, from my beautiful brain to take care of the Transportation Vehicle that is moving this whole dream forward.

 

And the day to begin is today. The moment to begin is now.  Because, at nearly 50, there just isn't TIME LEFT to postpone my joy.  I want to care for myself so I can care for you.  I want to care for myself because I care ABOUT myself.

It's time to make myself and my health a TRUE and LASTING priority in my own life.  Given what's at stake, it's truly the most selfless thing I can do.

 

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Subway – An Excellent Choice!

by susan74

Many people consider Subway to be a place where it’s pretty easy to eat healthy. By and large, that is correct – just ask Jared Fogle! There are many, many low calorie options on the Subway menu. Let’s explore their 6″ treasures.

First things first: unless otherwise stated, we’ll assume we’re going to be conscientious eaters and order our 6″ subs without cheese. We’ll be getting 9-grain wheat bread (because any other type may add up to 50 extra calories, except for a wrap which will add 100 calories), lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, pickles, olives and mustard. Leaving any of those off will only save 0-5 calories, so go veggie wild!

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Diet Rules for Your (Inner) Big Baby

by admin

Grandma Baby, Grandpa Baby with grandbaby Eli

Does your I-want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it attitude toward food remind you of a baby?

Seems like we are mature adults in every area of our life, but we act like spoiled kids when it comes to food. Why? Your neuro-pathways regarding food and eating are programmed very early in life. And the earlier something is programmed the harder it is to change.

BUT YOU CAN CHANGE!
Science is giving us more and more evidence that the brain is plastic. Meaning it can change. But the bottom line is that you can't bypass doing the right thing as a step to making new neuro-pathways.

Maybe since we are acting like children we could take some advice from our storehouse of tricks that we've used on children to get them to do the right thing.

Imagine you are on your way home from work/school and your 3 year old starts whining about how hungry they are for the (evil) golden arches. What are some tactics you would use?

1. Don't argue with them. Set a rule and be firm. Be consistent.
–Same goes for you! The more consistent you are, the easier your path will be. [click to continue…]

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The Secret to Eating at Chick-fil-A (the Menu, the Calories, the Nutritional Info You Need to be Successful on Your Diet!)

by susan74

Let’s face it, even the most reasonable person ends up at a fast food restaurant from time to time. Whether you’re health-conscious or not, many people adore Chick-fil-A. So you might as well get the truth…the low down on their menu and nutritional information. There are many reasons to be fond of this eatery, especially if you ask their spokescows! The food quality is good, there are almost always fresh flowers on each table, it’s usually rather clean, and – most importantly to some – they have an excellent toddler play area.

But what should one order of of the menu at Chick-fil-A and still be a reasonable calorie consumer?

Here is the nutritional low down:
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Well-Power Words

by admin

Read through the blog post and at the end of it, you'll see how to (easily) create a "visual word collage" with your well-power words!

Even with the best laid plans, success with resolutions for weight loss (or anything else) seems at best a hit-or-miss proposition. Yes, wanting to make changes and intentionally setting your course to achieve the changes is a great concept, but you need more than an eating and exercise plan. You need under-girding that will bolster your will to follow those plans.

So instead of starting with the specific plans, I challenge you to start with that emotional foundation to provide the willpower to help you follow through on your resolutions, should you choose to make them. However, I am averse to using the word willpower,  in part because so many people have programmed themselves to believe that “when it comes to _____, I have no willpower” and also because it feels forceful instead of inviting. I instead use the words: well-power.
The word well can be used as a verb, as in ~~ “I can well up the power I need from within me.”

It can also connote “going to the well” a place of sustenance.

Also  as used with “well being”" or wellness plan.”

Here is a simple four step process that will provide you with the means to more easily make the well-power choices to reach your goals.
[click to continue…]

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(How To) Love Your Diet — Free Teleclass

by admin

Free Teleclass on Monday 1/9/11

Did you know I’ve been a diet coach for 13 years, including 4 years with Weight Watchers? In that time I’ve learned how to love my own diet and how to help others love their diet journey as well. I’m going to be sharing eight ideas that one can use to turn any dieting experience from barely tolerable to soundly enjoyable.

Everyone who wants to lose weight will benefit whether they are currently following a diet, using a “lifestyle change” method of weight loss, or in need of inspiration to start or continue the weight loss journey.

In addition,for those live on the call I will include a link to my mini-ebook to help you choose the right diet for your personality type.

You must pre-register here
http://reasonablediet.com/webform/love_telesignup.html

Recordings will be available to those who have registered, but can not be on the call live.

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Morning Motivation — January 2012

by admin

Please leave me a comment if you are listening to these recordings. If you can just as easily listen from the Facebook link, please let me know that as well. I’m happy to keep posting them here, but if no one is listening from this page, I’ll skip this step and just post at the Facebook page. Thanks for letting me know either way!

Jan 31, 2012 – 3 Tips including one that is super important…that is often neglected.
January 27, 2011 – Some coaching for Tasha, Risa and Donna.

January 26, 2012 – Some more practical tips
January 25, 2012 —  LOL — I can’t remember what I talked about. :-)

January 24, 2012 — Some tips on calories counting. (using a food scale)

January 20, 2012 -- Coaching day. We discuss finding the “will” to carry out our exercise plans. I had to use the backup recording…which starts 15 minutes before the call… so you need to start listening at 15:30.
January 19,2012 - 3 good reasons to love the body you have right now!

January 18, 2012 - Snacking.

January 17, 2012

January 16, 2012 – Not recorded

January 13, 2012

January 12, 2012

January 11, 2012 – What to do when you find yourself standing at the refrigerator, not because you are hungry, or because it is meal time, but because you are bored, discontented or procrastinating.

January 10, 2012 – “End the Debate”

January 9, 2012 – (hour long recording linked from the “Audio Article” pages

January 5, 2012 – I cover two really important concepts…1. Tonglin … a Buddhist concept that I learned from Pema Chodron…about how to have compassion for others through learning to have compassion for ourselves…and how this applies to dieting. ALSO introduced using “wellpower” instead of “willpower” — I’ll be continuing on this topic tomorrow.

January 4, 2012 — Didn’t get recorded.

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Top Four Tips to Make Your Diet Resolutions Stick from Reasonable Diet

by admin

May your heart open to all that is good about your body and all that is good in the world.

Believe in magic!

1.  Be a diet jumper.

Don't assume that the diet that you choose to follow, the guideline or rules you choose to follow will be the right for you all year long. Take 15 minutes each week evaluate and adjust.

2. Make grey okay.
Let go of black and white thinking. You are not on-the-diet or off-of-the diet. Everyday can have good, better and best choices.  Even on days when you feel rebellious or disorganized, just label it a grey day and ask yourself what good, better and best choices you can make until you get back on track.

3. P&P is key.
Consider planning and preparation key. You'll relay a whole lot less on willpower to resist the donut and latte if you can grab a bag of carrots and bottle of water as you walk out the door.

4. Believe in magic.
Every doc in the land believes in magic or they wouldn't insist on only looking at research that has used placebos. Placebos indicate that just by believing it is so, we can cure ourselves of everything from psoriasis to cancer. Magic! Why then can't we increase our metabolism and increase our rate weight loss?  Why do we believe it will be too hard; our tastes will never change; we'll just put the weight back on? Believe in magic! Believe that you don't currently have all the answers and that new solutions will magically apprear! Believe that you can learn something new. Believe that this will be a year of transformation! Take time in your weekly check-in to remind yourself that with magic anything is possible

 

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