Food Struggles

The New Year is almost upon us, and I’m here to encourage you that this can be your year to break free from eating disorders and food addiction. I’m definitely not talking about another New Years resolution to lose weight that falls apart after a few days! No this can be your year to surrender this food struggle to God once and for all, but you have to be serious about taking it slow and giving it the whole of 2010…

Last year I lost 32 pounds, simply by following the 3 principals below. In fact when I turned briefly during the year to my “old ways” and took back “control” of my life by following a diet, I picked up some of those pounds again. I got panicky… I wanted to lose some weight before a certain “special occasion” and I found myself back in a downward spiral.. Fortunately I know by now what works and what doesn’t, so I got back to basics and peace returned to my life…

PLEASE HEAR THIS: When you have nothing to prove, no one to please, nowhere to go, and no specific reason to lose weight YOU ARE IN THE BEST PLACE FOR VICTORY. It’s in this place where we start doing things for the right reasons : A HEALTHY BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT! NOT TO LOSE WEIGHT!

So don’t do this because you want to lose a certain amount of weight before that June wedding. Rather commit to doing it God’s way because you want to be healthy for the rest of your life and go to every future wedding and celebration with the peace of God inside your heart, a glowing complexion, shiny hair and yes…the size dress your were supposed to wear…

I am committing to another year of doing 3 things every day to keep my body, mind and spirit healthy:
1. Spending time with God (for a healthy Spirit)
2. Exercise (to keep my body healthy)
3. Chase after my dreams (to keep my soul healthy)

I’m kicking it off with 40 days to make it a habit and other ladies are joining me on our members forum. If you’re not yet a member you might consider doing my first free week and see if this program might be for you.

You can also read this article that I re-posted and do it on your own. It is something you can start doing any time of the year and always get back to if you fall.

365 Days to Change your Life! (Re-post)
DON’T LET ANYBODY FOOL YOU. IN YOUR STRUGGLE WITH FOOD AND WEIGHT TIME IS EITHER YOUR FRIEND OR FOE. EVERY DAY COUNTS! Just think how quickly your next birthday or Christmas rolls around, while you still find yourself stuck.

All the promises that you can loose 20 pounds in 7 days are simply not true. Even if you find that “perfect” diet and loose 20 pounds in 30 days, it’s bound to backfire, leaving you with more weight in the end and an even slower metabolism.

PLEASE BELIEVE ME: THERE ARE NO SHORT CUTS! YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR GOOD, OR FORGET ABOUT IT!

I have been at that place where NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK! Even after I dealt with all my issues, I kept looking for ways to loose the extra weight I’ve gained over the years. It was a constant battle because after years of dieting my body was just not doing quite what it was suppose to.

So a while back I took up the challenge that I set before many ladies in my small groups and the ladies who joined my online membership site: GIVE IT ONE YEAR – 365 DAYS OF HEALTHY HABITS.

Now this way of eating has absolutely nothing to do with FOLLOWING A DIET. No food restrictions (except if you have a food addiction), no perfect eating required (a treat every now and then is okay) and especially no focus on weight loss!

It’s about changing your life AND ESPECIALLY YOUR HEALTH by consistently eating healthy EVERY DAY FOR ONE YEAR. It’s especially about making up your mind to not be side track by SLOW OR NO WEIGHT LOSS, STRESS, SICKNESS, HOLIDAYS, RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS AND A BUSY LIFE. These things are difficult, but I’m afraid it’s part of life, so you can not let it become your excuse. During this year it is important to COMMIT to CONSISTENTLY eat healthy NO MATTER WHAT!

Of course I knew this would benefit me, and sure enough it did. I lost weight, slowly, but I didn’t gain it back, even though I had a few “weak moments” of turning to junk food.

I also anticipated more energy, and sure enough, it happened.

However, there were other benefits that caught me totally by surprise. After eating vegetables with lean meats and fruit as the main course of every meal for about six months, I realized that while people around me got colds and illnesses, I didn’t. This was huge! We have a big family and as the mom I always got sick with my “patients”, but not anymore.

Another surprise in my gradual transformation: Cravings actually VANISHED!
Not in my wildest dreams would I ever have guessed that there would come a day that I would NOT WANT CAKE! After six months of eating some whole grain cereal and low fat milk when I had sweet cravings, I really STOPPED CRAVING SWEETS altogether. So yes, sometimes I still eat sweets there have been times when I got myself in a bind and had to go through a time of resisting again, but my body is now working with me not sabotaging me. Getting up after a short relapse is so much easier, because for the most part (at least 90% of the time) I eat healthy. Please note: You can fool others and even yourself, but you can not fool your body. If the food you eat is not truly healthy and in it’s purest form, I’m afraid nothing will change. I learned this the hard way:)

I also picked up the challenge to exercise CONSISTENTLY for one year. Not the kind of exercise where you work out like a maniac for 3 days and then take a break for three months (been there, done that). No, rather the kind where you exercise 5 to 6 times a week, NEVER MIND WHAT HAPPENS AND NEVER MIND HOW MEDIOCRE THE EFFORT!

I agree that merely walking slowly forever will not help much, but it is really the consistency that changes your life. After six months, I wanted to up my efforts. I was tired of walking on the treadmill, I wanted to start running! I never thought I would actually like exercise. However this would never have happened if I didn’t FIRST make it a part of my life. Make no mistake I felt sorry for myself EVERY DAY FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS and I called out to God every day to help me because I was not going to make it. Guess what, He did, and I am so glad I didn’t give up!

Come on girl, take up the challenge! Consistency in your Spiritual life WILL TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE TOO!

I always thought that this “pray-and-read-your-Bible” every day was just a legalistic thing that we don’t really have to obey. Turns out, we don’t have to, but just like healthy food, it can transform our lives. Sure it might not feel good at first, and it might get “boring” after a month or so, but if you keep at it you will not believe what it will add to your life.

Every day the enemy, the world and the people around us pin “things” to our lives. We get saddled with stress, loneliness, pride, responsibilities and temptations. Imagine yourself walking around with those things, and getting more piled on for a month or a year without being washed by the water of the Word or letting Jesus heal your broken heart with His Word and by his Spirit. It’s unhealthy, like eating junk food for a year. It clogs your spiritual arteries and it leaves you depleted and sick. TIME IN GOD’S PRESENCE AND IN HIS WORD IT’S NOT FOR GOD’S BENEFIT, IT’S FOR US!

Eating healthy, exercising and most importantly, spending time in God’s presence are gifts He gave us. However, the enemy blinds our eyes and the eyes of the people around us so that we believe those gifts are burdens.

ASK GOD TO OPEN YOUR EYES TODAY, SO YOU WILL TAKE A HOLD OF THOSE GIFTS!

TODAY CAN BE THE FIRST DAY OF YOUR 365 DAYS! DON’T PUT IT OFF!

TAKE ONE YEAR:
EAT HEALTHY – IGNORE THE SLIP-UPS
EXERCISE – STOP THE EXCUSES
LET GOD INTO YOUR LIFE BY GIVING HIM YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: TIME

If I could do it dear friend, so can you! I’m just another girl like you with a lot of issues, but we have an awesome God!

HAPPY NEW YEAR LADIES! i

I WILL SEE YOU ON THE MEMBERS FORUM

Love, Heleen

Some of you awesome ladies are doing a 21 day detox with me on our Members Forum. I am getting such good material out of it all, thanks ladies. One thing that keeps popping up is the question of “How do we turn this thing of Food Addiction or Eating Disorders around?”

It is huge really, and like the titanic it turns slowly but surely!

Right now you might feel like a baby who is trying to walk on wobbly legs. You might be dealing with your issues, but don’t see any weight loss. You might be eating better but can’t seem to get a grip on exercise. Or you might not quite get a handle on this surrender-your-life to God thing yet.

Let me remind you of something: To find true victory in this area of your life, you need to MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Just like Daniel we find ourselves in a world full of temptation and we need to go into the battle every day with a heart that is set on doing what God wants.  Like Daniel we have to decide ahead of time: “I will not eat this stuff anymore. I will not defile my body. I will not sin against my God”

However this is easier said than done. I’m sure some people wake up one morning with this kind of RESOLVE. Other humans like me have to walk it out a bit. I came to that place of resolve with the help of God before and stayed there for years at a time. However, other times the enemy stole it from me and I started bargaining again (it’s not so bad, I can eat what I want, I don’t need to spent time with God every day, I don’t have to exercise every week, I’m strong enough…) I’ve came to realize that I would keep feeling out of control (even if it’s just not quite getting a handle on things) until I found that place of firm resolve again.

So what I’m trying to tell you is this: It takes a while to get there. You will very likely first go through a PREPARATION PHASE of falling and getting up when you first make up your mind. Remember the baby learning to walk though: Keep getting up, and keep making up your mind to do the right thing until  that resolve resonates in your heart.

You might have to go through a few 21-days-of-detox or 40-days-of-committing-your-life-to-God, but  NONE OF THOSE COMMITMENTS ARE IN VAIN. Not even the ones where you failed miserably.  It is all preparation to get you to that place of resolve.  As you walk through the struggles and sort some things out with God your resolve gets stronger.

If you get through a few months now, you might be at that place of strong resolve in January. If you start with a detox or 40 day commitment on January 1st, it might take a few months of preparation into the New Year to get there.

It’s hardly ever just about “turning the corner”. It takes time! However, when you do get to that place of strong resolve you will have “grown” a stubborn Daniel-attitude of: I will spend time with my God NO MATTER WHAT. I will exercise NO MATTER WHAT. I will not eat the things that harm me NO MATTER WHAT. Solving problems or stress with food is NO LONGER AN OPTION!

It’s important to note that in that place of resolve weight loss happens, and it sure is a pleasant by-product!

So PLEASE don’t give up ladies. You might be in the PREP PHASE  right now but you are getting there!

Remember Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (NIV)

In His Love!

Heleen

PS: Week 11 of my 12 Week Online Program deals in more detail with Temptation and setting our hearts on God for good.

How do you prevent a Binge from turning into a whole day (or month) of overeating?

A friend asked this question on our forum, and I realized that it is a common question that I might best answer here on my blog.

Of course, it would be best to not binge at all. However, preventing a binge is easier said than done. If you are on a journey of finding healing for the root issues behind your eating disorder, you might not quite be at the place where you recognize the early signs of a binge (starting in the thoughts and emotions) and thus find yourself still binging from time to time.

You can easily undo all the progress you’ve made with one lousy binge! So how do you keep a binge from taking over your life?

The answer lies in TURNING YOUR BACK ON PERFECTION FOR GOOD!

In Week 10 of my 12 Week Online Program for women with eating disorders, I speak about the huge link between Perfectionism and Eating Disorders. If you have strong perfectionist tendencies, then you might have a tough time trying to break away from binging. The reason: You want to have a 100% perfect day or NOTHING – No middle ground.

To find healing in this struggle and to BREAK THE POWER OF THE BINGE, our focus has to shift. We have to ask the Holy Spirit DAILY (maybe even hourly) to help us shift our focus from:

WEIGHTLOSS to HEALTH

AND

24 HOURS OF PERFECTION to A YEAR OF HEALTH

So what am I trying to say?

If you can change your focus (only with the help of God of course) to not see your life in 24-hour compartments of  “today-I-will-have-a-perfect-day” but rather view your progress over a period of a year, you will not be so devastated by a binge. As soon as a binge loses its power over you, it will start fading into the background of your life, until you don’t binge anymore.

We are so scared of those binges because it makes us spiral down. But if we remember every day that a 90% successful day will give us a 90% month, which in turn will give us a 90% year, things will start to change.

Do you realize that if you throw every binge in the 10% “failure-basket” and get on with doing the 90% of healthy eating, exercise, rest, and drinking a lot of water YOU WILL HAVE AN AMAZING YEAR? You will be healthy, stronger, peaceful and yes some weight loss will be on the agenda.

However, if you keep having “100% success days” and “100% failure days” (the days when you binge and just keep eating because you’ve already “failed”), then you either end up at the same place after a year.

Ask God today to help you change your focus FOR GOOD! A binge has no power over you if you know exactly where to “file” it and remember that it’s just a drop in your big sea of 365 days!

Don’t wait for January ladies, start asking God now for that CHANGE OF FOCUS AND CHANGE OF HEART. Even if you don’t do everything perfectly (like eat some pumpkin pie), if you start focusing on ways to get yourself healthy 90% of the time, you’ll feel peace return to your life!

Lots of Love to all of you beautiful women of  God!
Heleen

RESOURCES:

NEW: INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING online or in Beaverton Oregon
Call Heleen at (503) 914-2749 or Schedule online: www.LifeSolutions.io

Click on the image below to learn more about the 12 Week Online Program: Women Struggling with Food

Read my story. Click on the image below to download my ebook: God will I ever be free?

Appetite for Freedom WORKBOOK and DVD.
A great resource for small groups or individual use.
Click on the image below to find out more:

The above title does not refer to alcohol consumption over the holidays (although it’s not a bad idea) but rather a challenge to stay “sober” in your quest for freedom from Food Addiction.

If you have this problem I don’t have to convince you that binging on high fat and sugary food for a few months (the holiday season) can have serious repercussions. Weight gain, depression and strain on relationships are only a few of the side affects. In fact some people end up in the hospital with serious health issues while others isolate themselves from society and experience severe depression because of the shame that is somehow felt more acute this time of year.

Please take the challenge that I’m extending to you. It’s two days after Halloween and you might have already dipped your hand in the candy bowl, but it’s not too late.

The new year is not the best time to turn this ship around: Right now is the best time for you, please believe me!

Please note that I am not talking about going on a diet! We all know by now that diets don’t work. No, find a program that can set you on the right track and change your life for good. I offer a 12 Week Online Program that can be of great help to you during the holidays, but there are also lots of other great programs out there.

Hear me on this one: EXERCISE IS ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST ALLIES THIS TIME OF YEAR! Consider joining a gym or find a friend who wants to walk with you.  Ask God for wisdom in this area. You will find yourself come up with any excuse possible, but remember IT IS JUST EXCUSES. You need exercise now more than ever. Don’t let the enemy fool you by telling you it makes no difference. People who exercise for at least 30 minutes a day have less cravings and are much more motivated to make healthier food choices.

All of this said: This time of year might be terribly sad and lonely for you and food might be your only friend. However, this “friend’ is false and will turn on you to pull you deeper into a pit of despair. Start reaching out to God and to other people today. Please ask for help, find a group, find a Bible study and find healing. Don’t try and fix this yourself, it’s too difficult!

Please go read these articles on my website where I encourage you to have a different kind of Holiday:
Getting through the Holidays
Eating healthy during the Holidays
Tips to minimize Holiday stress

Come on this can be the first year of many where you have a “sober” holiday season.  A Thanksgiving full of  joy and thankfulness. A Christmas where you enjoy loved ones and God’s presence without the “brain fog” of overeating weighing you down. It can be a holiday season without the physical pain of overeating and without depression knocking at your door.

I dare you to take the challenge! Come on dear sister, you know you want it… a sober Christmas! Jesus came to set the captives free, that includes every person struggling with eating disorders and food addiction

Lots of love

Heleen

PS: If you are a paid member of my program then please have a look at our new Forum at the Member’s Area. There is a challenge on there for you, and we will be encouraging each other throughout the Holiday season.

If  I have to sum up my food weakness in one word it will have to be: CARBS! Add some butter and sugar to white flour and I’m in carb-heaven and inevitably in big trouble. Like many other people who struggle with food; carb addiction is a very big reality for me!

I crave carbs, and then I eat carbs and then I crave carbs some more… you get the picture.

Now I’m sure you are all well aware of the big debate that has been going on for years around low carb diets. So let me come clean: I am in no way an advocate for low carb diets, and I am well aware that not everybody benefits from it. However, I am not in denial about the negative effects of too much carbs on my life either. Weight gain for me is directly linked to the consumption of too much carbs. On the flip side, weight loss in my life can be tracked down to every time I removed the carbs from the throne it held in my heart and traded it in for some lean steaks and vegetables (and time with God of course)

In all seriousness, I’ve tried to hang on to my carbs for as long as I could, but without much success. It was undoubtedly the pastries, the fresh white breads, the cakes and the crackers that called to me time and time again, until I started slipping and sliding all the way down into another pit of food addiction.

So let’s have some straight talk: Can we really go without it? And if so, how long will it last before we give in to the “calling of the carbs” again?

The answer: Yes and No.

Yes, we have to try our best to stay away from it, as often as possible, for the simple reason that it is addictive and the more we eat it the more we want it and the worse we feel. There is nothing that packs on the pounds around the middle riff like some good old white flour mixed with fat and sugar. And those dreaded rolls around the middle makes our chances for a heart attack so much bigger! Please note that I’m including myself in this group 100%. The “muffin-top battle”, you know the one where your upper body spills over your jeans like the dough of a muffin to create a “muffin-top”,  has been mine for many years!

No, keeping it up FOREVER is almost impossible. I say almost because I can not speak for the whole world, but only for myself and the ladies I know who have tried to go “cold turkey” about a million times (slight exaggeration, sorry)

So what is a poor girl to do in a society where the doughnut rules breakfast and hamburger and fries are basic lunch staples?

Here’s a thought: The 90% rule

Remember how we talked about making a commitment to go to the gym 5 to 6 days a week never mind how pathetic the effort. We also spoke about just showing up every day, waiting in God’s presence with your Bible study open on your lap, even if you ” feel” nothing at times.

Now, for this week (and the next 365 days) let me encourage you to eat those carbs, but only for one meal a day. Come on, try it. It has helped me so much! If you feel like you simply have to have some chocolate chip ice cream, save it for your most vulnerable time of the day. If you often find yourself eating carbs in the evening like a carb crazy woman, then decide to have it then. The rest of the day, make it low or no carb meals with tons of veggies.
Then, come dinner time, think carbs, just make sure you mix it up with healthy and filling food as well. So have your ice cream, but add some unsalted nuts, healthy granola (made with honey and oats), and blueberries in with it. Or eat your bread, but make it fresh baked whole wheat bread with lean meat and veggies on. Stack 365 of these days on top of each other and you will have much more energy, no more cravings, no more binging, and a smaller waist line.

A word of warning from one food addict to another: Still avoid the carbs that makes you spiral out of control. For instance, if I’m just dying for some potatoes, I will choose a baked potato as part of my “carb meal”  instead of chips or mashed potatoes that can easily set me up for a “carb binge”

Research has shown that eating carbs only ONCE a day (no snacking inbetween on carbs, only snack on meat and veggies) can cut down those cravings.  I’m telling you it works! Now, of course there’s a way to have NO MORE cravings. If you go on a strickt low carb diet, you can seriously have NO MORE SUGAR OR WHITE FLOUR CRAVINGS after 21 days! I’ve tried it a few times, and it works. The problem: It’s too extreme thus not natural and not healthy. Also, the chance of you just giving up and binging on carbs are HUGE! So why take the risk, and spiral down again? It is so discouraging and can set you back again for years!

Eating carbs sensibly (not 12 dougnuts of course!) once a day over a period of time will produce weight loss, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, you can keep doing it through birthdays and Christmas and all the other special days. I’m still quite new to this, but the past few months have been so much easier than the “I will not eat carbs, I will not eat carbs…” that I’ve been doing before. So try it out with me and see if you’re also getting good results:) You might feel tired the first few days as your body withdraws from all the carbs, you might even feel slightly down and have a headache, but IT WILL PASS. Doing the first day is the hardest, but after you’re through the first week things will get much easier. You will feel joy returning to your life as you stop grazing on carbs all day long, and that full, bloated feeling around your upper body will be something of the past.
However, if you just can’t get a grip on your food addiction, you might want to have a look at my 12 Week Online Program or Week 3 on Food Addiction. Sometimes we just can’t put the “crutch” or “idol” down because of underlying pain and issues we didn’t deal with.

Now before you think that I’m super smart, let me tell you that I have some food addict experts to thank for my new enlightenment:) If this seems like something you are interested in giving a shot, go have a look at one of the books I recommend at the bottom of this post. If low carb doesn’t work for you, or you get scared just thinking about it, I recommend Jillian Michaels’ (biggest loser coach) book about different ways of eating that applies to different people, in other words, low carb does not fit all.
For me, low and healthy carbs actually equals a healthy lifestyle.

VERY IMPORTANT: Let me remind you to not get obsessed over ANY of this. God brings some good ideas along our paths, but in the end we have to keep building that relationship with Him and ask Him to help us accomplish it.

You know by now, my dear friend, you can have all the knowledge and great ideas in the world at your disposal, but if God doesn’t help you  implement it permanently into your life, it’s the same old story over and over again.

So bend those knees early every morning, admit that you can’t do it, and ask God for some great interventions and great revelations for that specific day.

Wish I could look you in the eye and tell you…don’t give up…please…quitting is the only wrong move that you can make.

Lots of love

Heleen

Books to read:
The Carbohydrate Addict’s healthy heart program by Dr. Richard F. Heller, Dr. Rachel. F. Heller, Dr. Fredric J. Vagnini
Winning by Losing by Jillian Michaels

My EBook  “God will I ever be Free?” has just been released! Please click here to get it right now,  absolutely free!

I battled the 4pm munchies for as long as I can remember. I’ve tried many things to fend it off, but in the end the best advise I got was to just go with it. Not go with it as in give in to visions of chocolate and french fries, but rather go with my body’s natural inclination to want food that time of day.

When it comes to eating at certain times, I found that eating six small meals a day and listening to my body’s natural clues works by far the best for me. It helps even out my energy levels, make me perform at my best and prevent overeating. I’ve tried skimming on snacks to loose extra pounds for years, but somehow it always turned on me: Never mind how big a plate of food I had at lunch time, by 4pm I would be wrestling with my cravings.

Now, I know I’m not alone in this. I’ve heard this same complaint from my working friends. A dear friend informs me that she hits the vending machine, every day, promptly at 4pm. What baffles her is that her days always go so great at first: Cereal for breakfast, sub sandwich or salad for lunch, and then boom! round about 4pm she throws all caution in the wind, head for the vending machine and gobble up a few candy bars.

For some of us who work from home the munchies can be ever so real. Never mind what you’re working on, being it the never ending laundry, lovin’ on those little ones, or typing away at your laptop, you are not immune.

The smart people tell me that it is important for our health and mental well being to keep our energy level steady. This can truly only be achieved by eating small amounts of healthy food, frequently. So diets, starvation, binging and overeating all sends us on a roller coaster ride that will put Six Flags to shame. Energy levels go up and come crashing down, emotions fly all over the place and our health is in serious danger.

So maybe you want to join me and “go with it” for a while. Follow your body’s signals, be ready for those 4pm munchies with snack that you love but that can also help to even out your energy level.

My favorite 4pm snack for the last few months has been my own version of Tiramisu. I pour a little bit of fresh decaf coffee in a fancy bowl, add some granola (the good kind made with oats and honey) add a few pecan nuts, a dollop of low fat vanilla yogurt, and on a special day, a squirt of light whipped cream. I sit down, put my feet up and give in to the 4pm munchies, and what do you know, afterward I can actually fold some laundry, type a blog, help with some high school math (not really) or jump trampoline with my two little “bundles of energy” before dinner!

Here’s a few Tips for you

THINGS TO DO WHEN THE MUNCHIES HIT:

1. Try drinking water, you might just be dehydrated

2. Get moving! Exercise is another great source of energy, and you might just be bored or in need of some fresh air. Going to the gym at 4pm actually helped me overcome huge carb cravings for a season

3. Make sure that you add enough lean protein and whole grain to your lunch meal, otherwise you will be starving just a couple of hours afterward

4. Check yourself to see if something upset you or made you anxious. Try lying on your bed or sitting in your favorite chair with music on. Talk to God or just wait in His presence. Your craving might have nothing to do with hunger after all

5. If this keeps happening every day, wise up, your body might need nutrition that time of day. Rather plan ahead to have a light mid-afternoon meal daily, this will put you at ease and prevent overeating at lunch time

6. You might simply be exhausted and a power nap (15-20 minutes of sleep) will perk you right up!

7. Make sure you really need to eat something, wait a few minutes, do something else that consume your thoughts, such as reading, talking to a friend or taking a long bath. The urge to nibble might just vanish!

THINGS NOT TO DO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! NEVER EVER!:

1. Go grocery shopping when you have the munchies

2. Watch mid-afternoon TV. All the food commercials WILL bring on more cravings!

3. Eat a snack high in sugar, salt and fat. This will not satisfy you but rather increase your cravings and keep you grazing until bedtime (believe me, I know)

4. Move in the direction of the vending machine when the clock strikes 4!

GREAT SNACKS TO FEND OFF THOSE 4PM MUNCHIES:

Fresh or dried fruit
Low fat granola bar
Slice of whole grain bread with peanut butter and sliced banana! Yum!
Cereal with low fat milk
Vegetable/Bean soup
Pretzels and low fat string cheese
Low fat popcorn and a handful of nuts
Pitta bread with hummus

IF ALL ELSE FAILS TURN TO: Heleen’s Special “Tiramisu”