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