• Is Work Making You Fat?
• Catching Up with Beachbody's
  Youngest Success Story
• Tip of the Week: The Hunger Scale
• Recipe of the Week: Pork and Sweet Potato Kabobs
• WOWY™ Now!

"The highest reward for a person's toil is not
what they get for it, but what they become by it."

John Ruskin (1819–1900 writer)

(NAPSI) Whether it's the tall vanilla latte you grab on your way into work, the donuts served at your morning meeting, or the pizza that your boss orders because there is no time to take a lunch, working can be a very fattening proposition. As CNN Headline News health anchor for more than three years, my work routine certainly helped me put on the pounds. I spent my days doing research at a computer, writing and broadcasting on-air in a busy studio environment.

The irony was that as a health reporter, I was covering every weight loss method in the book. I tried countless programs but just couldn't find one that fit into my busy lifestyle. Finally, after struggling with my weight for years, I have taken off 41 pounds [and gone from a size 16 to a size 8] and feel great. Here are some workplace tips that I learned along the way that can benefit anyone who wants to lose weight and feel great:

Eat a balanced breakfast. Like mom said, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To make things easier, write out several easy-to-prepare meals so you don't have to think about what to eat. I like prepackaged, "grab and go" options. Using prepackaged foods, like NutriSystem, made this really easy for me to do.

Plan your lunches ahead of time. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Whether you plan your lunches the night before, or even over the weekend, having a plan will help you avoid diet disasters at work.

Keep healthy, single-serving snacks in your office. Don't starve yourself during the workday. Make it easy to have a healthy "pick me up."


Find ways to sneak in extra physical activity. Park farther from the building. Walk to your coworker's office rather than sending an email. Don't keep a trashcan near your desk (so you have to get up each time you need to throw something away). Take a walk around the building during your lunch hour. Use the stairs.

Stay hydrated throughout the day. Keep a large bottle of water at your desk and sip throughout the day. Maybe add a slice of lemon or lime.

Read Samantha's Success Story

Let's hear it for Samantha Y., Beachbody's youngest Success Story, and one of the attendees of our 2004 Hawaii trip. Samantha was just 12 when she first used Power 90^® to shed her baby fat. Her inspiration to give Power 90 a try came from seeing her father achieve great success using the same popular Beachbody workout program. Samantha stuck with the program, changed her eating habits, and got the trim, healthy body she'd always wanted. And the icing on the cake? This month, Samantha won the title of Miss 7th Grade in her junior high school pageant.

"I didn't think I was going to get it," she confided when we congratulated her on her latest accomplishment. She says that her Power 90 success gave her the confidence to walk across the stage, wow the judges, and win the contest.

Samantha credits her family and friends for encouraging her to hang tough and finish the program. These days, she is much more energetic, and loves to get out and ride her bike, swim in the pool, and work on her junior varsity cheerleading moves. Instead of loading up the grocery cart and vegging out in front of the TV, Samantha and her mom spend their free time hitting the mall and trying on the latest styles.

One of the high points of her Hawaii trip was working out with Power 90 trainer Tony Horton—even though Tony was a tough taskmaster. If you're doing something wrong, he'll tell you, so you're like, "Whoah, I better get this right."

To maintain her impressive results, Samantha continues to work out and eat healthy, going for the chef salad instead of the burger every time. (You've got some serious willpower, Samantha.) She even plans on conquering P90X^® when she gets a little older, and we have no doubt that she'll succeed.

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On a hunger scale that rates from 1 (you're starving) to 10 (you're stuffed), if you aim to stay between 4 and 6, your eating should remain under control. Two ways to help this are eat early before you feel hungry, and stop eating as soon as you're not hungry, never waiting until you feel full.

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(NAPSI) The sweet potato, or yam, is an unsung hero of the food world. Its orange color comes from large amounts of beta-carotene, which has health attributes such as lowering the risk of stroke and fighting cancer. Beta-carotene is also known to promote bone growth and tooth development and to help maintain healthy skin and hair. Check out this tasty and nutritious recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup herb and garlic marinade with lemon juice
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. crumbled dried rosemary
3/4 lb. boneless pork loin, cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes
1/2 small sweet potato, peeled and very thinly sliced (1/8-inch thick)
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1/2 each red and green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks
Wooden skewers

In a small bowl, mix together herb and garlic marinade with basil and rosemary; reserve 1/4 cup. Place remaining marinade in a large resealable plastic bag with remaining ingredients, except skewers; seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Thread pork and vegetables onto skewers; discard used marinade. Grill or broil, turning and basting with reserved marinade until vegetables are slightly charred and pork is browned, about 15 to 18 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

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WOWY (Work Out With You) is the amazing online gym that helps you succeed by enabling you to make commitments to work out with others at a specific time ("I'll WOWY at 6 AM"). Believe us, it's hard to skip a workout when your Success Buddy in New York is expecting to see you online for a scheduled WOWY workout!

Log on, select the program you're doing, and see how many others are working out with you all across the country! Click here to check it out, join a WOWY group, and see who's WOWY now!

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