weight and health; personal commitment
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 5:35 pm
It took me a very long time to be able to admit my weight in public too, but I'm over it because this is who I am and with God's grace and leading, I'll be able to get healthier. We need to support each other. I think many of us have felt what our friend here expressed...feeling so down and buried under the weight of our weight. The truth is that God loves you in this moment just as you are...His word says He loves you with an everlasting love...that means on your worst day. Think about it....do you despise the person you see walking down the street who is heavy? Do you despise your friend who is heavy? No probably not, but if you are like I've been, you can get so down on yourself that you despise yourself for who you are and how you look. Give yourself permission to love yourself as you are today...and give yourself a break! You wouldn't measure another person as critically as you are measuring yourself dear sis. Noone can replace you on this earth....you are a unique creation and loved by God.
That said, Someone posted earlier asking if anyone here is trying to do something positive to lower their weight. God has given me this wayward body as a gift not a curse! A gift that is designed so that I can experience the pleasures of eating and living on this earth but also to teach me discipline.
I want to do the best I can w/what He's given me and so I'm committing myself to this today:
I've been lowcarbing (more on than off until recently when I've eaten anything I felt like) for a couple of yrs now. Started at 254....very slowly edged down to 216 and then nothing lost for months. Even doing aerobics and strength training for 12 hrs a week for 3 months didn't help. I started to feel like quiting and did quit for a time..just resented it and wanted to be able to eat the way my family and friends eat, but you know what? God didn't give me their bodies He gave me one that works best on different kinds of food than they eat. I quickly shot back up to 230, cholesterol increased, bp too....NOT WORTH eating brownies and pizza! My doctor is so on my back to get on lipitor or some other med for cholesterol and he is clearly annoyed everytime I say "no"....I don't want the side effects. I want a life style change that will work! SO.....
I've done some research and because I consider myself an extreme case (total cholesterol 270...did come down 20 points from 290 since lcing; ratio 7.5 NOT GOOD but I believe while I was off the low carb wagon and eating what my family can eat ...what THEY can eat w/no ill effects to them) it went up)
I've decided to do a more narrow form of LOW CARB called NEANDRATHIN.
I feel more energetic when I low carb, even when I'm not losing weight. I believe that besides being allergic to wheat and other grains, I have a problem w/the sugars in dairy and potatos because they make me feel sleepy (apnea or not!)
When I began losing as a post hysterectomy, fat most of my life woman over 50 on low carb...even though it was slow, I was astonished! I had come to the point of thinking NOTHING would work because yrs of trying everything out there...vegetarianism, fasting, juicing, etc....I continued to get heavier and more unhealthy.
This is the Neandrathin plan (narrower than other lc plans but what I need for my health right now in my effort to bring the numbers down and most likely for the rest of my life. For sure I will be lowcarbing for the rest of my life because it makes me feel the best and my health is best on it). In a nutshell, you can eat anything our ancestors could have caught or foraged for in the wild, pre-agriculture:
1. Eat greens and low carb veggies, raw is best choice when possible or lightly steamed or stir fried, and good choices are cruciferous like cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc...So salads are a good meal (but on Neandrathin you don't use most storebought dressings...just olive oil and lemon juice, garlic and herbs w/a toss in of protein and raw seeds or nuts. If cholesterol is a problem I read that you need to be choosy about the kind of nuts and seeds because some have the wrong balance of omegas).
2. Eat "anything w/a face" that doesn't have nitrates, additives, sugar
(includes fish, fowl, beef, pork, lamb, etc). (serious Neandrathins try to eat free ranged meat because the meat has a better ratio of the good fats but its too pricey for me). Prepare in a healthy way...no deep frying...roasting is good and rare or medium rare is preferred to well done.
3. Eat eggs
4.Eat good fats (olive oil, coconut oil, and I'm allowing myself a little butter)Avocados are a good choice because of "good fat" too.
5. Once you have lost weight and are humming along, minimal amounts of raw seeds, raw nuts (not peanuts, they are a legume, not cashew ditto) can be added. Minimal amt of berries or other lc fruits can be eaten but most need to limit it to almost nothing initially to see a good result because of insulin resistance, etc...
NOTHING ELSE>>>>>NO DAIRY< NO GRAINS, no vinegar or other "messed with" condiments...(Lemon is fine to have with oil and herbs on salad)
Lots of water, teas are fine.
Extremely different from how most Americans eat? YES! Healthy? YES! Because of omitting the grains and dairy, many diseases we have such as arthritis will be minimalized or gone completely because our body is not having inflammatory problems. Personally I had extreme pain in my hip joints in the past and it would actually bring me to tears to struggle to get up from the floor if I had sat down w/my dogs or bent to pick something up, and 2 wks after eating lowcarb it left! This is something I definitely need to do if I am serious about feeling good and being healthy. My plan is to do this w/no variations until the next cholesterol check and see how it effects my numbers. Most people on lc who are eating a healthy plan w/plenty of lc veggies see their numbers come down. I've done some surfing to find out more...If you are curious do the same...Active Low-Carbers Forum is one site and Christian Low Carb Retreat is another.
If anyone wants to know a typical days meals look under Flowergirl at the Christianlowcarb board in my journal or do a "neandrathin" search and you'll
find it there on Clc. Anybody else out there working on their heart and general health through eating choices? Terry
That said, Someone posted earlier asking if anyone here is trying to do something positive to lower their weight. God has given me this wayward body as a gift not a curse! A gift that is designed so that I can experience the pleasures of eating and living on this earth but also to teach me discipline.
I want to do the best I can w/what He's given me and so I'm committing myself to this today:
I've been lowcarbing (more on than off until recently when I've eaten anything I felt like) for a couple of yrs now. Started at 254....very slowly edged down to 216 and then nothing lost for months. Even doing aerobics and strength training for 12 hrs a week for 3 months didn't help. I started to feel like quiting and did quit for a time..just resented it and wanted to be able to eat the way my family and friends eat, but you know what? God didn't give me their bodies He gave me one that works best on different kinds of food than they eat. I quickly shot back up to 230, cholesterol increased, bp too....NOT WORTH eating brownies and pizza! My doctor is so on my back to get on lipitor or some other med for cholesterol and he is clearly annoyed everytime I say "no"....I don't want the side effects. I want a life style change that will work! SO.....
I've done some research and because I consider myself an extreme case (total cholesterol 270...did come down 20 points from 290 since lcing; ratio 7.5 NOT GOOD but I believe while I was off the low carb wagon and eating what my family can eat ...what THEY can eat w/no ill effects to them) it went up)
I've decided to do a more narrow form of LOW CARB called NEANDRATHIN.
I feel more energetic when I low carb, even when I'm not losing weight. I believe that besides being allergic to wheat and other grains, I have a problem w/the sugars in dairy and potatos because they make me feel sleepy (apnea or not!)
When I began losing as a post hysterectomy, fat most of my life woman over 50 on low carb...even though it was slow, I was astonished! I had come to the point of thinking NOTHING would work because yrs of trying everything out there...vegetarianism, fasting, juicing, etc....I continued to get heavier and more unhealthy.
This is the Neandrathin plan (narrower than other lc plans but what I need for my health right now in my effort to bring the numbers down and most likely for the rest of my life. For sure I will be lowcarbing for the rest of my life because it makes me feel the best and my health is best on it). In a nutshell, you can eat anything our ancestors could have caught or foraged for in the wild, pre-agriculture:
1. Eat greens and low carb veggies, raw is best choice when possible or lightly steamed or stir fried, and good choices are cruciferous like cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc...So salads are a good meal (but on Neandrathin you don't use most storebought dressings...just olive oil and lemon juice, garlic and herbs w/a toss in of protein and raw seeds or nuts. If cholesterol is a problem I read that you need to be choosy about the kind of nuts and seeds because some have the wrong balance of omegas).
2. Eat "anything w/a face" that doesn't have nitrates, additives, sugar
(includes fish, fowl, beef, pork, lamb, etc). (serious Neandrathins try to eat free ranged meat because the meat has a better ratio of the good fats but its too pricey for me). Prepare in a healthy way...no deep frying...roasting is good and rare or medium rare is preferred to well done.
3. Eat eggs
4.Eat good fats (olive oil, coconut oil, and I'm allowing myself a little butter)Avocados are a good choice because of "good fat" too.
5. Once you have lost weight and are humming along, minimal amounts of raw seeds, raw nuts (not peanuts, they are a legume, not cashew ditto) can be added. Minimal amt of berries or other lc fruits can be eaten but most need to limit it to almost nothing initially to see a good result because of insulin resistance, etc...
NOTHING ELSE>>>>>NO DAIRY< NO GRAINS, no vinegar or other "messed with" condiments...(Lemon is fine to have with oil and herbs on salad)
Lots of water, teas are fine.
Extremely different from how most Americans eat? YES! Healthy? YES! Because of omitting the grains and dairy, many diseases we have such as arthritis will be minimalized or gone completely because our body is not having inflammatory problems. Personally I had extreme pain in my hip joints in the past and it would actually bring me to tears to struggle to get up from the floor if I had sat down w/my dogs or bent to pick something up, and 2 wks after eating lowcarb it left! This is something I definitely need to do if I am serious about feeling good and being healthy. My plan is to do this w/no variations until the next cholesterol check and see how it effects my numbers. Most people on lc who are eating a healthy plan w/plenty of lc veggies see their numbers come down. I've done some surfing to find out more...If you are curious do the same...Active Low-Carbers Forum is one site and Christian Low Carb Retreat is another.
If anyone wants to know a typical days meals look under Flowergirl at the Christianlowcarb board in my journal or do a "neandrathin" search and you'll
find it there on Clc. Anybody else out there working on their heart and general health through eating choices? Terry