Week ?? Weigh-In

Okay, so I've fallen off the Garden Lites Challenge horse. I thought "All right! I hit a great weight, now I can go back to how I ate before to maintain." Nope!

Here are some things that have happened lately...

2 Christmas Parties.

• Cookies, cookies, cookies.
• A love of spiked hot chocolate.
• Appetizers I lose count of.

I switched my 1 Garden Lites a day from my dinner meal replacement to my sometimes lunch.

• Now I am not substituting a healthy alternative for a sometimes 1,000 calorie meal.
• I went back to eating late dinners when my partner comes home.
• Winter meals are not as forgiving as summer meals.

It's cold out.

• I am a victim of the winter blues.
• With it being dark by the time I get home, I don't get out to move around.
• It's too easy of an excuse to blame the cold weather for anything.

So there is my sad list of excuses that are neither excusible nor acceptable. It is no wonder I gained back.... 3 1/2 pounds! Yikes!!!

As I am packing for the first of 3 back to back weekends of family holiday gatherings with sweets, big meals and laziness, I needed that wakeup call. No wonder everyone starts the new year with a diet. But maybe if a little health consciousness returned right about now it wouldn't be that big of a struggle to start the new year with a good rhythm already in place. Sometimes the situation is unavoidable, but it is possible to control what gets onto my plate and into my stomach.

As for the weather, there's nothing I can do to change the forecast, so I'll just have to work extra hard to keep myself motivated to move. That looming February 12th date of the 5K is helping push me to find some plan that works for me. Garden Lites will help with the rest!

Happy Holidays!

Julie

Back & Better Than Ever!

I'm getting back on the blogosphere after taking a brief hiatus to organize Kosherfest. I met some great bloggers there, and there has been a lot of buzz about our Garden Lites!

I thought I'd share with you one blogger's review of our award-winning Zucchini Marinara.

Garden Lites is a great option for Chaviva since she is a kosher AND gluten-free consumer. Here's her take, from her blog The Gluten-Free Kosher Critic.

Gimme Some Garden Lites!

Don't have time to read it all right now? Here are some highlights:

I would venture to guess that the only meal-like kosher, gluten-free option
for the health-conscious consumer is Garden Lites, which I blogged about in the
past.

I end up eating soup for meals every day and struggling with
hunger throughout the rest of the day. The kind gal behind the Garden Lites
booth [Peg] explained that she eats the Zucchini Marinara every day for lunch
and has lost some weight as a result. [Over 7 pounds at this point!]

This is ONE point on Weight Watchers. ONE POINT. You could eat two of
them and still be doing yourself some good.

We couldn't agree with you more, Chaviva!

Kosherfest BEST NEW Product: Garden Lites Zucchini Marinara

WE WON!!!

Come visit us at Kosherfest - Booth 311

October 26 & 27!

New Year Resolutions

One of the great things about Garden Lites is that it's Kosher (Look for details on what that entails in an upcoming GL Focus!) and one of the great things about working for a Kosher company is the extra vacation time! Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown (Shana Tova!) and thus kicks off my 4-day weekend. To most, that would seem like a great thing, but I am terrified. I do not know if I can survive 4 days of trusting myself to not eat my way through my apartment. If I just winged it and went in with high hopes I know I would fail, so I have put together a list of reminders for myself.

• If Hoda and Kathy Lee are on, you should have eaten breakfast by now.
• You may think "It's okay, I'm on vacation!" and want to go to the bagel store around the corner but resist. Not worth it.
• If a cooking show comes on TV, turn the station. Or better yet, pop in a yoga video! Sitting and watching food is just mean.
• Get out to the local park once a day. Don't wear a watch, just keep walking until you start to feel tired from walking. Then walk a little more.
• If you feel like there's only bad food choices for you in the fridge/cupboards - make a list. Really think about what would help you to stay on track. Then go grocery shopping, but stick to your list.
• By eating several small meals it'll save you from binging on fatty snacks and raiding your boyfriend's ice cream stash.
• If you find yourself standing at the fridge, ask yourself "Am I really hungry? Or am I bored?" If you're bored (which I know you are) then leave the house and don't come back until you're no longer bored.
• Only go out to eat once (if at all). Challenge yourself to let those leftovers last 2+ meals.
• Drink 2 water bottles a day.
• Stop eating by 8pm. If you get hungry after that, have some water.
• Don't weigh yourself. Losing a pound may encourage you to treat yourself... it's better for you not to know until Monday.

It might seem like a lot, but it's good for me to acknowledge my weak points and to have ideas on how to improve myself. I find a lot of times I realize that what I am about to do is bad (turn off my alarm instead of getting up to exercise, have a piece of cake, eat an entire sleeve of Ritz crackers) but I make some excuse to justify my actions. "I deserve it" should be banned from my vernacular.

My personal belief is if you acknowledge something in your life should improve and you let it continue to be sub-par, then that's a reflection on how you value yourself. I owe it to myself to find my willpower. After all, I deserve it.

Take the time to Meet the Team!

Click over to our "Get Real" Challenge tab and learn more about myself and my fellow Garden Lites Gal, Peg!

While you're there, learn about the challenge and then email us your methods to getting and staying real about how you eat.

CLICK HERE

Facebook Up and Running!

Greetings GL fans!

We're just beginning to setup our blog, Twitter and Facebook pages and are very excited to start sharing with you, the consumer.

If you haven't heard of Garden Lites before, boy are you in for a treat! Our single serving frozen souffles and dishes are not only delicious, but they have some great nutritional qualities...

*2 Full servings of vegetables
*High in Protein
*Low in Sodium
*All Natural
*Gluten Free

But what I personally feel is the biggest indicator of what a delicious and healthy product Garden Lites is....

You can pronounce every ingredient on the label!

So spread the word and add us to your Facebook so you can get recipes, tips and even more great information from us at Garden Lites as we set out to help America "Get Real" about what they are putting in their bodies!

Peace & Good Eatin'

Julie