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!
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