Getting Wise About Weight

Last week I attended a very informative dinner hosted by Justine Morre, a personal trainer and nutritionist who is part of the Wise About Weight program. I eat out for lunch every day of the week and usually dinner and when I do eat at home I love to whip up fresh veggies, fish, orzo, pastas and steak. While I never use fatty ingredients, I could learn a thing or two about eating right.

Let's look back on last Wednesday. I had a turkey bacon egg wrap with OJ (550 calories, 4 grams of saturated fat) for breakfast, Disco turkey sandwich with bacon from Mixt Greens with lemonade (850 calories, 6 grams of saturated fat), the macho peas and mashed potatoes from Nando's Peri Peri (257 calories) with two glasses of red wine (332 calories) for a GRANDE total of 1989 calories for the day. And I might have even had a few pieces of candy from the infamous candy bowl at work. While that is completely reasonable for my weight, I wouldn't recommend a serving of bacon for breakfast and lunch for anyone!

Justine hosted a Wise About Weight dinner at Nando Peri Peri's (one of my fav lunch spots) to give us a preview of the program and teach us a thing or two about eating healthy and managing your weight long term. I've had two friends who have done the Wise About Weight program and together they shed more than a hundred pounds. Literally. For $799 the program gives you full access to the gym and includes 9 weeks of classes at Results Gym in downtown D.C., consultations with a nutritionist, sessions with a behavior coach, a personalized fitness plan, multiple sessions with a personal trainer and a full day immersion workshop. While I have never been a dieter I do try to live a relatively healthy lifestyle, cycle, walk and avoid fatty foods. It's worked pretty well so far, but Justine taught me that there are number of ways you can decrease your fat intake and lower calories.

1. Use cooking spray instead of oil or butter

2. Replace whole milk with skim milk

3. Avoid products with corn syrup (all of you soda drinkers)

4. Substitute egg whites for eggs

5. Omit salt in recipes and use herbs instead

6. Use portion control! Just because the restaurant gives you a massive plate of food does not mean you need to eat it all. Take home some for lunch the next day

7. While drinking glasses of wine for dinner is fine, be sure that it's not putting you over your recommended calories for the day

Interested in the Wise About Weight program? Visit them online HERE or stop by Results Gym at their three DC locations for more information.