Shae (Before and After)

Each Tuesday, one Pray It Off (PIO) group member's weight loss journey is highlighted on the blog. Today we hear from Shae.

"Hi, my name is Shae and I’m joining Ellen’s blog today to talk about my experience at Pray It Off (PIO). After years of putting on weight, a few pounds a year, I decided, for future health as well as aesthetic reasons, it was time to start taking it off. So after seeing the notices for PIO in the church bulletin, every six months, I made the call. I joined PIO on July 7, 2009. This was my first attempt at weight loss and every one told me that the first couple of weeks would be easy and then it would become harder to lose weight - did I hear a challenge? As my husband will attest, telling me I can’t do something is a guarantee I will try.

I lost 11 pounds the first two weeks, after four weeks I was at 21 pounds off and then I hit 30 pounds after 7 weeks. This doesn’t mean it was easy, I put a lot of effort into making good choices and Ben & Jerry, Nestle and Pizza Hut suffered for it. The point is if you are committed to getting something done, and willing to make the necessary sacrifices, you can do it. It may take a long time but it will be time well spent. When you reach your goal, the time it took doesn’t matter.

On January 7, 2010 after six months I hit my goal of losing sixty pounds. Now my circumstances had been ideal, I had gone through the summer first and I play golf three or four times a week, usually walking the course. I had no health issues that would make losing weight difficult. So, I cut back on my calories and kept playing golf and the pounds went away, quickly at first and then more slowly. Along the way my family, friends, and PIO family have been cheering me on and the thought of disappointing them motivated me to forge ahead.

As summer changed to fall and then to winter, golf in Syracuse NY, was no longer an option. It was time to figure out how I was going to get exercise in the winter. I shook out the dust cloth and cleaned off the elliptical in our basement. I started with eight minutes a day and worked my way up to 30 minutes, twice a day, after two months. Do I enjoy spending that much time on the elliptical? I turn the television on and think of the things I can now eat in reasonable portions because of the calories I’m burning. In a few weeks I’ll be back on the golf course and the elliptical will see less of me.

A group called Pray It Off obviously has a religious aspect and you won’t find a more caring and generous group of people. We pray weekly for those in our group and their family members who may be sick or in need as well as the strength to continue on the weight loss path.

One might ask why I'm still going to the meetings? Well, I really like the people and enjoy seeing them every week. My weight is normal for the first time in over twenty years. I don’t trust myself with food. If I am not accountable, I may undo all the good it took me six months to accomplish. In the eleven weeks since I reached my goal I have fluctuated between having lost 60 and 62 pounds. I never want to get to 59, so I still go to the meetings.

With God’s blessing, and Ellen’s help, the normal size me is here to stay."

Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, I'm Hunting Wabbits

For a few shows in the early 1940's, Elmer Fudd became "a heavy-set, beer-bellied character. However, audiences did not accept a fat Fudd, so ultimately the slimmer version (which was only fat in the head, literally and figuratively) returned for good."*

Wait a minute. They didn't want a FAT CARTOON CHARACTER??? And we wonder why it's difficult to live life as an obese REAL PERSON!!

I was thinking about Elmer Fudd, this Monday before Easter, as I wanted to talk a little bit about Wabbit Trouble. I can write, on and on, about the true meaning of Easter and you will agree, with every fiber of your being, that it has nothing to do with Peter Cottontail
hopping down his ubiquitous bunny trail. BUT, and it's a BIG BUT, that doesn't always help, when he arrives with his bulging basket.

What will help?

1. Pretend the candy is poison and will kill you. (Ok, we can debate this; long term deadly vs short-term but I agree that it's a bit dramatic, so on to number two.)
2. Tell yourself that the candy was all made in third world countries with no quality control standards. (Still a bit over the top.)
3. Give yourself permission to a have a few pieces; count out the calories and log each jelly bean on your daily food journal.
4. Go ahead and have those malted milk balls (can you really stop at a few?) and then go for a hour long walk or hit the gym.
5. Tell yourself it's once a year and eat with wild abandon (till you feel you might throw up) and then wake up, next Monday, with that cat o' nine tails



in your hands; ready to punish yourself (yet again) over your lack of willpower and self control. (Drama, but real-life drama, none-the-less.)
6. Go back to the real meaning of Easter and go to Easter Services - serve Easter Dinner at a homeless shelter - contemplate the cross - ANTHING but digging into that basket.

Easter candy isn't like some rare orchid, that blooms but once a year. It can be found at any store AT ANY TIME, maybe not in rabbit form but c'mon, is it the shape that matters? Don't fool yourself with that justification or with buying it for the kids, grandchildren, husband etc.

Put on your cap, grab a gun and hunt that wascally wabbit down!


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Fudd
PHOTOS:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wabbit_Twouble3.jpg, http://s2.hubimg.com/u/769061_f520.jpg, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1SB4_pVYrKeV2ORoX3_baY-kZsrV3PByN4oGnRWlEM1_CUCTccYsfICzTkpK0Z89dQg8iSnadDTmlVCG1o7XXXyYNoLl7KHkqVTZi3C5DjfzgE2jwe1XoiRAueMzkWfYWu33_YXSBWNy/s400/malted+milk+balls.jpg, http://www.sjleather.com/osCommerce/images/cat9tails_wrap.JPG, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~aus033/elmer-fudd.jpg

Archive of Meetings 8

I hand out articles, at my Thursday night PRAY IT OFF MEETINGS, that support my topic for that week. The group members take their packets home and read the complete articles before the next meeting.

EVERY SUNDAY, ON MY BLOG, I WILL ARCHIVE MATERIALS FROM THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF PRAY IT OFF!

Here is today's installment.

Weight Loss can be a Team Effort
Build Your Own Support System
By Mike Kramer, Staff Writerhttp://www.sparkpeople.com

So there I was, cruising along on the exercise bike (as I often am) and thinking (as I often do). I was thinking about the positive, sometimes amazing changes I’ve made in my life thanks to fitness.

I was just about to congratulate myself when I realized I should have been grateful. I should have been thanking the people around me that made this possible: My Team!!

Why would anyone want to lose weight – or pursue any goal – alone? Every dieter should have a Weight Loss Team of people pulling for you, using their strengths to make up for your trouble areas. Think of what people have been able to accomplish when part of a team. Teams wrote the Constitution, built the Empire State Building and landed on the moon – all impossible if attempted alone.

You can build a Weight Loss Team the same way you build a basketball, baseball or soccer team. Essentially, you fill different positions with people that are good at each position. That way, nobody has to do everything. They simply fill a specific role.

My team is a cast of diverse characters and that’s what makes it so fun. When they’re involved, sometimes I forget how hard I’m working. Many of them don’t even know they’re on my team, but they’re valuable just the same
Here are some great Team members to have:
• Motivator – someone good at picking you up when you fall down and re-energizing you
• Positive Thinker – someone good at always looking at the bright side
• Goal Guardian – someone good at keeping you focused on your goal and on track
• Exercise Buddy – someone good at making workout time fun and social
• Listener – someone good at being an outlet when you need to vent or talk about problems
• Informer – someone good at circulating health and fitness info, ideas and opportunities
• The Bizarre One – someone good at finding fun, interesting and crazy ways to stay active
So if you’re struggling, if you’re having trouble staying on target, if you’re feeling frustrated, it might be time to start forming that Weight Loss Team of your own. Get them involved! Uniforms are optional.

Lose Weight for Good - AARP

If you're trying to lose weight, join the crowd. More than half of American adults are overweight; nearly a quarter by more than 30 pounds, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Weight loss is big business in the U.S. We spend over $33 billion a year on products and services associated with wieght loss – from drugs and diet pills to spas, health clubs, and even surgery.
But for many of us losing weight and keeping it off is a lifelong struggle. There's no magic pill. Quick-fix plans, like the ones that promise you can lose 30 pounds in 30 days, rarely work. And many people who do lose weight gain it back.
Different Strokes
If you ask 10 people how to lose weight for good, you'd get 10 different answers. Different things work for different people.
If you count on peer support to meet goals, a program like Weight Watchers might work for you. If you're self-driven, you can design your own plans, based on your needs and choices. If you're tech-savvy, there are web sites you can use to track food intake, calorie needs, and activity levels. You can also find tips and group support through online discussions and chats.
Tips to Lose By
No matter how you choose to lose, include a healthy diet and regular physical activity in your plan. These tips will help ensure that your efforts are safe and successful:
Take inventory. Slow down and look at your lifestyle. What patterns do you notice? Be honest as you ask yourself these questions:
• How and when do I eat? (Late at night? In front of the TV or computer screen?)
• Do I skip meals?
• Am I a junk-food junkie?
• Do I take time to eat regular, balanced meals?
• Do I eat under stress?
• Do I eat for other reasons besides being hungry?
• Do I drink enough water?
Identify your bad eating habits and plan for change. If you visit the vending machine a lot at work, bring healthy snacks from home, like carrot sticks, apple slices, and raisins instead. Keep a water bottle at your desk and be sure you're getting enough to drink (at least eight glasses a day). Switch from whole-milk to skim in your cereal or lattes.
Do your homework. If you don't know what a healthy diet is, find out. Use credible resources like AARP, the American Heart Association, or USDA for printed and online nutrition information.
Watch your portions. Many of us eat too much food. We've gotten used to big portions. Try down-sizing, not super-sizing.
Check your weight. Find out what your healthy weight should be for your height and frame. Determine how many calories you should get each day. Your doctor can help you. You also can find healthy weight charts online.
Take your time. You didn't gain weight overnight. You won't lose it that way, either. Avoid any diet that promises "overnight success." A safe goal is about a pound a week.
Get moving. One of the main reasons Americans are gaining weight is that they're not active enough. About 34 percent of us over age 50 get no physical activity. Physical activity burns calories and can help you keep weight off by building muscle and increasing your metabolism. You can lose weight by dieting alone. But combining regular exercise with a balanced diet is the healthiest, most efficient, and most sensible way to lose weight, and keep it off.
Change your lifestyle. If you go back to old habits after you've reached your weight-loss goal, you'll gain it back. The lifestyle changes that helped you lose weight have to stick like glue. Adopt a healthy diet and regular physical activity plan for life.
Here are some other tips diet experts suggest:
• Don't skip meals, especially breakfast. You'll only feel hungrier, which will make you overeat at the next meal.
• Drink plenty of water. A glass or two before a meal will fill you up so you eat less.
• Eat bulky foods that are filling and low in calories. These include fruits and vegetables, which have lots of fiber and water but not a lot of calories.
• Keep a food journal. Writing down everything you eat and when you eat it will tell you where your calories are coming from and where you need to cut back.
• Don't give up. Sometimes we have to try something many times before we succeed. For many people, this is especially true of losing weight for good. Making major lifestyle changes – quitting cigarettes, having a healthy diet, exercising regularly – takes time and determination. But if you stick with it, you'll achieve your goals. And you'll be glad you did!

Getting Motivated AARP
Change Can Do You Good

Change takes patience and persistence. In fact, researchers have discovered that, like life, change is a process that happens in stages. Experts agree that making major behavior changes, such as quitting smoking or drinking, losing weight, trading the couch for the treadmill, all take time. Knowing and understanding the stages for changing and adopting healthier habits can help you improve your success in reaching your goals and sticking with your positive behaviors.
Using physical activity as an example of changing your behavior from being sedentary to an active, healthier lifestyle, let's walk (no pun intended) through the stages of change that will transform you from couch potato to someone who is healthier, looks good, feels good, and has lots more energy. Once you understand the stages, learn tips for success, and how you can master to make that change, a part of your new, healthier way of life.
Stages of Change
Stage One — Precontemplation: In this stage, physical activity isn't even on your radar screen. Your couch is your favorite place to be. You're not active and you don't think about it.
Stage Two — Contemplation: You start to think being active would be better than staying inert. Perhaps the health club commercial finally struck a chord. You want to feel better, have more energy, and stop gaining weight. You also think that doing something to make that happen – say within the next six months – is within the realm of possibility. Maybe you remember the dance class you took years ago and how good it made you feel.
Stage Three — Preparation: You make plans to get active next month. You move closer to taking action. Maybe you make a list of goals or pencil in time on your calendar for physical activity.
Stage Four — Action: This is where the rubber hits the road. You actually begin to make changes. You bike, jog, walk, swim, or are otherwise physically active, but you have been at it for fewer than six months.
Stage Five — Maintenance: At this stage, you've stayed physically active for at least six months. You're riding high. You've learned to reward yourself for sticking with the program – buying yourself new clothes, treating yourself to a massage. You remind yourself how good you look and feel, and how you want to stay that way.
Tips for Success
It does not matter what stage you are in now, everyone will have moments when they do not want to continue with the program that they started. Just make sure that these little set backs do not totally throw you off course.
Master Maintenance
So, you have started your exercise program. Maybe you have stopped seeing results. Maybe you are starting to lose motivation. Maintaining your healthy behavior for the rest of your life is your goal – and your challenge. It's not always easy.
Here are some ways to keep the change when you're tempted not to:
Cut yourself some slack. The old couch was calling you back and you gave in. But don't give up. Setbacks happen. Falling off track doesn't mean throwing in the towel. Remind yourself that change takes time. Then lace up your sneakers, and get back on track.
Have a plan. Identify your roadblocks and find ways around them. For instance, your fitness routine easily could run off track during the holidays, business travel, and vacations. Look for hotels with a health club, or pack a jump rope in your suitcase. Include a walking or biking tour of scenic or historic places in your vacation plans.
Review your goals. If you start to feel it's just not worth it, think about why you decided to change in the first place. Maybe you wanted to lose weight and being active helped you do it. Perhaps you've lowered your blood pressure or are beginning to control your diabetes. Reminding yourself of the goals you've realized and the ones you're still striving for will help you push ahead.
Mobilize your support system. Call on friends, family members, or coworkers who have been your cheerleaders. They can encourage you to stick with it. Maybe you've formed or joined a support group. Don't hesitate to connect with others who are working on the same change.
Have confidence. Believe in yourself and don't question your ability to change. If you fail once, try again. Try something else. And learn from your mistakes. With patience and determination, you can change your life!!

Go From Cocoon To Butterfly
Diet Wise (Diet Bites)

Do you feel that you are destined to be overweight for life? No way! Imagine yourself 'thin'. You can do it – you can go from cocoon to butterfly.
After all, a butterfly doesn't become a butterfly overnight. It takes time, but is it ever worth the wait! Butterflies are beautiful and fragile. They are unique – just like you!
You say you've tried to lose weight before and it just won't happen? Perhaps you feel that you have so much weight to lose that it would be an impossible task? Maybe you feel that all the 'overweight' genes in your family went to you?
Nonetheless, put all these potentials aside and imagine yourself 'thin' (society's term for normal weight). How do you think you would look if you were thin? Being thin is not an impossibility. If you truly want to lose weight and get fit, you can. Your trim 'you' is inside of you, waiting to come out. Right now, the thin you is locked inside a cocoon. After all, a butterfly doesn't become a butterfly overnight. It takes time, but is it ever worth the wait! Butterflies are beautiful, and fragile, and unique – just like you!
Is it easy? No! Losing weight and maintaining your new, healthier size takes a lot of work. It's a lifelong project and the better you take care of you, the longer you last.
Let's tackle our questions from above one at a time and see what we can come up with to help summon up some motivation for weight loss.
1. You've tried to lose weight before and it just won't happen. If it were possible for you to add up all those 'lost pounds' throughout your years of dieting, you may be shocked at the total number. Most life-long dieters have lost their current weight two times over, or more. The problem seems to lie with maintaining the 'new' weight, then losing more weight until one reaches their final goal weight.
2. You feel that you have so much weight to lose that it would be an impossible task? The longer one waits to begin losing weight, the more precious time they lose. One may spend months, even years, contemplating 'going on a diet'. Bottom line: it's lost time, time they could have utilized to get the weight off and keep it off. (IF NOT NOW, WHEN?)
3. Maybe you feel that all the 'overweight' genes in your family went to you? Research has proven that genes play a powerful role in body weight. If indeed, a person has more than their 'unfair' share of overweight genes, it is more difficult for them to attain normal weight than it is for someone who doesn't have an abundance of overweight genes. Perseverance will conquer and that's much easier said than done. However, it can be done!
Losing weight is an achievable goal, no matter how much weight one needs to lose. We all began as little dots and we grew into the size we are now. It's a bit trickier going backwards rather than forwards. It's reversed metamorphosis – from cocoon to butterfly for us humans.
Go for it and begin today! Get those wings! Make this diet be your last diet!

Palm Sunday

Some days, I awake, or something happens, and I am not Ellen. I am an Ogre. Someone to avoid at all costs. Wallowing in self-pity, crying at every injustice in my life, I spiral into a depression where I feast on feelings of being alone, unloved, unappreciated and betrayed by those who are supposed to love me the most.

In the past, When I felt this way, the Ogre was never satisfied until I moved on to food; where I tried to eat enough to fill-up that knawing hole of need.

I wish I could say that trying to fill myself with Christ has banished the Ogre forever. It hasn't; but it does keep her at bay. Today the Ogre appeared. I was surprised because it's been awhile. She mounted a sneak attack, with fury, but she's gone now, as quickly as she came. These days, when she sprouts her ugly head, I turn to God for help.

Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to a huge cheering crowd. A triumphant entry; a victorious King. But wait a minute; he was riding a donkey. Where was His crown, armor, white horse, beautiful robes; His conquering army? He rode in armed with love and peace and what did the fawning masses do? They crucified Him.

Anything I have lived through, or will ever live through, is nothing compared to the Passion of Christ. He was alone, unloved, unappreciated and betrayed by those who were supposed to love him the most. He, acutely, knows how I feel. Jesus loves me. He always has and He always will, and that is enough to keep an army of Ogre's at bay.

Photos: http://www.iwozhere.com/SRD/images/MM35_PG199.jpg
http://arkansasmatters.com/media/jpg/palm_sunday2009-04-03-1238766429.jpg

Pray It Off March 25, 2010 Meeting

Here is the Packet from last night's meeting.

AGENDA Pray it Off March 25, 2010

Total Lbs Off 1st Session-644 2nd Session-571 Combined-1215
3rd Session-235 Combined-1450 4th Session -261 4th Session Combined 1711 5th Session- -220 TOTAL 1931

1. Packets
Log Sheet/Matthew 25
Matthew 24
Weight Loss Tip: First, Make Sure You’re Ready
Weight Loss: 6 Strategies for Success
Are You Ready To Make A Lifestyle Change?
Lifestyle Change Quiz
In Obesity Epidemic, What is One Cookie?
Motivation and Support – Walking
Roasted Beets and Sautéed Beet Greens
Sweet Cho-tato Salad
Lyrics: His Strength is Perfect by Steven Curtis Chapman
PIO Group Prayer Time
2. Opening Prayer
3. Awards: Praise:
4. Review Bible Verse
5. Review Packet Materials
6. Listen to: His Strength is Perfect
7. St. Pio Intercession
8. PIO Group Prayer Time
9. Dismissal 7:00

Matthew Chapter 24 (Can be found at)
http://www.catholicbiblestudyonline.com

Weight-loss Tip: First, Make Sure You're Ready
Ask yourself these questions to see if you're ready to start a weight-loss program.
By Mayo Clinic staff

Your weight-loss success depends on your readiness to take on the challenge. These questions can help you judge whether now is the best time to start your weight-loss program.
 Are you motivated to make long-term lifestyle changes that require eating healthy foods and exercising more? Be honest. Knowing you need to make changes in your life and feeling up to the challenge are two different things.
 Have you addressed distractions in your life that could affect your commitment to a weight-loss program? If you're dealing with major life events, such as marital problems, job stress, illness or financial worries, consider giving your life a chance to calm down before you start.
 Do you accept that there's no quick fix? Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifelong process. You may lose weight quickly initially, but over the long run it's best to lose weight at a moderate but steady pace. You should aim for a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week.
 Have you resolved any eating disorders or other emotional issues that make it difficult for you to achieve a healthy weight? If you have a tendency to binge, purge, starve or overexert when you exercise, or if you're depressed or anxious, you may need professional help.
 Are you ready to change your eating habits? Sounds easy to do in theory, but in practice, it's often difficult. It's hard to cast aside established behaviors and develop new lifestyle habits, but it can be done.
 Are you motivated to get more physically active? Increasing your level of physical activity is essential to losing weight and keeping it off.
 Are you realistic about your weight-loss goal? Remember, losing as little as 5 to 10 percent of your weight can improve your health if you're overweight or obese. This means, for example, losing 10 to 20 pounds (4.5 to 9 kilograms) if you weigh 200 pounds (91 kilograms). Ask your doctor how much weight you should aim to lose.
 Do you have family and friends to support your weight-loss efforts? It helps to have someone in your corner. If you don't have someone you can rely on, consider joining a weight-loss support group.
 Do you have time to keep records of your food intake and physical activity? Keeping records increases your chance of success. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how helpful it is to track your progress.
 Are you willing to look at past successes and failures in weight loss and other areas of your life? Learn from the past about what motivates you. Keep working to resolve barriers that might prevent success.
 Do you view a healthy-weight program as a positive experience? Losing weight doesn't have to be a bad experience. Many people find they feel better when they're more active and weigh less.
If you answered yes to all of these questions, you're ready to make the lifestyle changes necessary for permanent weight loss.
If you answered no to one or more of these questions, you may not be ready. And that's OK. Explore what's holding you back and face those obstacles. In some cases it may be a simple matter of timing. For instance, you may need to resolve other problems in your life. In other cases, you may need to work on related issues — such as your feelings toward weight loss or your willingness to commit to permanent changes.
You may be able to make these changes alone, or you may feel you need help. Educating yourself about the process of successful weight loss and maintenance is a start. For example, learn more about the dietary changes necessary for losing weight. See a dietitian or enroll in a behavioral-based program — a program that can help you change the behaviors that can interfere with weight loss, such as eating when you're stressed or bored.
If you're ready for weight loss but fear you'll become discouraged quickly, think toward the future. As you become more physically active and make dietary changes, you'll feel better and have more energy. And rather than thinking of weight loss as a short-term drudgery, view it as an enjoyable, permanent lifestyle change.

Weight Loss: 6 Strategies for Success
By Mayo Clinic staff

You probably know that hundreds of different fad diets, weight-loss programs and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. But the foundation of every successful weight-loss program still remains a healthy, low-calorie diet combined with exercise. You must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits to lose significant weight and keep it off.
How do you make those permanent changes? Follow these six strategies.
1. Make a commitment
Permanent weight loss takes time and effort. It requires focus and a lifelong commitment. Make sure that you're ready to make permanent changes and that you do so for the right reasons. No one else can make you lose weight. In fact, external pressure — often from people closest to you — may make matters worse. You must undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself.
As you're planning new weight-related lifestyle changes, try to resolve any other problems in your life. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to change your habits. So make sure you aren't distracted by other major life issues, such as marital or financial problems. Timing is key to success. Ask yourself if you're ready to take on the challenges of serious weight loss.
2. Get emotional support
To succeed in losing weight, you have to take responsibility for your own behavior. But that doesn't mean that you have to do everything alone. Seek support when needed from your partner, family and friends.
Pick people who you know want the best for you and who will encourage you. Ideally, find people who will listen to your concerns and feelings, spend time exercising with you, and share the priority you've placed on developing a healthier lifestyle.
3. Set a realistic goal
When you're considering what to expect from your new eating and exercise plan, be realistic. Over the long term, it's best to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week, although initially you might lose weight more quickly if you make significant changes — just be sure the changes are health supporting. To lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a low-calorie diet and regular exercise.
When you're setting goals, think about process and outcome. "Exercise regularly" is an example of a process goal, while "Lose 30 pounds" is an example of an outcome goal. It isn't essential that you have an outcome goal, but you should establish process goals because changing your process — your habits — is the key to weight loss. Make sure that your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and trackable. An example of a SMART goal is aiming to walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, and logging your results.
4. Enjoy healthier foods
Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss must include lowering your total calorie intake. But decreasing calories need not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation. One way you can lower your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition.
5. Get active, stay active
Dieting alone can help you lose weight. Cutting 500 calories from your daily diet can help you lose about a pound a week: 3,500 calories equals 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of fat. But add a 45- to 60-minute brisk walk four days a week, and you can double your rate of weight loss.
The goal of exercise for weight loss is to burn more calories, although exercise offers many other benefits as well. How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as walking — for more than 30 minutes most days of the week.
Even though regularly scheduled aerobic exercise is best for losing fat, any extra movement helps burn calories. Lifestyle activities may be easier to fit into your day. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day. For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot.
6. Change your lifestyle
It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for only a few weeks or even months. You have to make them part of your lifestyle. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating habits and daily routine. After assessing your personal challenges to weight loss, try working out a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have sabotaged your past efforts. It's not enough just to recognize your challenges — you have to plan for how you'll deal with them if you're going to succeed in losing weight once and for all.
You likely will have an occasional setback. But instead of giving up entirely, simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once, but stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will be worth it.

Are You Ready to Make a Lifestyle Change?
By Paige Waehner About.com

When it comes to weight loss, the buzzwords you might be hearing lately are: lifestyle and change...as in, you need to make one to be successful at losing weight. It may seem like losing weight is a simple goal--do some exercise, go on a diet and voila! But, if it were that simple, I'd be out of a job and you'd be too busy working out to read this.
While magazines and infomercials make it seem effortless, losing weight takes hard work and that often means changing different aspects of your life like, how you spend your time, how you schedule your day, and how/what you eat. If the way you live doesn't allow for these changes, how far will you get?
What's Your Lifestyle Like?
The reason lifestyle is so important is because how you live determines your choices and these choices decide how healthy you are and whether you're on the road to weight loss. So what is a healthy lifestyle? The typical components include not smoking, eating healthy foods, exercising and keeping the body at a healthy weight. Where do you fall on the healthy lifestyle continuum? First, figure out how much time you spend doing the following:
• Sitting at a desk
• Sitting in a car
• Sitting in front of a TV
• Sitting in front of a computer
• Eating out at restaurants
• Drinking alcohol
• Eating fast food or junk foods
• Staying up late/not getting enough sleep
Now, how much time do you spend:
• Being active in general (taking the stairs, walking instead of driving, gardening, cleaning, etc.)
• Doing cardio exercise
• Strength training for all muscle groups with challenging weights
• Preparing your own meals and snacks and eating fruits, veggies and whole grains
• Reading food labels
• Tracking your calories
• Sleeping
• Dealing with stress in a healthy way
If you spend more time doing the things in the first list than the second, it's time to reevaluate your priorities and decide what you really want for yourself. Living healthy means spending time and energy on your body--moving it around and paying attention to what you put into it. Staying in an unhealthy lifestyle means you can avoid expending energy, time and effort...but at what cost?
Choosing Health
As humans, we like habits and routines...so much that we often keep doing the same things even when we know they aren't good for us. Changing bad habits takes time and effort and, for a healthy lifestyle, you may be changing a variety of things like:
• What time you get up each morning
• What time you go to bed each night
• How you spend your free time
• How you spend your money
• How you shop, how you cook and how often you eat
• How much TV you watch
• What you do with your family and friends
The rewards for making these changes are endless, but it's beginning that's so difficult. What does it take to change your lifestyle and how do you know if you're ready? Start with this quiz, Are You Ready to Make a Lifestyle Change to find out.

Are You Ready to Make a Lifestyle Change?

Take the Quiz Yourself!!

http://exercise.about.com/library/quiz2/bllifestylequiz.htm


When it comes to weight loss, the buzzwords you might be hearing lately are: lifestyle and change...as in, you need to make one to be successful at losing weight. To permanently lose weight, there are a number of changes you might need to make. Are you ready for that? Take the Lifestyle Quiz and find out.
Question: What do you hope to get out of an exercise program?
To lose weight around my 'trouble zones' such as hips, buns, belly or thighs
To lose weight so I can look better for a wedding/reunion/vacation, etc.
To lose weight and change the shape of my body
To improve my health, quality of life and look better within my body's limits
Question: What is the best way to lose weight?
Go on a diet
Cardio exercise
Cardio and strength training
Cardio, strength training and a healthy, low-calorie diet
Question: According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), how often/how long should you do cardio exercise for weight loss?
1-2 days for 20 or more minutes
2-3 days for 20 or more minutes
3-5 days for 30 minutes
At least 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes
Question: According to ACSM Guidelines, how often should you lift weights?
Never
Whenever I feel like it
Once a week
At least twice a week
Question: How many days a week can you realistically spend on cardio and strength training? Be honest!
Maybe one
One or two days
At least three days
Three or more days a week
Question: How much time can you realistically spend on cardio and strength training? Be honest!
A few minutes
10-20 minutes
20-30 minutes
30 or more minutes
Question: How willing are you to change your schedule (e.g., get up earlier, use your lunch hour) for exercise?
Not very willing
I'm willing to think about it
I'm willing to give it a try
I'm totally willing
Question: How willing are you to invest in a gym membership, home equipment, apparel/shoes or other services or gear you might need to exercise?
Not at all
I'm willing to think about it
I may be willing to spend a little time and money
I'll get whatever I need to make it happen
Question: In order to lose one pound of fat in a week, how many calories would you have to cut from your daily caloric intake?
50
100
350
500
Question: Do you know how many calories you eat each day?
I have no idea
I have a vague idea
I have a pretty good idea
I keep a food journal and regularly add up my calories
Question: Are you willing to keep a daily food journal and track your calories each day?
No
I'm willing to think about it
I'll try, but I won't make any promises
Yes
Question: How often do you eat out each week?
Most days of the week
4 or more days of the week
2-4 days a week
1-2 days a week
Question: How willing are you to spend more time grocery shopping, reading food labels and preparing meals at home?
Not gonna happen
I'm willing to think about it
I'd like to try, but I won't make any promises
Very willing
Question: How long are you planning to stick with exercise and healthy eating?
Until I can't stand it anymore
I'm not sure
Until I reach my goal(s)
For as long as I'm able to
Question: Say you exercise and eat healthy for a few weeks or months and you are dissatisfied with your physical results. What would you do?
Quit completely
Give up for awhile and start all over again with the same goals and exercise routines
Keep doing the same thing and hope for the best
Figure out if I need to change my goals, change my program, accept my body or talk to an expert for advice

Ellen’s Quiz Results

Wow, you're really committed! Congratulations! It sounds like you have the right attitude for making healthy changes in your life. Having realistic expectations as well as a plan for reaching your goals are essential for making permanent changes in your life.

In Obesity Epidemic, What’s One Cookie?
By TARA PARKER-POPE edited from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com

The basic formula for gaining and losing weight is well known: a pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. That simple equation has fueled the widely accepted notion that weight loss does not require daunting lifestyle changes but “small changes that add up,” as the first lady, Michelle Obama, put it last month in announcing a national plan to counter childhood obesity.
In this view, cutting out or burning just 100 extra calories a day — by replacing soda with water, say, or walking to school — can lead to significant weight loss over time: a pound every 35 days, or more than 10 pounds a year.
While it’s certainly a hopeful message, it’s also misleading. Numerous scientific studies show that small caloric changes have almost no long-term effect on weight. When we skip a cookie or exercise a little more, the body’s biological and behavioral adaptations kick in, significantly reducing the caloric benefits of our effort.
But can small changes in diet and exercise at least keep children from gaining weight? While some obesity experts think so, mathematical models suggest otherwise. As a recent commentary in The Journal of the American Medical Association noted, the “small changes” theory fails to take the body’s adaptive mechanisms into account.
The rise in children’s obesity over the past few decades can’t be explained by an extra 100-calorie soda each day, or fewer physical education classes. Skipping a cookie or walking to school would barely make a dent in a calorie imbalance that goes “far beyond the ability of most individuals to address on a personal level,” the authors wrote — on the order of walking 5 to 10 miles a day for 10 years.
This doesn’t mean small improvements are futile — far from it. But people need to take a realistic view of what they can accomplish. “As clinicians, we celebrate small changes because they often lead to big changes,” said Dr. David Ludwig. “An obese adolescent who cuts back TV viewing from six to five hours each day may then go on to decrease viewing much more. However, it would be entirely unrealistic to think that these changes alone would produce substantial weight loss.”
Why wouldn’t they? The answer lies in biology. A person’s weight remains stable as long as the number of calories consumed doesn’t exceed the amount of calories the body spends, both on exercise and to maintain basic body functions. As the balance between calories going in and calories going out changes, we gain or lose weight.
But bodies don’t gain or lose weight indefinitely. Eventually, a cascade of biological changes kicks in to help the body maintain a new weight. As the JAMA article explains, a person who eats an extra cookie a day will gain some weight, but over time, an increasing proportion of the cookie’s calories also goes to taking care of the extra body weight. Eventually, the body adjusts and stops gaining weight, even if the person continues to eat the cookie.
Similar factors come into play when we skip the extra cookie. We may lose a little weight at first, but soon the body adjusts to the new weight and requires fewer calories. Regrettably, however, the body is more resistant to weight loss than weight gain.
Hormones and brain chemicals that regulate your unconscious drive to eat and how your body responds to exercise can make it even more difficult to lose the weight. You may skip the cookie but unknowingly compensate by eating a bagel later on or an extra serving of pasta at dinner.
“There is a much bigger picture than parsing out the cookie a day or the Coke a day,” said Dr. Jeffrey M. Friedman, which first identified leptin, a hormonal signal made by the body’s fat cells that regulates food intake and energy expenditure. “If you ask anyone on the street, ‘Why is someone obese?,’ they’ll say, ‘They eat too much.’ ”
“That is undoubtedly true,” he continued, “but the deeper question is why do they eat too much? It’s clear now that there are many important drivers to eat and that it is not purely a conscious or higher cognitive decision.”
This is not to say that the push for small daily changes in eating and exercise is misguided. James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver, says that while weight loss requires significant lifestyle changes, taking away extra calories through small steps can help slow and prevent weight gain.
“Once you’re trying for weight loss, you’re out of the small-change realm,” he said. “But the small-steps approach can stop weight gain.”
While small steps are unlikely to solve the nation’s obesity crisis, doctors say losing a little weight, eating more heart-healthy foods and increasing exercise can make a meaningful difference in overall health and risks for heart disease and diabetes.
“I’m not saying throw up your hands and forget about it,” Dr. Friedman said. “Instead of focusing on weight or appearance, focus on people’s health. There are things people can do to improve their health significantly that don’t require normalizing your weight.”
Dr. Ludwig still encourages individuals to make small changes, like watching less television or eating a few extra vegetables, because those shifts can be a prelude to even bigger lifestyle changes that may ultimately lead to weight loss. But he and others say that reversing obesity will require larger shifts — like regulating food advertising to children and eliminating government subsidies that make junk food cheap and profitable.
“We need to know what we’re up against in terms of the basic biological challenges, and then design a campaign that will truly address the problem in its full magnitude.”


MOTIVATION AND SUPPORT

Edited from - http://www.thewalkingsite.com/motivation.html
How does a person get and STAY motivated to exercise?

We are all motivated by different things. You have to find out what motivates you. My main motivation ... wanting to stay healthy and fit for my children. Another motivation is that my fitness program keeps me in shape to be able to do things I enjoy.

Think of all the benefits of a fitness program. Choose the things that matter to you and focus on them. Make a list of all the benefits you will personally receive from your program and make a list of the others that will benefit. (Who else will benefit if you become more fit?? Everyone in your life.)

Now make a list of all the excuses you have for not "doing it". Slowly find ways to remove each of these from your list.

You have to make YOU and your fitness a priority.
Benefits of a fitness walking program, aka motivation

BENEFITS OF WALKING

1. Burns calories
2. Strengthens back muscles
3. Slims your waist
4. Easy on your joints
5. Strengthens your bones
6. Lowers blood pressure
7. Allows time with family and friends
8. Shapes and tones your legs and butt
9. Cuts cholesterol
10. Reduces risk of heart disease, diabetes, & more
11. Reduces stress
12. Sleep better
13. Improves mood and outlook on life
14. Can be done almost anywhere
15. Requires no equipment
16. AND it's Free


Roasted Beets and Sauteed Beet Greens
allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Servings: 4


"This is a great way to use every part of the fresh beets you buy. You can get two delicious side dishes out of this one vegetable."

INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch beets greens
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced with
2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Wash the beets thoroughly, leaving the skins on, and remove the greens. Rinse greens, removing any large stems, and set aside. Place the beets in a small baking dish or roasting pan, and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. If you wish to peel the beets, it is easier to do so once they have been roasted.
2. Cover, and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a knife can slide easily through the largest beet.
3. When the roasted beets are almost done, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onion, and cook for a minute. Tear the beet greens into 2 to 3 inch pieces, and add them to the skillet. Cook and stir until greens are wilted and tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the greens as is, and the roasted beets sliced with either red-wine vinegar, or butter and salt and pepper.
Nutrition
Information
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Calories: 204 Amount Per Serving
• Total Fat: 13.9g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 442mg Amount Per Serving
• Total Carbs: 18g
• Dietary Fiber: 8.9g
• Protein: 5.3g


Sweet Cho-tato Salad www.chobani.com

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Calories per serving: 120

Ingredients
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 6 oz Chobani® Plain 0% Greek Yogurt
• 1 Tbsp grainy mustard
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp nutmeg, ground
• ¼ cup basil, chopped
• 1 medium red apple, chopped into 1-inch cubes
• 2 sprigs green onion, diced
• ½ cup sweet onion, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Wash and chop potatoes into 1-inch pieces, leaving skin on. Add potatoes to large pot of boiling water. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes into colander.
Meanwhile, combine Chobani®, mustard, vinegar, sugar, nutmeg, and basil in a large bowl. Add potatoes to Chobani® mixture. Add apple and onions to bowl, and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until thoroughly chilled. Serve cold.
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 120; Fat: 0.2g; Sat Fat: 0g; Protein:5 g; Carbohydrate: 26g; Fiber: 2.5g; Sodium: 130mg

His Strength is Perfect – Steven Curtis Chapman

I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength,
But sometimes I wonder what He can do through me;
No great success to show, No glory on my own,
Yet in my weakness He is there to let me know . . .

CHORUS
His strength is perfect when our strength is gone;
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.
Raised in His power, the weak become strong;
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.

We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes.
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end.
He hears our humble cry and proves again . . .

CHORUS 2x’s

PIO GROUP PRAYER TIME
March 25, 2010
• .Describe your current lifestyle – work, fun? How much time a week do you spend planning a menu? Exercising?
• Are you ready to make long-term lifestyle changes? What distractions are in your life? How can you deal positively with them?
• Do you view a healthy wealth loss program as a positive experience? Discuss
• Have you made a commitment to a healthy lifestyle change? If not, why? If not, can you?
• What “small change” can you make this coming up week?
• Can you make a commitment to walk at least 2 miles per day, at one time, three times this next week?
• Do you turn to God daily to give you strength for your healthy lifestyle choices? Can you?
• Say the Hail Mary to Close the Group

Happy 55 3/4 Birthday To Me

At 6:00 a.m. this morning I glanced at the calendar and said, "Hey, in three months (June 25th) I'll be 56 years old!"

Believe me, I'm not one of those types who considers their Birthday a National Holiday; wait a minute, I kinda am. But seriously, as I grow older, and others who I love so much have died, it makes me appreciate each passing year more.

These days, I tend to refer to myself as the "old" Ellen and the "new" Ellen or a Pre-Pray it Off versus Current-Pray It Off (PIO) version of Ellen. Notice I didn't say "Post PIO" because I will be a PIO person, and attend weekly meetings, the REST OF MY LIFE. Daunting, your initial reaction might be; but you know it's actually rather exciting!

God willing, the time is going to go by regardless of what we do with it. We can check the mirror daily, bemoaning each line and wrinkle or we can give our reflection a big, toothy grin and yell back, "I see you're still kickin' WOO HOO!!!"

We can cry in our pillows over; lost opportunities, mistakes, sins, people who've wronged us etc. etc. etc. OR we can redefine ourselves, CHANGE, embrace that healthy lifestyle, let the past go. LET IT GO. Forgive ourselves. LIVE.

If you don't know how to do this, pray about it. If you don't know what to say, just say this, "God, I love you. Please help me." Keep reading my blog, I promise I'll try to help.

I remember listening, over and over, to Roy Clark singing "Yesterday When I Was Young" and crying my heart out. It was 1968, I was 14 years old.

"Yesterday, when I was young,
The taste of life was sweet, as rain upon my tongue,
I teased at life, as if it were a foolish game,
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame

The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned,
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand,
I lived by night, and shunned the naked light of day,
And only now, I see, how the years ran away

Yesterday, when I was young,
So many happy songs were waiting to be sung,
So many wild pleasures lay in store for me,
And so much pain, my dazzled eyes refused to see

I ran so fast that time, and youth at last ran out,
I never stopped to think, what life, was all about,
And every conversation, I can now recall,
Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all

Yesterday, the moon was blue,
And every crazy day, brought something new to do,
I used my magic age, as if it were a wand,
And never saw the worst, and the emptiness beyond

The game of love I played, with arrogance and pride,
And every flame I lit, too quickly, quickly died,
The friends I made, all seemed somehow to drift away,
And only I am left, on stage to end the play

There are so many songs in me, that won't be sung,
I feel the bitter taste, of tears upon my tongue,
The time has come for me to pay,
For yesterday, when I was young."



I reflect on these lyrics, at 55 3/4 years old, and I see something different. Yes, they are still sad. Yes, they can still make me cry BUT you know what, they don't represent a fait accomplit. Time doesn't run out until God opens His arms to take us home.

There are still many songs in me, and in EACH OF US, and they can be; WILL be sung.

I've paid enough for yesterday when I was young (Hey, it was the 70's!). I can stop beating myself up. God loves me, I love myself. I love you.

It ain't over!!! Not even when the once morbidly obese, fat lady (who now eats less, moves more and prays) sings and she's singing now... Happy 55 3/4 Birthday to Me, Happy 55 3/4 Birthday to Me.........

Please Don't Call Me a Pharisee

I want to talk, a little bit, about fasting but I am keeping Matthew 6:16-18 in mind when I do. "And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites (Pharisees), sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee."

I know it's supposed to be secret, but I have a point I want to make, so I will share with you that I am fasting, each Wednesday, during Lent. There are many different forms of fasting and I am not judging any one of them. What I decided to do, for my fast, was to not eat or drink anything; I just have a little water throughout the day.

I've recently had a full medical check-up and I am thankful to report that there isn't a thing wrong with me! I was deemed healthy enough to fast. I suggest that everyone sees their doctor first.

Before Lent, I decided to look up the Catholic Catechism on fasting. "1430 - Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance."

I had an epiphany. That's what I had been yearning for, this interior conversion, regarding my relationship with food. I believe that so many of us, who are overweight, have tried to fill the emptiness, that dwelt within us, with chips or ice cream (etc.). Since Pray It Off, I've realized that the void was my yearning for God. His grace is sufficient and more filling than fettucine alfredo!



Even though I run a weight loss group fasting, to me, is not about losing weight. It's about telling food that I see it as a means to live, not a reason to live.

And as I lose my preoccupation with eating, I've replaced it with a focus on God and His will for my life.

With that said, I'm off to anoint my head and wash my face!





Photo:http://darwinstable.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/fasting.jpg
http://lifewithbipolardisorder.blogspot.com/2008/04/word-filled-wednesday-my-grace-is.html

Bob (Before and After)

Each Tuesday I will highlight one Pray It Off (PIO) group member's weight loss journey. The first "volunteer" is my beloved husband Bob.

If you follow this blog, or belong to the Pray It Off group, you know how it came to pass that Bob joined. (I excitedly told him that our parish, Holy Family, approved the concept and that I already had my first member. When he (also excitedly) asked, "Who," I replied, "YOU!")

Have you ever noticed that so many see weight issues as a woman's thing? Over the five years I attended weekly Weight Watchers meetings (not to mention the myriad of other times I was in a WW group) there was always one or maybe two men who came. When I started Pray It Off, I truly wanted to make its tenets "sex proof". Eat less, move more and pray are not activities that are limited to women.

My husband Bob works in the construction industry. He has always, physically, worked hard each day and walked maybe 5-6 miles at the job sites he's been on BUT when he quit smoking and started to get older, the pounds came; not all over his body but mainly to his midsection. This type of weight gain, which many men suffer from, is dangerous. In his late 40's he was diagnosed with high blood pressure and sleep apnea. He was one step away from the nightly oxygen tank when he joined PIO.

Now Bob has lost almost 60 pounds. His blood pressure is normal. His cholesterol perfect. He no longer has sleep apnea.

After my presentation each week, there are small group discussions on the topic I reviewed. Initially Bob was not a fan of the idea. He told me he would just sit there. He said there was no way he was going to discuss his "problems" with a group of strangers.

After, a few weeks, I noticed Bob looking forward to the Thursday night meetings. He told me he loved his small group. Now he is even one of the table leaders. He considers his PIO mates his friends; he trusts and appreciates them.

Bob will tell, anyone who will listen, that PIO has helped him physically but, more importantly, spiritually as well.

As the group facilitator, I say, "Amen to that."

As his wife I say, "AMEN, Hallelujah and Thank You, Jesus!!"

I LOVE Monday's

When I, red pen in hand, review the Pray It Off Group’s Weekly Food Logs, I quite often rephrase the 1980's Loverboy song. Instead of, “Everybody's working for the weekend”, I sing "Everybody's eating the whole weekend." But the rest of the lyrics don't really need any changes, “Everybody's goin' off the deep end. Everybody needs a second chance, oh."


How many of us eat (and drink) on the weekends as if someone told us an asteroid was hitting the earth on Monday? We justify our consumption with our own personal litanies, “I work so hard. I try so hard. I deserve to relax. I deserve to treat myself. I am under so much pressure...... “

Why do we, weekend after weekend, believe that overeating will make everything better? Has it ever? We embrace the food on Friday night like a lover. Then for two days it's so attentive, so available... but come Monday, we awake with a food hangover to face yet another week.

If your first thought on Monday is, "Only four more days till the weekend," therein may lie the problem. I stopped, my weekend gorging, and fell in love with Monday’s, right after my best and true (B&T) high school pal, Karen Burnham Aldrich, died in December of 2007. She’d give anything to be in our shoes; to have the privilege of waking up on a Monday morning to face another week; to be able to hop out of bed, roll her sleeves up and tackle, with faith, whatever came her way.

The photo shows me (at 340 pounds) dancing with Karen (after fighting breast cancer for years) at our 35th high school reunion in October of 2007.

Two months later she’d be gone.

Two months later she would whisper in God’s ear, “Help my B&T friend Ellen; would you Dear Lord?"

Two months later Pray it Off was born.

Karen, "I love you so much and think of you always; especially on Mondays!"


PHOTOS: http://www.voidspace.org.uk/gallery/silly/garfield_monday.jpg
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/asteroid-hits-earth-2.jpg

Archive of Meetings 7

I hand out articles, at my Thursday night PRAY IT OFF MEETINGS, that support my topic for that week. The group members, then take their packets home, and read the complete articles before the next meeting.

EVERY SUNDAY, ON MY BLOG, I WILL ARCHIVE MATERIALS FROM THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF PRAY IT OFF!

Here is today's installment.


Love Your Body, Love Yourself:
12 ways to improve your body image and self-esteem
by Cheryl Rainfield

Most of us, especially girls and women, are assaulted with negative messages about our bodies on a regular basis by magazines and newspapers, advertisements, "well meaning" family members, peers, and even friends. We're shown computer-manipulated images of the "perfect" body—a body that is not natural for the vast majority of us, and can only be obtained through self-abuse and starvation.
Survivors of child abuse or trauma have an added layer of negative messages through the very act of abuse. In trying to survive the abuse, many survivors disconnect from their bodies. Many women also this—to a lesser extent—in reaction to the negative messages we receive about our bodies. It becomes almost second nature to criticize our bodies, separating ourselves from our bodies, and seeing ourselves as objects or parts of a whole. Criticizing our bodies can lead us to hate ourselves and abuse our bodies.
Women come in lots of different shapes and sizes, and this diversity is just not reflected in the media. It's hard to feel good about ourselves when we don't see ourselves reflected back. How we feel about our bodies affects how we feel about ourselves. So it's important that we embrace our bodies, and find ways to love our bodies—and ourselves.
Finding ways to love our bodies can be hard. Many women feel overwhelmed by trying to change how they feel about their bodies, or don't know where to start. Below are a few suggestions about things you can do to reclaim your body. Some suggestions will feel easier for you, and will work better for you than others. That's okay; you don't have to do everything here. Find the suggestions that work for you, and leave the rest.
1. Try not to weigh yourself, or try not to weigh yourself often, as this can increase critical thinking about your body, and add to body discomfort. Instead, focus on how you want to feel in your body—strong, mobile, energized, etc. What you weigh has nothing to do with what kind of person you are, or whether your body deserves your love and compassion.
2. Try becoming more present in your body, more inside your own skin. Take a deep breath and feel your feet on the floor, your bum on the chair, the way your ribcage moves as you breathe. Really notice how you feel. Try to eat mindfully—notice the food in your mouth, the flavour and texture, how it feels when it goes down your throat and into your stomach.
You may want to take a meditation or tai chi class, or try exercising or stretching, and noticing how you feel in your body. Being connected to your body can help diminish the distance that allows you to criticize your body, or see it as other.
3. Surround yourself with positive images of women that reflect the different sizes and shapes women are. It's important to have images that reflect the reality of women's different sizes and shapes, and that shows the beauty of those different sizes and shapes. To change the way you see your body, it's important to see different images of women's bodies, not the unrealistic images that the media presents us with.
4. As well, try to limit the number of negative messages you receive about your body. This means keeping away from many fashion and "women's" magazines, and advertisements. (There are some great magazines out there, for both girls and women, that promote positive self-image and healing messages. Try one of them!) Try reading magazines and book that make you feel good about who you are, instead of magazines that try to diminish you or make you panic so you run out and buy a product. You may also want to tape TV shows and fast forward the ads, or turn off the sound and not watch while they are playing. And if there are people who repeatedly give you negative messages, try talking to them about this, or finding ways to ignore them or to counteract their messages inside your head.
5. Find and wear clothes that compliment the body size and shape you have, not the body size or shape that you want. Wearing clothes that fit your body type, that you are comfortable in, and that make you look good, can help you feel good.
External beauty is not about body size. Any body size can look beautiful, and many women that society would label "beautiful" have major issues and hang ups about their bodies. External beauty is more about how we carry ourselves, and how we feel about ourselves. And true beauty, the beauty that matters the most, is the beauty of our souls.
6. Participate in activities that you enjoy—dancing, walking, yoga, making pottery, flying a kite, cooking. Feel the joy in your body when you do something that feels good. Try to include something that keeps your body active and that you enjoy, at least once a week. Exercise can help your body and emotions feel better.
7. Remember a moment when you were a child, when you felt good about your body, or a part of your body, no matter how small that moment was. Really remember how good you felt. Try to recapture that feeling in things you do now. Did you love how your body felt, so free and alive, as you ran across a field? Run to the bus stop, feel the wind against your face, really be in the moment. Or go running in a park on the weekend or at lunch. Did you love the feeling of snuggling under a warm blanket on a cold night, or sipping a cold drink on a hot one? Make time for that, and try to be present in your body, enjoying the sensation.
8. Make sure you get safe touch that feels good. Hold hands with a child, a friend, your lover. Ask for a hug or give one. Ask your lover to stroke your hair or gently touch your face. Lean against your friend. Safe touch is a way to nurture your body and your emotions—and it can help you feel good about yourself and your body. There have been lots of studies that show we need positive physical touch; it's part of staying healthy.
9. Treat your body gently, the way you would treat someone you love. The way we treat ourselves can impact how we feel. Let yourself have those extra few minutes in bed in the morning, or linger over a cup of tea. Have a hot relaxing bath or shower, spend calm moments in nature, get a massage, use essential oils or natural creams that make you feel good. Really pamper yourself, and notice how you feel in your body as you do so.
10. Pay attention to an area of your body that you like, and focus on that for as long as you can. This can be something as small as your nose, or as large as your whole body. Look at that part of your body, touch that area of your body gently, and let yourself see its beauty. Think of that area of your body often, with pride or good feeling, and gradually try to increase the amount of your body that you like.
11. Make a list of all the ways your body has helped you, and thank your body. This can be something like being grateful for the way your body's kept you healthy, the way your body runs when you ask it to, the way your body's given you pleasure, or how your body helped you survive your childhood. Try to thank your body in a heartfelt way, and really notice and appreciate it.
12. Listen to what you're saying to your body through your thoughts, and give yourself some compassion. Try really listening to yourself for a whole day, or for time that you're in the company of others. You'll probably find you criticize and put down your body a lot more than you thought you do. If you catch yourself being negative, criticizing your body, putting your body down, take note of that, and then try to give yourself compassionate, loving messages about your body. If you have trouble doing this, try to imagine a friend with you, looking at you with love in her or his eyes. What would she or he say about your body?
As often as possible, try to give yourself deliberate positive messages about your body—messages that counteract the negative ones you give yourself or are given, and messages that celebrate your body. Even if you don't believe them at first, keep saying them. Repeated often enough, they will eventually sink in. Affirmations are a good way to give yourself those positive messages.
13. Listen to what you're saying to your body through your actions, and give yourself compassion. For instance, do you treat your body roughly (bumping into things often, drying your body roughly after a shower); ignore your body (not going to the bathroom when you have to, not get yourself something to drink when you're thirsty)? Try to listen to your body, and what it needs. Notice the ways you aren't being gentle with your body. Then try to imagine your body as the child you once were, or a child you love. Would you treat a child that way? You don't deserve to be treated that way, either.
Remember that people love you for who you are and how you act, not for what your body looks like. True friendship and love come from how we are with others, what we share with them about ourselves, and the way we are inside—not how we look. You deserve to love your body, and to feel good about your body—and yourself.


Setting Realistic Weight Loss Goals
Realistic weight loss ambitions can help you stay on track—and reach your diet goals.
By Kathleen Doheny

WebMD Feature Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Turns out, it's not the occasional piece of Death by Chocolate Cake that does in our weight loss efforts. It's the universal wish to lose a lot of weight ASAP and the expectation that we can simply diet it away easily.
Weight control experts call it the false-hope syndrome -- when dieters have unrealistic expectations about exactly how long it will take to shed excess pounds.
Unfortunately, research shows that unrealistic expectations boost the risk of dropping out of a weight loss program. And though at least one study has found that dieters may temporarily eat less if their expectations are too high, that undereating may be replaced by overeating at the very next temptation.
Overall, experts concur, unrealistic weight loss objectives are not productive, and can trigger failure. The best way to go: smaller, realistic goals, says Janet Polivy, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada.
The question is: How do you set realistic weight loss goals?
5 Ways to Set Sensible Weight Loss Goals
When WebMD asked the experts for their tips on setting realistic weight loss goals, their recommendations came down to a few simple strategies. But before you put these to use, remember to talk your weight loss plans over with your doctor.
• Resolve to lose slowly
"Medically, most clinicians would say goals of losing five to 10 percent [of your start weight] are achievable," says Jennifer A. Linde, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
So if you weigh 200 pounds, a reachable target would be to lose 10 to 20 pounds.
• Do the math.
"A realistic goal is losing 1 to 2 pounds a week to stay healthy," says Linde.
That means being realistic about your time frame. If you need to lose 25 pounds, figure you are embarking on at least a three-month program. Fifty pounds? Assume a time frame of at least six months. Aim to burn 500 to 1000 calories a day either by eating less, exercising more, or both.
• Set short term goals.
Reach for minimilestones. Instead of focusing on just losing 25 pounds, go for -- and celebrate -- that first 5-pound loss.
• Track your progress.
Record your successes in a way that works for you. Take advantage of online programs, use a notebook, or keep a journal. Whatever keeps you on track.
• Think about long-term goals.
"It's OK to think big, Linde says, "but it may mean starting small and working towards a big goal."
So if your long-term goal is losing 50 pounds in a year, for example, maybe your short-term goal is getting through the day without eating too much.
There's an old saying: Lose it slowly, keep it off. This adage makes sense for at least one reason: Losing weight slowly means you've had time to adopt new behaviors, like eating less and exercising more.
And when you focus on the process of changing your habits --- not just on losing weight -- those new and healthier habits will be a big boost in helping you attain your weight loss goals.


Dieting versus Non-dieting
From Balanced Weight Management
Grim (harmful) Approach Gentle (nurturing) Approach

Grim Motivation:
Believing that being thin is good, being overweight is bad.
Thinking you must weigh XXX pounds.
Hating your body--always at war with yourself.
Thinking your life will be better when you just lost weight
Losing pounds is the focus

Gentle Motivation:
Seeking to improve health, energy, fitness, and well-being.
Appreciating body differences of all people, including you
Respecting your body and honoring yourself with your daily choices.
Accepting yourself for the wonderful person you already are, right now.

Cultivating more nurturing and healthful inner attitudes and behaviors is the focus. This happens from an understanding of how lifestyle, familial, genetic, and cultural factors influence your daily patterns.

Grim Attitude:
Seeking a quick fix (impatient)
Planning to change behaviors only temporarily.
Being rigid and perfectionist--all or nothing--abusive towards ourselves and authoritarian.
Not wanting to spend the time to explore the "root causes" that have led to your present lifestyle imbalance.

Gentle Attitude:
Progressing one step at a time (patient) while having FUN!
Developing new respectful lifestyle habits that can last a lifetime.
Remaining flexible and open to new ideas as you celebrate the joy of learning.
Be gentle with ourselves as we practice kind-discipline. We see our unborn wholeness and trust for it to emerge.


We set the intention to free our hearts and minds from suffering and desire to cultivate choices that bring lasting well-being to us.

Grim Behavior:
Relying on "experts" and exterior guidelines.
Attempting deprivation and restriction.
Judging food, eating, and exercise behavior as good or bad.
Allowing a program to control what you eat, how much, and when.
Needing to force yourself to exercise and being very obsessive.

Gentle Behavior:
Trusting yourself to find what works as you tune within your own self, for your own answers.
Being moderate and positive.
Doing what you want--with personal responsibility for your choices. Learning where your choices lead you.
Eating what you want--with awareness and pleasure.
Learning to move your body in ways that bring you pleasure.

Results:
You may lose weight, but will usually gain it back--plus more.
Setbacks will cause guilt, self-blame, and self- hatred.
Reinforces binge eating and a preoccupation with food.
Lowers your metabolism
You'll feel like a failure when weight is regained.
You'll become even more discouraged that you'll ever find a solution that is safe and effective.
Reinforces an unhealthy relationship with foods and yourself.
Diets don't work for long and they are harmful to us! Results:
Your small steps will lead to successfully becoming more fit, healthy, and frisky from within.
Setbacks (which are normal and a part of the process of learning any new skill) will encourage forgiveness and increased self understanding and self-mastery.
You'll feel more in charge, as you become more skilled.
You'll learn more about yourself than you might have ever thought possible and make changes that you really want to make.

"Change your thoughts and you change your world. " Norman Vincent Peale

No More Fugue States

One of the things that got me into real weight trouble was what I refer to as "The Fugue State."

According to Psych Central, "Dissociative Fugue is one or more episodes of amnesia in which one has the inability to recall some, or all, of one's past." What a fitting way to describe me with a bag of chips! I used to grab the sour cream and onion flavored, 11 ounce bag, and take it upstairs with me, to have a "few" while I laid on my queen size bed to watch my evening TV shows.

I would mindlessly reach my hand into the bag, until I was snapped out of my self-imposed fugue, by my hand coming out of the bag.....empty. At that moment I was always surprised, "How did that happen?" It was like that 1970's Alka Seltzer commercial, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."


It is the same with any trigger food; cookies, cashews (for me AKA crack), movie popcorn - whatever you eat mindlessly, and "wake-up" when it's gone.

How do you end this behavior? Here's a few ideas.

1. Go cold turkey from your trigger foods (TF's).

2. Plan dates with your TF's i.e. I will have cashews on Christmas Eve. I will have beer on Memorial Day. I will eat two servings of chips on my Birthday......

3. Count out one serving and put it in a bowl and seal the package back up. (This doesn't work for most of us food addicts as we can always GO BACK and get more. It's like picking at a donut until it is gone or asking your husband to hide the cashews (Mine ALWAYS told me where they were - after minimal begging.)

4. Find new snacks that aren't triggers. I have no problem counting out one serving of pretzels. (Have you ever noticed that people never say that carrots or apples are their trigger foods?)

5. Switch to low-fat, unsalted, fat free etc. versions of your TF's. It does work. I was addicted to Hellman's Mayonaise and then switched to Hellman's Dijonnaise (after two years I am now addicted to the 5 calorie Dijonnaise.)

7. Read the label for the whole bag of, whatever, BEFORE you are going to have a "few". There are 11 servings in a 11 oz bag of Sour Cream and Onion Chips. 160 calories a serving. The WHOLE BAG is 1760 calories with 110 grams of fat and 2,310 mg of Sodium. I can't believe I ate the whole thing!!

NO MORE FUGUE STATES.

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Building The Buffer

I weigh in around 80 people every week and that includes my husband and myself. I have a little "moment" whenever anyone goes into a new "decade", when I stop and make them say, LOUDLY, that they will never be in the previous decade again. For example, someone is at 181 , weighs in and is at 179. They say, "I will NEVER be the 80's again. It is important to stop and recognize the achievement and imprint it in your psyche.

The same holds true at the 100 pound intervals. I have seen a few people in our group, including me, go from the 300's into the 200's. We said, "I will never be in the 300's again!"

More of the group have gone from the 200's into the 100's. They each said, "I will never be in the 200's again." It's not faulty math when I state that it is more than one pound betwen 300 and 299 and 200 and 199. It is one small pound on the scale but it's a giant leap for that psyche I was talking about earlier.

In 1982 I went to The Diet Center for a while and then on Nutrisystems and got to 176 pounds. I lasted at that weight for around five minutes. I never learned WHY I over ate. I never learned WHAT the proper foods were to eat, or HOW I had to exercise to maintain my weight loss. So, now I weigh 203 and I am lower than I have been in 28 years!! I can see 199 on the horizon. NO longer is it a dim and flickering light at the end of the tunnel.

What is important is that even if it takes awhile for me to get to 199, I have built a HUGE BUFFER between me and weighing 300 again; a 97 pound buffer to be exact. I can have a bad day, a bad few days, a bad week, even a bad month and I would be hard pressed to gain 97 pounds.


What I have learned is that the key is to NIP THE "BAD" TIMES IN THE BUD before you chip too much away from that buffer. Give yourself a five pound leeway, so if you want to weigh 170, try to stay between 165 and 170 etc.

The BIG problems occur when we never get back on track and the days, weeks, or one month become MONTHS and soon our buffer is gone for good. Give yourself that bad day, or even a week, if you must, but STOP and get yourself back on track ASAP. Build a buffer and stay below it and tell yourself you'll never go back into the ....300's or the 200's or the whatever's again BUT this time MEAN IT .

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