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Christian Weight Loss Diets – Keys to Recognizing Satisfaction

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 28 September 2009, 5:35 am

Christian weight loss (and any permanent weight loss) settles around the heart. Changing the heart and understanding how I arrived where I am plays and essential roll in getting to where I want to be.

So much stuff crowds my life. Stuff surrounds me every where I turn and it can become overwhelming. Recognizing when I have had enough can be just as overwhelming. The “too much” feeling has been a part of my life for so long that just enough becomes foreign.

Christian Weight Loss Revelations

    1. Weight loss comes from eating when hungry. True hunger comes with an empty or hollow sensation in the region about six inches or so above your belly button. Christian weight loss occurs when you eat at this hunger moment and all other cravings are curbed by feeding the heart.

    2. Satisfaction aids in weight loss. Finding a place of satisfaction may require using a few cheats in the beginning. Eat half as much as you put on your plate. Use smaller plates. Eat slower and enjoy the company and the atmosphere while you eat. Chew each bite so that you can taste each bite. Satisfaction comes the moment you are no longer HUNGRY!

    3. Weight loss appears when fear is released. There are times when I eat more than I need (or want) because I “love” that particular meal and I worry that I will not have a chance to have it again. The good news is that I CAN get more later and I will enjoy it more if I only eat until I am satisfied.

    4. Keep it simple. Finding satisfaction and hunger to aid in weight loss does not have to be a challenge. Choose to wait to eat until the feeling in your stomach seems unbearable (and then wait another hour). Only eat a few bites and then walk away from the food. That hunger sensation will soon come again.

    5. Weight loss naturally occurs when you bring in fewer calories. Eating at hunger and stopping at just enough will help make that weight loss happen.

The biggest difference between Christian weight loss and other weight loss diets is that prayer assists in the understanding of why food has become so important. Once food is taken down off the pedestal then the weight loss can begin in earnest. Finding hunger and satisfaction is one step in the Christian weight loss process.

Filed under Christian weight loss, Weight loss tips. Tagged , ,
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Pray the Weight Off

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 28 September 2009, 5:18 am

Eating is hindering my blessings in life. It sounds silly, but it’s true. I’m not talking about the basic, help the body run eating. This is the eating for eating’s sake kind of eating.

The bible refers to it as gluttony, and it’s a sin.

So if eating too much is a sin and sin blocks my blessings, then my eating is hindering the blessings that God desires for my life. The real painful part is that my eating is also hindering the blessings of my family. You would think that thought alone would be enough to keep my mouth shut.

Sin has a strong pull though. Some days I can breeze right through just eating when my stomach growls and never overdoing it. Then there are times when I think I am unable to stop snacking all day.

Believe it or not, my solution to this quandary is prayer. When I start my day talking to God then the temptations are not only smaller, but there always seems to be an escape route. Those other days, every thing seems hectic and overwhelming and food seems to be the only neutralizer.

So I’m going to pray my way past gluttony and to a fitter, trimmer life. Breaking the sin will not be easy. I know it does NOT want to go. But it is time, and I am determined to be free.

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Losing Weight By Chewing Less

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 25 September 2009, 5:02 am

Eat More! That seems to be the motto for every thing and every one in the United States. The buffets encourage you to eat more – they are, after all, “all you can eat” and you must get your money’s worth. The restaurants serve portions big enough for a small family (I know because we often share to cut back on expenses). Even the grocery stores are getting in on the act with “buy one, get one free” specials. It’s no wonder so many people are going to crazy extremes or unique choices to try and win the battle of the bulge.

I want to be healthy again, and I know that eating less is the way to go. But even the size of my dinner plates (which were wedding gifts) is fighting against me in my effort to eat less.

Recently I found a book that is opening my eyes and guiding my path. Kiss Dieting Goodbye by Elliott Young is pulling together the biblical ideal and the health principles into one sound practice. One of the best things that I pulled from the book focused on portion control

Tips for Portion Control to Aid Weight Loss

    1. Don’t wait until you are starving to eat. It gives you the sense that you have to make up for lost meals.

    2. Measure out your portions. Most human beings only need a food serving that is equal to their flattened fist. That’s not a lot of food, folks.

    3. Keep in mind that you can always get more. Here in the United States, there is no lack of food. Don’t feel like you have to “store away” a favorite food because there might never be anymore available to you.

    4. Don’t eat from the container. Putting food on a plate or in a bowl will give you an idea of how much you are eating. It will also give you a stopping point.

    5. You can only eat just one. Sometimes just the taste is what you crave. You don’t have to eat the whole candy bar or all the M&M’s or the full bag of chips. Satisfy your craving and save the rest for later.

    6. Share your meal. Especially when eating out. Most restaurants offer more than enough for two. This will not only help your portion control, but it will help your budget.

    7. Can’t split the meal? Then ask for a “To Go” box with the meal. Put half the food away before you even get started.

    8. DON’T SKIP MEALS. Keep your energy up and your metabolism running by eating at least three times per day.

    9. Avoid the TV. You can’t truly enjoy something that you aren’t focused on. Remember how much better that last meal out tasted? It’s good because you are focused on the experience. Make every meal an experience so that you can savor the food.

    10. Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. It makes the portions look and feel more filling.

Eating less food doesn’t mean I have to deprive myself, it just means I have to control the portions that I lay out. By doing a little planning, taking a little extra time, and making my meals and experience and not just a necessity, I can make portion control a natural way of life.

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Recognize Food Addiction to Lose Weight

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 24 September 2009, 11:23 am

“An addict will look for opportunities to partake alone.” My husband’s words came out of no where and were like a face full of cold water. I am not an addict so why would he say something like that. There is addiction in my family – alcohol and even drugs – but I was clean. I had never even thought of addiction in my life because I knew I was not an addict.

Or was I?

    There are times when I have hidden food when someone walked in unexpectedly.

    There have been times when I have planned what I would eat as soon as I was alone.

    There have been times when I have splurged and snacked all day and sat down to a meal like nothing was going on.

    There have been times when I would “exercise” knowing that I was eating ever time someone turned their eyes away.

    There have been times when I would eat an entire fast food meal in the car on the way to the house.

Food has become my addiction – or it was my addiction. The launch of this website was my break away from food. But recognizing that the habits and traits of other addicts were some of the habits and traits that I had formed in my own life will be just as useful in my transformation.

Recognizing the problem is a major step towards overcoming and I am determined to overcome. My weight is my issue – no one has forced fed me the weight. Pregnancy did not force the weight on me. Knowing that I did it to myself and admitting that I did it already gives me a taste of the freedom that I am working towards.

Are you ready to be free?

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Lose Weight Without Exercise

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 24 September 2009, 4:54 am

Forget all the expensive gym memberships. Box up you collection of dusty exercise videos. Today is the day that you start losing weight without doing one movement of exercise.

Great Tips for Easy Weight Loss

    1. Clean the house. Take a broom and a mop and get to work. Sweep the entire house from top to bottom and then follow up with a good mopping. It’s an amazing upper body work out (and you can really burn up the calories if you see how fast you can get it all done).

    2. Mow the yard. Forget the riding contraptions that cost more than my first car did. Invest in a quality push mower. Pushing that machine around the yard, twice a week, will not only tone up your lower body but will also help you to appreciate pavement. For the best work out around, invest in a mower that is NOT self-propelling.

    3. Play with the children. Whether you jump on the trampoline, take a hike with the whole family (and inevitable carry the toddler on your back) or just run around kicking the soccer ball, you are bound to get a great work out in muscles you had forgotten you had.

    4. Play with the spouse ;) – enough said!

    5. Wash the windows (inside and out). Climbing up and down the ladder to reach the top corners of the many windows in your home is going to tone more in your lower body than any expensive Stairmaster ever could.

    6. Plant a garden. Between the digging, plowing, stooping, weeding and hauling you will get a full body work out that you will not soon forget. If you really want to put your muscles to the test then rent a sod cutter and clear some area in your yard for a NEW garden (be sure to till well before doing any planting).

    7. Volunteer to keep the toddler room at church. You’ll do plenty of lifts and squats and maybe even a few presses. Rolling around with the kids can be the best exercise in the world (for the body and the heart).

The great thing about these activities is that they help keep you moving. That is one of the most important keys to losing weight. Besides, if you are up and going then you aren’t vegging in front of the television eating.

Instead of spending your time (and money) at the gym, let go of some of the conveniences around your home and you will find that you can lose weight without doing any exercising.

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Weight Freedom Day Three – Get Moving

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 23 September 2009, 7:32 am

Growing up I was always on the go. Watching television was not an option mainly because there was nothing on most of the time. College was all about ballroom dancing. I was on my feet about 10 hours each day – and stretching when I was not dancing.

Having children actually slowed me down some (in addition to the 24 hour television opportunities). It has been hard to stay as active as I was growing up or maybe it is just that the excuses to be a home body are easier to come by. No matter how I got – I got here. Staying station can not be an option if I want to be as physically fit as I was when I was active.

Getting Moving a Step at a Time

    1. Pull out the yoga/pilate mat – stretching while I watch the few television programs that I still follow helps to tone and lengthen my muscles. I usually follow a similar routine to what I did when I was dancing although the going is much slower and not nearly as limber.



    2. Take a stroll around the yard – granted, my yard is 37 acres, but the concept is the same if you are strolling around the park or around the block. The idea is to get up and get moving first thing in the morning. I tell my youngest (who is usually awake and determined to follow me around) that it is my time to talk with God.

    3. Start slow – overdoing it in the first few days will almost guarantee that consistency will fall to the wayside. Painful muscles are not a good motivator. You need to work up to the heavy work outs and for now just concentrate on getting moving.

    4. Count the steps – the recommended steps you need to be taking is 10,000. That includes the steps you take walking from room to room, from the car to your destination or any other steps you take during the day. How many steps are you taking?

Movement is essential to a healthy body. I am working my way back to the condition that will motivate me to follow my love of dancing once again.

Filed under Easy exercise tips, Weight loss issues. Tagged , ,
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Control is the Key to Weight Loss

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 23 September 2009, 5:49 am

Food has no more control over my life. It was something I confronted two weeks ago, and I’m holding my ground. It’s not like I’ve given up food. Instead, the power of what to eat and when to eat and how to eat is back in my hands (so to speak).

I’ve even gotten off the scales. When I lost the forty pounds of baby weight after my second son, I got rid of the scales. I trusted my clothes to tell me when I was losing control. Actually, it never dawned on me that I might lose control.

At 36, almost seven years after my second son was born, I found myself pregnant with a third child. (I say “found,” like we tripped over it in the woods. I knew it was POSSIBLE, but after years of hoping to get pregnant I had given up on the idea. SURPRISE!). Have you noticed that maternity clothes give you no indication of just how much weight you are packing on?

After he was born, I bought myself a scale. It calculates body fat percentage and everything – even keeps a record of my weight loss to date. Falling back into the habit of weighing daily was easier than slipping down a muddy slope. Since the scale reads the fractions of the weight, I was able to react to even a tenth of a pound up or down. There were days that I would get on the scale in the morning AND in the evening, just in case.

NO MORE! I’ve quit eating in front of the television (have pretty much quit watching the television except when I’m washing the dishes or cooking). Every afternoon when my energy starts to get low, I try to take a few minutes to play with the kids – usually outside. It’s had the added benefit of getting them up and moving as well.

I still have the scales, but I haven’t gotten on them this week. If the food doesn’t have control, then there is really no need for the scales. The weight is coming off. The clothes are fitting better. I have taken back the control.

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Make the Kids Lose Your Weight

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 22 September 2009, 10:12 am

My kids are going to lose my weight for me. The diets haven’t worked. The exercise videos still sit calmly in their wrappers. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s time to make my kids take some action.

It’s not as bad as it sounds. I’ll be doing the hard work; they’ll just be riding around and singing. Think of it as a very slow hay ride – minus the hay. This new regimen will have two focus points. It will get me past the hump of the day (about 4 pm when I start to wear down), and it will give me and my children some fun time.

Every day, I will take by big garden wagon (which I’m pretty sure weighs a ton) and load my kids in it (which definitely makes it weigh a ton). Then I will haul that wagon and kids around the yard (I measured and it and it is one half of a mile) two times. Eventually, I will work my way up to a mile. Then after the long haul, and before I collapse from exhaustion, I’ll spend some time with them on the playground – kicking the ball, swinging, or just throwing the Frisbee.

The secret to my weight loss with be movement. Instead of calling it a day and spending the evening propped on the couch, I’ll bring in the twilight of the day with some old fashioned fun. A huge added bonus is that the kids will go to sleep much easier than before – as will mommy.

Not working out is not an option. I have found that if I don’t get up and prepare for the workout, then my “gym” comes to me and asks if its time to go for a ride. How do you say no to those sweet little faces? Guilt makes me get up and get going when motivation has long taken the day off. Before long, I’m having more fun than the kids are having and the weight is running for the hills.

I knew I wanted to get moving again, and I thought I would break down and join a gym. Instead of spending money and taking time away from my family, I’m getting creative. The long haul is not only great cardio, but its strength training as well.

Weight loss is about burning more calories than you take into your body. I’m not counting calories, but I know that by eating only when I’m hunger, stopping before I’m full, and running with my children until we are all ready to collapse will not only make me healthier, but it will make me a better mom to boot.

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Weight Freedom Day Two – The Reason Why

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 22 September 2009, 6:26 am

My weight was the same in college that it had been in high school but when I would come home to visit people would comment on how much weight I had lost. The weight had not left, it had just shifted to the places it needed to be. Dancing all day (ballroom dance) and stretching so that I COULD dance all day had worked together to create some muscle fat – and I felt great!

That is my goal now. I want to feel great once again. I want to pull pants out of the closet and not have to worry about whether or not those pants will fasten. I want to be able to run across the field with my kids without passing out for lack of breath. I will be healthy, fit and trim again!

Weight Loss Struggles I am Overcoming

    1. Eating without cause – there are days when I will just about eat everything in site and sometimes call in reinforcements by having my kids or hubby bring something else from my FIL’s house. My mind says I “need” it but my body begs to differ. I am listening to my body.

    2. Finding an excuse – there is always a reason not to do what I know to do. Now I am looking for a reason TO DO what I know to do. If I am going to make an excuse it might as well be for a good cause.

    3. Keeping it real – the Biggest Loser started a new season and it would be great to drop the kind of weight that they do each week. The problem is that I do not have 8 hours a day to devote to working out. There are days when I am lucky to have 8 minutes. I am keeping it real by looking at my habits and focusing on changing those one at a time.

This is good. Change may not be easy but it can be exciting and fulfilling. This freedom journey is one of those changes that are worth the time, the effort and the energy. Are you on your journey yet?

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Simple Steps to Lasting Weight Loss

Posted by Kathryn Lang on 22 September 2009, 5:22 am

Weight has been an issue for me for the last 25 years. Only in the last five I’ve started to understand how to deal with the problem. For most people, losing weight is not a medical condition (although there are exceptions to this). The keys to losing weight are simple.

Simple Tips to Help Weight Loss

    1. Chew less. When I first read this statement, I was thinking about the “chew your bite 40 times” that I had heard in grammar school. The truth is that when I sit down to eat, I simply eat too much. Chew less means don’t eat so much.

    2. Eat off smaller plates (or bowls). This will force you to eat smaller portions and will also trick your brain into thinking it’s getting more food.

    3. Take your time. Eat smaller bites and take time in between each bite. It usually takes the “full” message from your stomach about twenty minutes to reach your brain. (I wonder if this is because all the blood and energy is being used to digest).

    4. Make meal time an experience. Put out the nice linen. Light a candle. Play some mood music. Enjoy each and every meal instead of shoving anything into your mouth and calling it done.

    5. Stop before you are full. I call it “first date” eating. Only consume as much as you would on a first date – or an amount about the size of your palm.

    6. Get moving. You have to burn more calories than you take in, and movement is the way to do that. Make it your goal to walk just 10,000 steps per day.

    7. Build muscle. Muscle will burn more energy than fat. The stronger you get, the more weight you can burn off with less effort.

    8. Don’t ever give up. If you slip, start again.

    9. Start now. If you wait until tomorrow then you will continue to wait until tomorrow.

    10. Treat yourself. If you complete deprive yourself of chocolate then you won’t be able to think of anything BUT chocolate. When you are hungry, enjoy a small amount of your favorite food, but don’t go overboard.

Losing weight doesn’t have to require lots of charts and graphs. With just a little common sense, some self control and some get up and go you can work and live your way to a thin and healthy life without diets. The steps to losing weight are simple – now if they were only easy, too.

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