On the FLY!

I am late! I am late! I am late!

Sometimes I feel just like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland...running all around and never getting much accomplished or just feeling overwhelmed. But several years ago after I had been diagnosed with cancer, I quit my job and actually stayed at home for the first time in my life since I was fifteen years old. I had no idea that just NOT working would be so hard for me to adjust to! After a while, I began to get teary eyed every day! But it was not the roller coaster ride my emotions were taking that caught me off guard, but it was the sense of just being overwhelmed by housework every day! I can't explain it...it was like I knew what I had to do but I didn't know where to start and so I just would not start!

Can you understand what I am talking about?

I had cancer; so why should I even care how my home looked? The days just flew by! It seemed as if every day was just waiting for me to get up and get started but I couldn't cope with every day things at that time. For the first time in a very long time I did not have a plan for my life. I did not know what the next week or the next day would bring and so I just existed for the moment. And things just backed up and did not get accomplished at all. It was as if I forgot how to function...I forgot how to clean my house...wash our clothes...work in my yards...etc. I just wanted to spend all my time with my husband, Kirby. Chad, my oldest son, was living in Indiana and I longed to see him every day. I realized that this was not healthy for me to feel so depressed and overwhelmed by even the small things in my life but I grew worse as the months went past.

Finally I broke down and went to a counselor. She told me that I could get myself back in full functioning order just as I was before I learned about the cancer. The counselor told me about a great website that would help me get myself back in order! So I want to pass this knowledge forward to you. The website is: www.flylady.net/

Let me encourage you to go to this website and take advantage of this awesome and fun site! (Yes! Housework can actually be sort of fun!) Download some of the forms that will help you get yourself organized in your house work, finances, personal life and so on! Since those terrible days of uncertainty, I have become quite the Fly Lady myself! I have finally gotten my "flight plan" all figured out. But there is always room for improvement!

Again that site is: www.flylady.net/

God Bless

What Are YOU Doing On The Fourth?

Today I was scheduled at my new dentist's office for a root canal and then in three weeks I am scheduled to go back and have two crowns put on my front two teeth. I think, "Yep, that's what old age and eating way to much crunchy stuff over the years will do for ya! Serves me right!" But you know, I am not really complaining! I really am so happy to be having it done. For the past year I have been just putting up with the loss of the filling in my front left tooth. Well, like I told you, I have always put the health of my children and husband before my own. If I needed something attended to and one of my kids needed anything I would always put off having myself looked after by a doctor so that I could make sure that we could afford them getting seen by the family doc. As a result of not taking care of myself including the health of my mouth, my teeth are in very poor condition. I've got lots of work to be done to get my pearly whites back in shape!

So yesterday, I reluctantly went in to see a new Dentist, Dr. Bell in Warner Robins, GA. I just had to tell you about my visit. It was one of the most enjoyable dentist visits I think I have ever had! The staff was so efficient and caring! Dr. Bell has the most pleasant personality of any dentist that I have ever met! He took one look at my mouth and said, "Oh well, we've got to do something with those teeth in the front first! That's a priority! Nothing is more important than a good smile. Why that is just embarrassing! Come on in here and let's get a temporary filling in those today." And that is just what he did! I came out of that office smiling again!

If you live in the Warner Robins, GA area, and your looking for a dentist, let me suggest that you give Dr. Alex Bell DMD or Dr. Colson DMD at the Family Dental Associates located at 328 Margie Dr. a try. I know I am very pleased. I believe you will be also.

Oh I am so excited about my new dentist until I almost forgot to ask you what are you doing on the fourth of July? Are you grilling steaks? Well don't invite me because I can't eat anything that is not very soft right now! Not for three weeks anyway. Not until my root canal gets well and I get my new crowns in.
But I don't even mind. I think I'll just lay out in the sun by a pool somewhere and SMILE!!!

Murphy's Law

This past week has been "one of those weeks." You know the kind I'm talking about. There is an old saying that some call "Murphy's Law," it goes like this, "whatever can go wrong will go wrong." My husband was given a coffee cup with that detestable prophecy printed on it and I have always refused to drink willingly from that cup! But you know I think there are more people that believe that so called "law" than people who listen to, believe and obey the ten commandments! Most people feel that if anything can go wrong it will go wrong and it will go wrong at the worst possible time; when you least expect it! They just seem to accept it as a way of life and I am no different than anyone else. I used to fall into that same category. But really this is a negative, pessimistic view of life! I said that I used to think this way, but as I grow older my ideas and views of life have greatly changed, especially as I grow closer to my golden years and closer to the Lord. Through some of my life experiences, I have come to see this interpretation of Murphy's Law to be the wrong way of looking at it! Now, I see that having the understanding of Murphy's Law and how "whatever can go wrong will go wrong" is a principle of Forward Thinking...being prepared for any situation that comes your way - no matter what may happen! Always expect the unexpected...so to speak! Planning for future setbacks as well as future success should be a goal for us all as we travel on our journey to the land of health, wellness...and wealth.

But I must confess that I am one of those short sighted people who never planned for setbacks and loss like the stress of lay offs, heart attacks, strokes, bad knees, diabetes, miscarriages, arthritis, and finally the BIGGEST set back and surprise to me...a broken back!

Never...never, would I have ever believed that I would have broken my back! No one could have even forewarned me and made me believe them or take them seriously about taking care of my spine in case that one day I may be in a wheel chair due to a back injury. Who me? No way...well...yes way!

But when I worked at a local Home Improvement Company, I had the nickname, WONDER WOMAN. Daily I lifted 50 to 80 lb. bags of concrete, mulch, rock and topsoil without giving it a second thought. But now since my accident I realize how I have abused my body over the years and just how important it is to take care of the body that God has blessed us with. Especially what I call the "core four" essential parts of my physical body. What are the "core four?" They are my mind, my eyes, my heart, and my spine. Murphy's Law says, "what ever can go wrong will go wrong" now apply that saying to your body...scary thought, right? Every person needs to do some forward thinking and make plans to take care of his or her body.

Experts say that 8 out of 10 people will have back pain at some point in their lives that will be so severe that it will hamper all work or play in their lives. So how do we plan for "whatever can happen?" Well, I first suggest that you learn all that you can learn about your body and how to take care of it. Learn your strengths and weaknesses. Go to a GOOD REPUTABLE M.D. Go NOW! Don't wait until you are under physical pressure and pain. Don't wait for an illness to strike! If you wait, you may not have enough time to decide on the best place to get care.

My suggestion is to go to the American Medical Association's Web site and use the "DoctorFinder" service to find doctors who are local to you. You can find the site at: http://webapps.ama-assn.org/doctorfinder/html/patient.html Or give them a call at 800-621-8335.

Also check with your insurance provider...you do have health insurance don't you? If not please get some! Don't make the same mistakes I made! An HMO or a Personal Provider may have a list of Family Practice Physicians in your area. But even with a list of doctors you will still want to know who you can trust. Who is the best qualified to care for my health and/or my family's health? Well, when it comes right down to it you can't beat "word of mouth." Ask other doctors or hospital nurses for their recommendations. You can ask your pharmacist, dentist, eye doctor, family, friends, your pastor, coworkers and neighbors.

Do any doctors names keep coming up in the conversation as being favorable? Good! Make a list of all who come highly recommended, then call their office and talk to the receptionist or a member of the office staff. Ask questions and tell them your concerns. Is the doctor taking new patients? Let the office know that you are looking for a doctor you can rely on for a long trusting relationship. (I'd like to state here that I have a wonderful family physician that I have completely trusted now for nearly ten years!) Some offices may have brochures or Web sites to give you a better answer to your concerns.

Do a little digging and investigate a doctor's training, background, and quality of care - including a background check to see if a doctor has a history of legal or disciplinary actions that are currently pending. Look on this Web site: http://www.docboard.org/ for info on doctors in some states. Learn if a doctor is board certified. Being "board certified" means that the doctor has had three or more years of extra training after completion of medical school to become a specialist in a particular field of medicine. Family doctors who are board certified, must pass an exam every seven years to maintain their certification.

Here is MY advice to YOU. Ask yourself these questions:
1) Is this doctor easy to talk to?
2) Does he interrupt me before I've had the chance to explain my problems?
3) Does he treat me with respect?
4) Is he patient?
5) Does he encourage me to ask questions and does he listen to me with concern?
6) Does he show that he is truly interested in me as a person who has both physical health and emotional needs?

Then once you have asked yourself these questions and answered them, trust your own feelings when deciding but also remember to give the new physician - patient relationship time to develop. Your doctor is new to your case so let him get to know you also! But after a while if you still are not satisfied, do not feel bad about deciding to move on and continue your search for the right family doctor for you and your family.

You may wonder why I am so concerned about having the right family doctor. Well, I have had a series of misfortunate experiences with the "wrong doctors." These were experiences that I went through by not taking the responsibility of planning for my health and personal wellness as well as the wellness of my family. I suffered the loss of my first child who had already died in my womb and the doctor which I had continued to tell me the whole time (over a month) that the baby was still "doing just fine and her heartbeat was strong." The heartbeat he thought he was hearing was my own. I lost my baby on my birthday in Texas while I was visiting my sister. Then I was misdiagnosed by two doctors which resulted in having to go through cancer therapy for over four months. I was told that I had two different types of cancer so I thought that I may need to see a cancer specialist. I called the doctor who had initially told me over the phone that I had cancer and asked her to refer me to an oncologist. Her reaction surprised me. She hesitated and asked me to give her enough time to go back over my reports and records. She then told me that I did not need another doctor that she could handle all that I needed and I would most likely need a hysterectomy. She cut me off abruptly and told me that she didn't have time to talk to me if I had any more questions I could talk to her nurse. Red flags and rockets went off in my mind! Something was NOT right with this attitude! That was the second worst experience of my life and I after the cancer medication took it's toll on my body, I was left a diabetic and unable to give birth to any more children.
Since then, my husband and a friend of the family convinced me that I should go to a local chiropractor to see about the pain that I had in my lower back and legs after I had the lawn tractor flip over on top of me. That chiropractor took only one x-ray of my back while I was sitting in a ladder back chair with some pretty antiquated equipment and then proceeded with some "adjustments" until I screamed with pain and demanded that he stop! My husband almost had to carry me out of the office to the car. When we got home I had to go straight to bed and there my lower body just stopped moving! My pain was so intense that the only way I can describe it is that it felt that someone had ripped my skin off and set me on fire! Kirby called an ambulance and I was rushed to the hospital and admitted. After the "right doctor" ordered an MRI he could see that my back bone had been broken but amazingly was still in place. I know that the Lord was holding me together!

Please choose your doctors wisely! Remember Murphy's Law and change that negative "Law" into a positive by taking it seriously and doing some Forward Thinking! Take care of YOU and YOUR FAMILY! Plan for the worst and like a good scout, always be prepared!

May God Bless You In ALL Things!

What is "Man's best medicine?"

What is the number one activity in America or even in the whole world? No...it is not jogging...and no...it is not cycling...no, it's not swimming! It is an activity that almost every healthy person in the world does every day...walking!
It doesn't require any special skills or advanced training. You don't have to have a college degree to prepare for it. Walking doesn't need any special equipment or special clothing. Although I recommend that you get a good pair of walking shoes, comfortable clothing, and a pedometer to keep up with how many steps you take each day.

The GREATEST benefit of walking is that it is so healthy for you! Way back in ancient Greece, when Hippocrates told his young scholars that "walking is mans best medicine," he didn't realize that thousands of years later physicians would still be recommending walking to improve one's health and lifestyle or that studies made thousands of years after he made that wonderful statement would have proven just how true he really was! Here are just a few of the healthy benefits of walking:

• It burns almost as many calories as running or jogging with less physical stress to your body
• It eases back pain
• It promotes good posture
• It reduces high blood pressure
• It reduces the levels of bad cholesterol in your body
• Reduces heart attack risk
• It enhances your stamina & energy
• It lessens your stress levels and eases tension
• (Here is a BIG PLUS) It reduces your appetite naturally! Without taking any of those prescription or over the counter pills that have been found to be so dangerous!

While walking is easier on your body, it can be just as beneficial or more so than running to help you lose weight. If you run for 30 minutes at 5 miles per hour you will burn about 285 calories. If you walk for 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour you will burn 165 calories on a level surface. Now, if you walk on a slight incline of about 5% you will burn about 225 calories; and if you increase that incline to about 10% you will burn about 360 calories. Get the picture? Be choosy about the route you walk. Find a route where the terrain varies and burn more calories...enjoy the countryside and the scenery around you. Walking can be an all over invigorating, therapeutic experience! Good for the soul and for the body! Hey it's still early and it's still the coolest part of the day...let's get out and WALK!

Lose 12 to 26 pounds before Labor Day!

Labor Day, September 7th, is 13 weeks from yesterday and this is a great window of opportunity to accomplish some amazing things with your energy, health and weight loss. Imagine yourself at a cookout or some fun gathering - - - now, how do you feel? Do you have a ton of energy and are you excited about your life? Are you looking forward to all the activity that goes on around you in the fall?

Here in Perry Georgia, we have the National Fairgrounds and as soon as you come into town, there is a large sign that counts down how many weeks are left in the year before the next National Fair is held during the early fall. Every time I enter town, it is a grim reminder that I am overweight and out of shape! The fair heralds the holiday activity around these parts! It is absolutely the BEST fair ever and everyone around here looks forward to all the outdoor activity and all the rides and shows! It is so much fun for the family! My son, Chad could plan his whole year around going to the Georgia National Fair. He always announces the fair’s arrival to me each year. He never fails to say, “Mom, are you going with me to the fair this year?” But to tell you the truth, I have not been to the National Fair for about eight years! Not because I really did not want to…but because I did not feel that I the stamina and energy enough to even walk around and just look at all the exhibits, and definitely not enough energy to ride the rides. (Don’t you hate it when the seat belts on the rides don’t fit around your body?) Since I have had bad knees and health problems I have used them as my excuse to not take part in my children’s family fair outings. I always pretend that I really have just lost all interest in having fun at the fair. Besides, I am not a kid anymore! At 53, I’m too old! But the truth is that I would LOVE to go to the fair and ride ALL the rides (every one of them) with my grand kids. I’d love to walk all over the fair and take in all the sites and sounds and smells. I’d LOVE to hear the joy in my children’s and grand kid’s laughter! I feel that life is passing me by and I am missing a very special part of it because of my poor stamina, low energy, aches and pains.

Personally, I am tired of being tired How ‘bout you? Are YOU tired of being tired also? Do you want to have a ton of energy and be excited about life? This Labor Day will you be excited about being able to be much more active during the fall? Will people keep making comments about how great you look and how much energy you have? This is important because your consistency today and in the coming 3 months is going to lead you and me into feeling like a Rock Star on Labor Day. ARE YOU UP FOR IT? You deserve to have tons of energy, to be healthy and to feel good about yourself. So concentrate on making smart decisions today and start taking a few baby steps initially towards improving your energy and health. Even a few small changes in our behavior will help carry us into better health! Lastly, stop making excuses about why you are not losing weight and/or getting fit, start holding yourself accountable and start kicking some butt! (And as in MY case, it’s some pretty BIG butt! Ha! Ha! Just kidding!) Sorry for the tough love, but I care about you and want to help and encourage you.On Labor Day, you and I will be proud of our hard work and we will be excited to have made some great improvements to our health. And, let me tell you, it is OK to make yourself a top priority. YOU DESERVE IT!

Here again, I want to mention that there is so many ways out there to for anyone to attain better health! Especially online! And although a lot of the sites are NOT free, some of them really are FREE! I will say it over and over again, it is hard to beat Sparkpeople! Let me encourage you to visit their website: http://www.sparkpeople.com
All you have to do is register with them to have ALL of their resources available to you and your family! You will also have online friends that will chat with you and encourage you to become the best that you can be.

If you live in the Houston, Peach, Dooley, or Pulaski counties, please feel free to come join us at New Light Harvest Chapel on Hwy 341 South for the 3D Eat Well, Live Well, and Love God program. If faith can move mountains it may budge unwanted pounds, boost low self-esteem and overcome other problems. God is the most necessary component of a whole life — and that is what the average diet plan misses. Carol Showalter thought it was divine inspiration when she noticed the sign "Smile, God Has the Answer" on a Sunday school bulletin board. The message moved her to create one of the first Christian-centered health programs in 1972. It is a FREE program also! If you’d like to learn more about the 3D program go to: www.3dyourwholelife.com. At New Light Harvest Chapel there are NO WEEKLY FEES for weigh ins each Wednesday evening at 7 pm! "Other diets
make you feel guilty for eating too much or too little; but the 3D Plan doesn't judge you. I like the mix of nutritional advice with the spiritual dimension that was missing in other weight loss programs. To the first five members we are giving a FREE 3D book! We just had our weigh in meeting for the week last night and I lost one more pound! That's 25 pounds so far!

New Light Harvest Chapel is located just a few miles out of Perry, GA in a small community called Clinchfield. Our people are a loving caring group and would love to meet you! Hey, Pastor Kirby and I would really LOVE to meet you too!

OK, I hope by now that you have decided to join me in my challenge to lose 12 to 28 pounds by Labor Day! Let’s get started!



"I know, O Lord, and do with all humility acknowledge myself as an object altogether unworthy of thy love; but sure I am, thou art an object altogether worthy of mine. Do thou then impart to me some of that excellence, and that shall supply my own lack of worth. Help me to cease from sin according to thy will, that I may be capable of doing thee service according to my duty." (St. Augustine, 354-430)

• "Change your thoughts and you can change the world." (Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993)

KEEPING UP WITH PROGRESS!

OK so this blog spot is STILL a work in progress but so is my weight loss! I've decided to post this one more time and compare how far along I have come since I first started cutting back on what I am eating every day. If you'd like you can also check out my "blog to lose" site at: http://www.blogtolose.com/profile/ColeneWhitehead

Kirby still wants us to put a few pictures on his Myspace site: www.myspace.com/kirby2883 but, the crazy events that have been taking place over the past five months have had me all tied up or slowed down and over whelmed! So, I don't really know when I will ever be able to get to doing that. But I do have a couple notes jotted down in my 3D journal so I figured I’d go ahead and add them here just to share with anyone who may want to compare their goals and weight loss with me. Although my goals are EXTREMELY rational and slow, I don't feel that I have given my weight loss as much enthusiasm as I should. But, I am trying to take it a step at a time. I just don’t want to set myself up for something unrealistic and then be all sad and disappointed if I don’t meet them. I have been guilty of doing that a couple of times before in my life! And I can tell you that it is NOT good for the moral! So I decided to go back and check my past blogs and use the timeline that I posted weeks earlier. If I meet these goals ahead of schedule, then FANTASTIC! That would be a great reward for me! But as I am looking now at the time line, I see where I have not met the goals that I set for myself. Here is a list of my Commitment Goals
* Attend weekly meetings regardless.............this I have been committed to!
* Track points every day......with 3D, I do not have to track points, but I do track my nutrition on "Spark People" and get much needed feed back on what I need to be eating. Check out: http://www.sparkpeople.com/ on a daily basis. I can't tell you how much this wonderful site has helped me, informed me and encouraged me!
* Blog twice weekly (absolute minimum).....yeah! I am on track now with this one!
* Post pictures of my before pics and a new picture at every 25 lb accomplishment until I reach goal............well...I did post a BIG PICTURE of me and Kirby...but I am looking forward to getting some really great SKINNY PICS!
* Positive self-talk every day....I have to tell you that I could not go on without my 3D friends and my new friend, Trudy, who reminded me that we have to let God put things in the right perspective.

My Personal Goals:
* Slowly and responsibly strengthen my back by attending a gym and a physical therapy swimming class...I have not done this or tried to meet this goal. I have no excuse now that we've purchased excersize bands to work out with!
* Take a quilting class ......I have got the cutest pattern for a quilt for Michael, my grandson.
* Learn to sew pocket books and purses.....still pending....but I did make about 40 GREAT smelling candles which my son, Chad, took all over his neighborhood and got some ladies opinion of them....He said, "Hey, mom, you've got a really GREAT product! Get me more!"
* Walking for 30 minutes every day.........I have been walking, but I am doing it gradually! I don't want to experience any more pain than I really have to!
* Become a WW leader and possibly start a WW meeting at New Light Harvest Chapel........instead of Weight Watchers leader, I became a 3D leader by just starting the 3D program!
* 15 lbs weight loss by End of January 2009......I lost only 6 pounds.
* 20 lbs weight loss by February 8th, 2009. That is the anniversary of the first year of NLHC!.......................................Lose 20 lbs?? Nope not even close!
* 40 lbs weight loss by my birthday, May 11th, 2009......NO, but I lost a total of 22 pounds
* 50 lbs weight loss by my husband's birthday in June 2009....when I wrote these goals I thought that these were reasonable! It would be fantastic to be able to lose 50 lbs total. That would put me at 275!
* Goal weight of 140-145 lbsDecember 2010 Weight Loss Rewards....I'm getting closer!
* Every 10 lbs = a professional manicure or a pedicure......sounds GOOD!
* Every 25 lbs of weight lost = a mini shopping spree! I will buy a new outfit or a pair of shoes!............well, this week Kirby got the new pair of walking shoes by New Balance!
* For the first 50 lbs lost = purchase of new Coach purse
* 100 lbs = purchase a hot tub!
* Goal of weighing in at 145 = glorious vacation trip to Yosemite National Park, Montana and Seattle Washington.............Ooooh, Yeahhhhh!

My Favorite Walking Club - NC Asheville Ambler Club Walk Lake Junaluska On Jun 13

Kirby and I have been keeping our pedometers on and counting steps! I believe that Kirby is really serious about getting rid of the extra pounds this time! He has been busy walking every where he goes. So I suggested that we keep working up to speed and reward ourselves with a trip to the beautiful northern country...where it is cooler and maybe a little less humid than Georgia! This Spring has been the wettest one I believe that I've ever seen! But summer is fast approaching, and it is beautiful in the Appalachian mountains! As you get to know me, you will realize that Georgia is usually NOT ON MY MIND! My heart belongs to the mountains of North Carolina! Let me suggest to you an absolutely awesome place to walk. Make plans to walk with the Amblers around Lake Junaluska on Saturday, June 13,2009. The walk qualifies for the Authors and Literary Landmarks and the Railroad Heritage programs. The route wanders through a lovely residential area, around the lake, past the rose garden and along the nature trail. Enjoy breathtaking mountain vistas on this 2+ rated trail. Plan to register in the new Bethea Welcome Center at 9:45 AM, ready to step off at 10:00 AM. To get there from Asheville, take I-40 West, turn right at exit 27 (Waynesville, Hwy19-23-74). Right exit 103 (Hwy 19). Pass the lake; quickly turn right at the Main Gate entrance to Lake Junaluska Assembly (stone gateway). Proceed on N. Lakeshore Dr. a very short distance to Bethea Welcome Center on the left. The Welcome Center is open daily 9 to 5.

P.S. Here is the latest weight loss numbers for the New Light Harvest Chapel 3D Eat Right, Live Well and Love God Program! Diane Holmes lost 1.6 pounds last week but gained .04 pounds. She was a little upset at first, but her weight gain could very easily been due to fluid build up in her body. I think she is doing great! I lost another pound...OK! OK! It is not a very big weight loss and I could probably do much better than I am, but I want to lose more slowly so that my skin will not get too baggy! Kirby did not lose weight this week. He is at a stand still at 225 and he was a little upset over that. Until he realized that he had lost 2 inches in his waist! I am sorry to say that we had seven people who did not show up this past Wednesday night. But I am going to forgive them and hope that they show up next Wednesday night. Seems that commitment is a very hard thing for today's society! Even when it is going to be very, very, good for their health and Life!
Praying for your weight loss success and your good health, till next time!

The "BIG" Picture!

I really hate taking PICTURES! Especially when they look like this one does. This picture was taken at the "Bowden" family reunion last year. The Bowden's are Kirby's mother's family. Someone took this picture and gave it to Kirby's mother, who thought that it was a very good picture of me and Kirby together(since I usually try to stay out of family pictures) and gave it to me. I took one look at it and started to file it in my "pictures that no one should ever see" file. But then I decided to post it on this website for the whole world to SEE!

Ha! Ha! I know, I know! That makes NO sense!

But, I want you to see the progress that Kirby and I are making as we lose the pounds. AND TAKE A LOOK AT MY HAIR! FLAT!! Well, that hair style has got to go too!
Sometimes we need to take the time to step back and take a good close look at ourselves. I guess that is why I don't care to take pictures of myself! I hate to face the fact that I have let myself go over the last ten years! I hate to face the fact that I have not crucified my flesh and have NOT disciplined myself even after years of yo-yo dieting and diet failures.

Kirby says that I am too hard on myself, but I look at my health and what I have done to my body over the years and I have to ask the Lord to forgive me for not taking care of His temple - this body that He gave to me. I have not been a good steward of this body and that is why it has suffered as much as it has. But that is all beginning to change, because I am placeing even my diet and my eating habits in God's hands. I am also asking YOU GUYS to keep Pastor Kirby and me in your daily prayers too!

Email me at Colene1205@yahoo.com and tell me and Pastor Kirby about your dieting experiences or drop us a few lines of encouragement and advice. Let us know if you have any special prayer requests. We would love to pray for you and we will email you right back! Let's support one another with the love of Jesus Christ, and I know that we can make improvements to our lives on our Journey to the Land of Health and Wellness!

Love You Guys!
Your Sis-In-Christ,
Colene Whitehead

3D Your WHOLE Life!

I AM BACK! The flu is finally gone out of our household! Kirby and I are healthier and more determined than EVER to lose the weight and improve our LIFE! And just because I have been feeling under the weather (and I am really tired of rain guys!) I have not been just lying around...oh but NO. I have finished my exam in ministry and passed with flying colors....YEA-A-A-A!!! I will soon be receiving my diploma! Praise the Lord! No one at church knows it yet, in fact no one in my family knows it. So, you guys are hearing it first.

I have been concentrating on improving my whole life. And THAT subject is what this blog is about! About two months ago, after a Sunday night service at New Light Harvest Chapel, one of our youth came up to me and took me by the hands. Danielle is a precious ten year old who seems to be very mature for her age and she is a computer whiz! (NOT a nerd, Danielle!:) She is a beautiful child of God! Danielle looked so serious as she told me that she was struggling with her weight and she was so concerned about it that she was hoping that she could get me to pray for Jesus to intercede for her so that her petitions would be answered. "I don't want to be overweight, Sister Colene. Will you pray that I will be able to lose weight?" I LOVE THAT CHILD! Here Danielle was asking me to pray for her weight loss and that is one area of my own life that I have not even thought of turning over to the Lord! It was a request that pierced me to the heart and put ME under conviction. I prayed with her but the request kept nagging at me for days!

Then, one day later that same week, Kirby wanted to stop by a local Christian bookstore and as we waked into the store the first thing that caught me eye was a book with the title, YOUR WHOLE LIFE: The 3D Plan for Eating Right, Living Well and Loving God! What could that possibly mean? Since it was a cloudy day and my arthritis had my knees aching; I decided to grab that book, find a nearby couch so that I could give it a closer inspection and let me tell you, I liked what I saw! I bought the book! In fact, I bought two and another book that goes along with it, Journal Your Whole Life, also!

Let me tell you about this awesome book! It is not just a book but a LIFE -style to actually improve your life with Health and WHOLENESS! Wholeness being the key word here. The 3D Plan is inspired by the words of Jesus, “Your faith has made you whole.” (Mark 5:34) Co-authored by Carol Showalter and Maggie Davis, is the essential book that provides 12 weeks of nutritional goals, tips for living well, and daily devotional readings. You don’t “go on a diet” in the 3D Plan. Instead, you are guided in making gradual changes in your life that are positive, practical, and proven to become permanent. The 3D Plan considers the whole person – physical, emotional, and spiritual – and not just the body. This is a REAL program for LIFE - your whole life!

Not only was it a book with a journal that details a great weight loss program, but 3D has a FREE website where a dieter can log on and join thousands of other women in their weight loss journey and gain guidance and support. You’re not on this journey alone! Women everywhere are starting 3D groups, and enjoying deep and lasting friendships. Carol Showalter and Maggie Davis ask that you consider starting your own group and making the journey to wholeness together.

So that is just what I did! I took my book in hand and got on the phone with other ladies in our congregation and asked them their opinion of having a weight loss group meeting each week on Wednesday night for prayer and weigh-in. The vote was unanimous - YES!

We decided on the start date, time, and of course we would meet each Wednesday night at New Light Harvest Chapel for an informational meeting about 3D. I found on the 3D website copies of an insert that you can print to place in your church bulletin to announce the meeting. So, I printed them up and placed them in the very next week's bulletin.

At the first week's meeting we had seven attendee's. We chose our leader, Diane Holmes. I believe that Diane was the perfect choice for the job! She really jumped right in and took the position on with a vengence. She explains what 3D is about, and makes sure each new person that joins our group has all the information and 3D materials. Diane even encouraged us all by donating 5 books to the group so that the first five members could receive a FREE BOOK! Each group member only needs to commit to coming together once per week, for 12 weeks.
3D Group Members:
~ Meet for one hour, once per week, for twelve weeks
~ Keep a daily food journal
~ Memorize a verse of Scripture each week
~ Read the devotionals and the Scriptures each day
~ Weigh in weekly
~ Pray for each member of your group every day
~ Share the ups and downs of your weekly journey

So far, I have lost nine pounds. Kirby has lost 15 pounds. Please consider joining us on this journey! Go to the 3D website at: http://www.3dyourwholelife.com

I also want to encourage you to visit and join a website group that I am using to help plan and chart my nutrition and record my weight loss. I AM A "SPARKPEOPLE" PERSON! This website was suggested to me by a 3D member and so far I have really enjoyed the dieting and motivational helps I have found on that site. Here is the SparkPeople website: http://www.sparkpeople.com

Taking care of your temple does not have to be a chore! Make your life an adventure!
Add demention to your life! Oh by the way...the three D's are Diet, Discipline, and Discipleship.
This is why it has become known as Eating Well, Living Well, and Loving God!

You have probably taken the time to find this website and read this article because you wanted this information - you want to lose weight! And the word that usually draws the most attention is the word diet. But the word diet does not actually mean losing weight. Diet means eating habits - - what you eat. What do you eat every day? What is your diet? For this reason the first of the 3D's has always referred to eating and changing our habits of eating. I promise you that if you faithfully incorporate these principles found in this book and on the website into your life for the next 12 weeks, you will lose weight. But not only lose weight, but also you will come to understand your life in a WHOLE new way. You don't go on a diet in the 3D plan. Instead, you work with God to bring your life under His will and guidance. This does not mean that God wants you to be skinny; and it doesn't mean that if you were more godly you would be skinny. God wants YOU to be whole.

Your new diet will be about developing eating habits that will help you lose weight. Expect to lose weight. It will happen. But don't forget the important issue of finding your true self and knowing more about the love of God no matter what you weigh. That issue has to be settled in your life! GOD LOVES YOU!

Hellooo! I am back!

I am over the flu now...finally! Kirby is well also and back to work. He is busy as a bee! You can't keep a good man down! That's for sure!

We are back with a vengence!

One night after our Sunday night service, one of our youth, Danielle, came up to me and took me by the hands, looked me seriously in the eyes and said, "Sister Colene, please pray for me so that I can lose weight!" It cut me to the heart! Here I am struggling with the same problem! And not only myself but a couple of the other ladies in our church had made the same remark to me about their desire to lose weight also. I gave Danielle a big hug and prayed with her before she left for home with her mother. I could not help but remember how I had felt about my own weight at her age. I would look at the other girls with "normal" twelve year old bodies who were all so thin! Then I would look at me...and think "Where did I come from?" I didn't see anything in the mirror that looked like your typical twelve year old white female. Why did I look so different? My body had already begun to mature and fill out much faster than my friends. I was also taller than the other girls and most of the boys in my class! Plus I was of American Indian heritage which gave me a "different" look than most of the fair haired, fair complexioned, blue eyed girls that I was in school with. I wondered if Danielle had some of these same feelings that I had at that age.

The next day Kirby and I stopped by The Lambs Well, a Christian supply & book store in Warner Robins, GA, to check out some of the gospel CDs and as I entered the store a book caught my eye - 3D Your Whole Life! I was drawn to it! After I inspected the book I realized this was the answer to Danielle's prayer! So I purchased the book and took it straight to church that weekend and showed it to some of the ladies in our Angel WINGS (Women In God's Service) group and asked them what they thought of starting a 3D chapter in our church for those of us who had always struggled with our weight.
They were just as excited as I was so we jumped right in and started meeting on Wednesday nights at 7 pm. One of the ladies donated the money to purchase five books for the first five people who would join in with us on this weight loss and life improvement 12 week course.

I am so excited about the program! I will be keeping you up to the results of our weekly weigh - ins and how much Kirby and I are losing along with what life improvements we have made during the next 12 weeks.

Please keep us in your prayers as we try to improve our life and our health!
God Bless!

The FLU!

The past two weeks has been the PITS!

Kirby started out feeling down and under the weather about two weeks ago after teaching Sunday school to a group of sick teens! Of course he had to give them all hugs! Kirby calls it, "The Obama Flu!" Because he says it's really serious stuff and there's been nothing like it that he's ever known! Ha Ha!

Ya gotta love him! He can find humor in any situation!

I told him that maybe we had just bragged too much about the Royal Jelly that we have taken for the last six or seven years or so...
When Kirby and I were first married, Kirby had a real problem with always catching the flu around this time of the year every year that rolled around. Then he would always get worse and it would go into pneumonia and he would wind up in the hospital for a stay! The last time that he was in the hospital for that was in 1999. Then one morning as I was having my morning Cheerios, and listening to a Christian talk show, one of the guests was talking about a product called Bee Alive and how she had begun taking Royal Jelly. She told of how a friend had gotten her to take Royal Jelly and suddenly she began to get better and feel great! She talked about being deficient in B12 vitamins and how Royal Jelly seemed to change all of that for her! This really got my attention because the doctor had told my husband that he would most likely have to take B12 shots for the rest of his life and Kirby, who was always full of life and energy, seemed to just "crash" at the end of every evening. And in the mornings he would just drag himself out of bed! This is not like my husband! Normally he is Mr. Rise and Shine and give God the Glory!

So, I did some research on royal jelly and found it in a local GNC store. I began to give it to him daily and after about a month of taking royal jelly, I could tell a big difference in my husband! He had his energy back! He stopped taking the B12 shots all together! When Kirby went back for his regular examination, our doctor asked him, "What are you doing? You have not been taking your B12 shots, yet all your tests say that your OK." Kirby began to tell the Doc what we had been up to and Dr. S. just smiled and said, "Well, it seems to be doing well for you! Keep it up!" So we did!
I began to take it as well. For years we have not even had a sniffle, until now!

But here is the part that really proved to me that the stuff has been keeping us well! My pitiful husband made a confession to me last week. When I went to get the royal jelly bottle and looked inside, it looked as if it had not been touched. I turned around and gave him that "look" that mothers can only give and he confessed, "I haven't been taking it because we were running low and I wanted you to take it instead." The thing is, I stopped taking it because of the same reason! Neither one of us had taken it for about a month prior to us coming down with the flu!
I promise, I will never do that again! We will get back on royal jelly, ASAP!
But tonight, I am running a fever of 100. Just enough to make me feel really lousy!
It may be a few days before I feel well enough to blog again, but I do want to report that being on the flu has brought my weight down by about 5 more pounds! My doctor says, that this weight would be easy for me to put back on when I am well so I must be careful and stick to my diet and exercise when I am feeling better.

TIME LINE - 100 Years of FAD DIETING!

I ran up on this interesting bit of information that I thought someone may enjoy reading! It is a time line of sorts - a FAD DIET time line.

1820
Vinegar and Water Diet - Made popular by Lord Byron (I remember the Grapefruit, Vinegar and Lecithin diet which was a tough one too!)
1825
Low Carbohydrate Diet - First appeared in The Physiology of Taste by Jean Brillat-Savarin
1830
Graham’s Diet - Only legacy: Invented Graham crackers (So that's how we got Graham crackers!)
1863
Banting’s Low Carbohydrate Diet“Banting” becomes a popular term for dieting
1903
Horace Fletcher promotes “Fletcherizing”Chew food 32 times
1917
Calorie Counting Introduced by Lulu Hunt Peters in her book Diet and Health, With Key to the Calories
1925
Cigarette Diet “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet” (Now really! How lucky was that idea? It wasn't so lucky for a lot of poor people! )
1928
Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet - Caribou, raw fish and whale blubber (All I can say is...YUK!)
1930
1. Hay Diet - Carbohydrates and proteins not allowed at the same meal
2. Dr. Stoll’s Diet Aid - First of the liquid diet drinks
1934
Bananas and Skim Milk Diet Backed by the United Fruit Company (wouldn't ya just know it?)
1950
1. Cabbage Soup Diet - Flatulence is listed as a main side effect (Sorry, I've just gotta laugh!)
2. Grapefruit Diet Also known as Hollywood Diet (Now this is one that I tried! Oops! I'm telling my age!)
1960
Zen Macrobiotic Diet Created by Japanese philosopher George Ohsawa
1961
Calories Don’t Count Diet - FDA filed charges regarding diet’s claims
1964
Drinking Man’s Diet - Harvard School of Public Health declared diet unhealthful
1970
1. Sleeping Beauty Diet - Individuals heavily sedated for several days (Some people will try any thing)
2. Liquid Protein Diets -Liquid protein drinks were low in vitamins and minerals (I lost a ton of weight on this one, but a dear friend lost his wife. Not a diet that was good for you!)
1981
Beverly Hills Diet - Only fruit for first 10 days but in unlimited amounts
1985
1. Fit for Life - Avoid combining protein and carbohydrate foods
2. Caveman Diet Foods from the Paleolithic Era (Really?? I can't believe that anyone would believe that cavemen dieted in the first place!)
1986
Rotation Diet - Rotating number of calories taken in from week to week
1987
Scarsdale Diet - Low carbohydrate, low calorie diet plan
1990
Cabbage Soup Diet - Diet from 1950s resurfaces on the Web
1994
High Protein, Low Carb Diet - Dr. Atkin’s version
1995
Sugar Busters — Cut Sugar to Trim Fat. Eliminates refined carbohydrates
1996
Eat Right for Your Type - Diet based on blood type
1999
Juice, Fasting and Detoxification - Perennial dieting favorites reappear in combination
2000
Raw Foods Diet -Focuses on uncooked, unprocessed organic foods
2001
High Protein, Low Carb Diet - 1994 diet updated (What goes around - comes around again!)
2004
Coconut Diet - Fats replaced with coconut oil
2005
Cheater’s Diet - Cheating on the weekend is required (Hey! Now I could get into this!)
2006
Maple Syrup Diet - Features a special syrup-lemon drink

Now be honest, how many of these did you try? Did you have long lasting Success with any of them or did you do like I did and wind up right back on the dieting treadmill all over again in a year or two? I was surprised to find a couple of the "Fad Diets" listed above on the list! But I did notice one good thing! Weight Watchers is NOT on the list of FAD DIETS and that is because it is not just a "FAD." Weight Watchers is tried and true!
But check out the ADA website! I believe you may find a resource that will be of great help to you on your dieting journey!
With approximately 65,000 members, the American Dietetic Association is the nation’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being. To locate a registered dietitian in your area, and an awesome list of aricles and recommendations for safe, healthy and practical dieting tips, visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org.

Diet? What's that?

OK! So I have not gotten to blog for awhile! But that doesn't mean that I have forgotten that Kirby and I are supposed to be dieting! But we are like most other people in the world and the cares of this old world just seem to overcome us all sometimes...
I am NOT happy about it though! But as the old saying goes, when you fall off a horse, you just climb right back on top of it and R-I-D-E! That is exactly what we are doing! Actually, we have been extremely busy lately and it seems that I hardly get a chance to sit down to my computer lately to share our experiences on this diet journey that we are on! Our lifestyle is slowly beginning to change for the better. We have made some drastic changes in the foods that we eat and how much we eat of it! Seeing this take place encourages me because I know that these are life time changes that will lead to better health for the both of us.

Last week was the first anniversary of our church! We celebrated by having a Homecoming! We had Dinner in the fellowship hall and afterwards a singing group from the middle Georgia area called South Georgia Quartet blessed us with songs of praise. We were so blessed to have this wonderful group of such great talent (who are filled with the love of Jesus Christ) to come to NLHC! They gave up an engagement in Atlanta to come be with us instead! I pray for God to bless them greatly for that! Kirby and I can not believe that one whole year has come and gone already! Time certainly does fly when you are having fun! What blessings we have had this past year! My husband met with his staff and General Assembly and discussed the achievements that our congregation has made in fulfilling the God given vision of New Light Harvest Chapel. What we found is that in spite of ourselves, God is building His church! Praise the Lord! And the people have remained faithful! It has just been amazing to see everyone coming together in faith and love and serving one another as well as the community! New Light Harvest IS a family of God!
Pastor Kirby and I are truly blessed to have been called to serve such a wonderful family of God!

My Goals - A Work In Progress

OK so this blog spot is a work in progress but so is my weight loss! I have decided to take a few pictures of me Pre-Weight Watchers, and post them either here or on my Blog to Lose website: http://www.blogtolose.com/profile/ColeneWhitehead

Kirby also wants us to put a few pictures on his Myspace site: www.myspace.com/kirby2883
So, I plan on doing that maybe tomorrow. But I do have a couple notes jotted down in my journal so I figured I’d go ahead and add them here just to share with anyone who may want to compare their goals and weight loss with me.

My goals are EXTREMELY rational and slow. I am taking it a step at a time. I just don’t want to set myself up for something unrealistic and then be all sad and disappointed if I don’t meet them. I have been guilty of doing that a couple of times before in my life! And I can tell you that it is NOT good for the moral! So I've done the research and I think that this is a good time line for me. If I meet these goals ahead of schedule, then FANTASTIC! That would be a great reward for me! So, here is my weight loss timeline below:

Commitment Goals
* Attend weekly meetings regardless
* Track points every day
* Blog twice weekly (absolute minimum)
* Post pictures of my before pics and a new picture at every 25 lb accomplishment until I reach goal
* Positive self-talk every day

Personal Goals
* Slowly and responsibly strengthen my back by attending a gym and a physical therapy swimming class
* Take a quilting class
* Learn to sew pocket books and purses
* Walking for 30 minutes every day
* Become a WW leader and possibly start a WW meeting at New Light Harvest Chapel
* 15 lbs weight loss by End of January 2009
* 20 lbs weight loss by February 8th, 2009. That is the anniversary of the first year of NLHC!
* 40 lbs weight loss by my birthday, May 11th, 2009
* 50 lbs weight loss by my husband's birthday in June 2009
* Goal weight of 140-145 lbs

December 2010 Weight Loss Rewards
* Every 10 lbs = a professional manicure or a pedicure
* Every 25 lbs of weight lost = a mini shopping spree! I will buy a new outfit or a pair of shoes!
* For the first 50 lbs lost = purchase of new Coach purse
* 100 lbs = purchase a hot tub!
* Goal of weighing in at 145 = glorious vacation trip to Yosemite National Park, Montana and Seattle Washington

OK, so now my goals are down for the world to see! Although they are not written in stone and may change. Hey, I am a lady and that happens to be my prerogative! And I can check back here and compare my progress at any time. I can also come here to record my weight loss on the website!
Send up a few prayers that I'll stay on track and acheive success!
May God Bless,
Colene W.

Dedication and Self Control is the Key!

At my age, 53, you begin noticing some strange things beginning to happen to the shape of your body - it suddenly begins to resemble your aging parents body! Some times as I pass a mirror I catch myself doing a double take - just to make sure that the reflection is actually me! (LOL) When I was younger, if my body was not pleasing to my sight, I'd just get out my Jane Fonda workout tape and get to stepping! And in a week or two I'd whip myself back into shape! But now, with the problems that I've had with my physical health since 2001, I find it very hard to walk as much or as far as I did in the days of old.
Getting fit and losing weight at my age can take some dedication and some self-control over your eating and exercise habits. There are certain things that you should be eating, and certain things that you should not be eating. And I am learning that as a rule of thumb, you should "eat from the earth". By this I mean that if it does not grow in or on the ground and comes pre-packaged, you can likely do without it. Grains, vegetables, water, meat & fish are eating from the earth. Package crackers, cookies, non-perishables, chips, most sauces...basically anything prepackaged you and I can do without! Secondly, there are also certain exercises that I can no longer perform; but with commitment and steadfast determination I can accomplish a work out routine over the coarse of a day. Where there's a will, there's a way! I just have to build up to a set goal a few minutes at a time, all during the day! Not putting too much stress on my back and knees. I started walking around the perimeter of my two acre yard. Then I graduated to walking for 15 minutes down my street twice a day also. Easy does it at first! And when I actually walked that first full mile, I cried with tears of pure joy! I am gaining more control over my body and I'm getting my life back! I KNOW I CAN DO THIS!

Peonut Butter Lovers - BEWARE!

A couple of weeks ago I turned on the local news and heard about another food recall because of salmonella contamination. And since then, each day when I turn on the news I hear more and more about products containing peanut butter that are being recalled. This week I hear that some peanut butter products are being taken off grocery store shelves because of this latest salmonella outbreak! And although at first it seemed to be only a minor outbreak, it has become more serious with each passing day! As I understand, at this point, there have been six deaths associated with this outbreak and at least 486 people have become ill. As of today, over 125 products are affected from more than 70 companies. The first cases were reported September 3, but most cases occurred between October 1 and December 31. About 18 percent of the victims were hospitalized as a result of their illness, and patients' ages have ranged from 2 months to 98 years.

Ohio-based King Nut Companies issued a total recall of peanut butter that it distributes after the company acknowledged in a statement that salmonella had been found in an open 5-pound tub of King Nut peanut butter in a Minnesota nursing home. Salmonella Typhimurium seems to be the culprit! King Nut stated that peanut butter sold under its label was manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America. They gave no other details on the manufacturer, but Peanut Corporation of America's Web site lists its headquarters as Lynchburg, Virginia, and says it has processing operations in Virginia, Georgia and Texas.

Also on the news this week I heard that the outbreak is suspected to have originated in or be linked to the Georgia plant! I am not sure how true this is. But I am glad that King Nut Companies have issued this news release and have taken action to get the outbreak under control. Interestingly enough, this recall comes after two years ago when ConAgra issued a recall on Peter Pan brand peanut butter (linked to around 625 salmonella cases in 47 states). Remember that?

So far most of the products have been sold to businesses such as cafeterias, hospitals, nursing homes and other such institutions where children and the sick and elderly are that may already have a weaker immune system and will be more susceptible to this strain of salmonella. But if you are a peanut butter lover as I am, I am sure that you may want to know exactly what products are being recalled because of suspicion of containing salmonella. The links below will take you directly to the FDA site.
FDA has created a searchable list of products and brands associated with the expanded PCA recall. This list is available on the FDA website at:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm

FDA has updated their Web site with information regarding the outbreak. FDA Web site:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

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I Forgot!

I am so sorry! I absolutely forgot that you need the web address of Weight Commander! Here it is:

http://www.weightcommander.com

I want you to know that I am NOT trying to sell you anything. I just sincerely would like to help you accomplish your goal of losing down to what ever weight loss goal you have set for yourself so that you can feel great about yourself and be healthier!

Weight commander is a very simple system to record your daily weight loss for you online with no bells or whistles. Just have fun with it!

God Bless!
Colene W.

It is Easy to Lose Weight!

It's Easy To Lose Weight And Keep It Off (but you have to do what I tell you) You must get serious and STAY serious about losing weight and keeping it off! As I have mentioned in an earlier blog, there are several programs and different software that will help you record your weight loss, calorie intake and log your daily exercise routine but most of them require some form of payment. But I want to mention again "Weight Commander." You can get started with it for FREE! Really! Of course you may want to help keep the site going by making a donation! But try it anyway, you may find it helpful.
Here are a few of Weight Commander's diet Rules To Follow:

• Rule 1) Lose Weight Slowly. It took a while to gain a lot of weight. It will take a while to lose it. There is no rush. Weight reduction accomplished with a long, gradual diet has a much better chance of being permanent. I know what I am talking about - don't try to lose weight quickly.
• Rule 2) Keep it a Secret. Don't tell anyone you are going on a diet. People will respect you for your self discipline once you've lost weight - let them figure it out on their own. You don't need the added pressure of announcing your diet in advance, and it's fun to think about who will say what and when. We don't need discouragement (don't even open a door for it!); we need encouragement!
• Rule 3) Eat Less - Exercise More.If you want to weigh less you are going to Eat Less and Exercise More. That may sound silly but there is no other way you are going to lose weight. And remember, exercise does not have to be exercise. Bowling is exercise. Going to a museum is exercise. Window shopping at a mall is exercise. Do the things you enjoy doing - and do a lot of them.
• Rule 4) Weigh Yourself Often.- as close to every day as you can. This allows Weight Commander to monitor what you are doing and disciplines you into following your daily progress. You will help yourself a lot by entering your weight whenever you can.

Now, this next rule is one that I highly recommend! Start this one first thing in the morning! If you've just got to have a pity party go ahead have it tonight, but promise yourself to begin this one rule tomorrow morning if not sooner!

• Rule 5) Start Enjoying Yourself Now! You do not have to wait until the end of your diet when you're a new person - you already are a new person! In many ways dieting is more fun than maintaining your weight afterwards. You should enjoy each day, starting today.

DON'T FOLLOW THAT FAD DIET!

I know it is so tempting to hop on the band wagon and go with the crowd! We are in a society that seems to be programmed to follow the leader! You can find thousands of diets promoted by dieting gurus or celebrities or talk show hosts in the media, on the market and online! Every day I receive new email with news of some ultimate weight loss product that will out perform any other product on the market, and I receive new ones almost weekly. Very few of these diets are based on concrete scientific findings, and even fewer will provide long term success!

The present ongoing online fad has been promoted by none other than OPRAH……Queen of the mass media…ALL HAIL QUEEN Ooooohhh…prahhh! Seems that the world believes her every word and will follow this reigning talk show queen into ANY THING! (I don’t understand what power this woman has upon her vast kingdom of misled fans! But it seems that if Oprah speaks they listen! Hey, I thought that was E.F. Hutton’s job! :} But this is a subject for a later blog!) This fad that claims to be hailed by Oprah and one of her many doctors, Dr. Oz, is the Acai Berry combined with a product for colon cleansing. Oprah and Dr. Oz's Dynamic Duo - Acai Berry and Colon Cleanse became phenomenal as it revealed the fact that this super food can really help in cleansing our colon thus preventing various diseases from occurring especially colon cancer! Now the internet is riddled with adds about this product and “testimony” after “testimony” complete with before and after pictorial shots of healthier and happier clients. But please beware! Stay away from any diet that promises a quick fix!

Stay away from adds that state something like “ Lose weight from your thighs in just seven days,” “Gently FLUSH POUNDS of waste and toxins from your body,” “Lose 25lbs overnight!” and “Brad and Angelina Jolie’s weight loss secret!” (Hummm, I didn’t know that Brad and Angelina even needed to lose weight!) Most of these adds are promoting the Acai berry, a berry that may have some beneficial properties for humans like anti-aging, cancer prevention since some scientific testing boasts of the Acai berry’s antioxidant qualities. The berry may also boost energy, and promote mood improvement but it is with weight loss that the acai berry fraud takes place. Yes, I was almost snowed in by a few companies that sell Acai berry products that are nothing more than MLM groups that are hoping to make multi millions from people just like you and me. These unscrupulous marketers are hyping acai berry diets and cleansing products that aren't worth the packaging they come in. I have found Acai berry drink products that are equivalent in antioxidants and such in my local grocery store at a much lower cost!

Media hype plays a major role in roping in gullible simpletons like you and me to place our hard-earned dollars into acai berry promotion or joint cultivation schemes. But actually it was the media that gave me the “heads up” about this problem! As I was sitting in front of my TV watching the news I was surprised to hear about this latest internet scam! According to the news report, the acai berry fraud involed websites using the Oprah show for promotional purposes. These websites promise the unlearned weight loss prospect a “free” supply of acai berry for nothing but shipping and handling charges. Then if you take the bait, you will soon find that the terms and conditions are laid down in the scammer’s contract where details in small print authorize higher debits from you credit card! Please, please! Don’t forget that old saying, "NOTHING in this life comes free!" The Acai berry does have it’s plus side. It may promote well being and health for humans and it may be an asset to your weight loss program, but what we want is to lose weight, not money!

Let’s use the good minds that the LORD gave us to take care of our well being and health!
Stay away from the following:

• Any diet that promises a quick fix! With as many diets as OPRAH has been on in her life you’d think she would know this one!
• Diets that promote magic foods or a specific and complicated combination of food groups - following a sound diet should not be complicated or require you to purchase expensive specialty items. Remember to keep it simple!
• A diet that implies food can change your body chemistry - food can’t change your body’s chemistry. Your chemistry was determined at birth, so any diet that says otherwise should be avoided.
• Diets that severely restrict or eliminate food groups or nutrients - the sole purpose of food is to fuel our bodies. To do this, we need to consume food from the main food groups. Remember the food pyramid? I keep a copy of it on my kitchen fridge! Any diet that totally eliminates a food group is dangerous and could result in health problems. Think about it! You may lose pounds but you could also be losing muscle mass or brain cells!
• A diet with very rigid rules - always remember, a diet should not rule your life and possess your mind! You should not become obsessive or compulsive about any diet! You should still be able to enjoy yourself, and eat the foods you like in moderation. Any diet that doesn’t fit into your lifestyle or allow you to eat with others will be very difficult to follow; after all, eating healthy and looking your best shouldn’t alienate you from the people you care about.
• A diet that makes claims based on a single study or testimonial - do your research before following any diet. If the diet sounds questionable or just sounds too good to be true, it likely won’t help with weight loss. Find out who is backing the diet and what their ulterior motives might be - for example, they may be promoting their line of supplements, rather than providing weight loss help.

So when you see that new add for that ULTIMATE WEIGHT LOSS PRODUCT…be aware! Check it out before you jump into signing up!
Now, I know that if you have ever tried to diet before, my following suggestions may sound redundant….but they really do help you lose weight even on your own and they won‘t cost you anything! Hey, these tips really are FREE! So make these suggestions a part of your weight loss plan for life:

• Always try to drink 8 glasses of water every day (not including tea, coffee or other beverages)
• Eat only when hungry and just until you are full. Then push back and stop eating!
• Eat slowly in a relaxed environment, especially sitting down to eat with your family. Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to message the brain that you are full.
• Choose foods that require a lot of chewing. Your mother was right! Slow down and CHEW your food! You will find that you’ll be satisfied with eating much less.
• A warm beverage with a meal helps to make you feel full and satisfied. Just be careful about what warm beverage you are enjoying. I am saying this to all of you hot cocoa, late’ and coffee drinkers!
• Fool your mind and stomach by serving food on a smaller plate or a plate that is divided into portion sizes.
• Give yourself a snack or reward yourself with something low calorie but special! My weakness is ice-cream so I reward myself weekly with a healthy low fat fruit smoothie - - Yummy!
• Keep your kitchen stocked with healthy foods and ready to eat snacks
• Remember that small steps add up to help you achieve ANY goal
  

Don’t forget that dieting with physical activity leads to quick weight loss rewards! Good food and eating right combined with regular exercise can help you successfully meet your weight loss goals. Building muscle mass will help the body burn calories and get rid of weight loss flab like those bat wings that we often get under our arms! I hate it when that happens! Proper and wise weight loss along with proper exercise always has great benefits for your body.

So please be careful with your body and don’t fall prey to those unscrupulous doctors, weight loss or exercise gurus and Multi Level Marketing scams out there that are so persuasive! Remember the tale about the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady wins the race!
Hope you have a fantastic week! Please take a few minutes and leave me a comment and let me hear about your weight loss experiences! I'd love to be in touch with you!

May God richly bless you!

Colene W.

Pressing on! Real Life...Simple but Priceless!

YOU MEAN THIS IS ONLY January 9, 2009?? GEEZ! It already seems that I’ve been blogging about this diet forever and I’ve only lost 12 pounds! Is there anyone out there that has the same problem with dieting and exercise getting boring? Usually in the past when I have put myself on an exercise and weight loss program, I could plug away for months and keep myself encouraged! I would get a few compliments and my outlook would suddenly become brighter! My load would become lighter...uh, know what I mean?

Well, I guess that at the age of 53, this is just my reality! The Sunday before New Years, I asked for a show of hands from anyone in our church to see how many of our fellow New Light Harvesters had decided to make and keep their resolutions or had they actually made resolutions at all. I smile now as I think about it. They all squinted their eyes, wrinkled their noses and shook their heads as if I had opened a smelly can of sardines! No one raised their hands! It seems that no one and I mean no one likes feeling obligated to make or keep New Years resolutions anymore! Well, what do you know about that? :D

NO, NO! I completely understand this lack of optimism! I understand because I have also made out list after list of “Resolutions to Make My Life Better” and usually after about three months when the “day to day” routine sets back in, I usually drift right off course and soon forget all about my resolutions. Then someone will always notice that I have put back on a pound or two and will ask, “Didn’t you make a New Years Resolution to lose weight this year?” Then the guilt kicks in! Why am I so weak? Why do I fall back into a lifestyle that is so bad for me so easily, when I know that it affects my health and well being in such an adverse way?
Well, to comfort myself and all of you, let me reassure you that THIS IS NORMAL! This is life! It is not all fun and games! This is not a virtual reality game. This is REAL LIFE! We are doing what we normally do in our life walk. Some days are good, and some days are bad. We get depressed, joyful, sick, well, and so on. What an emotional roller coaster ride this life is! Sometimes we get news and it totally breaks us, whereas on other days we get news that makes us feel like a million bucks! We gain, we lose, and we stay the same. Day to day livin’ that’s what it’s all about baby!!! How in this world can we stick to a mundane diet and a boring routine of jotting down every morsel and calorie each and every day? How do we stick through the thick and thin of this healthier lifestyle?
My answer to this is simple. Once again, I go to the Bible, God’s word for inspiration!

Hab 3:18
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will JOY in the God of my salvation.

Zep 3:17
The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with JOY; he will rest in his love, he will JOY over thee with singing.

James 1:2-3
My brethren, count it all JOY when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.


So, I will take JOY in the routine of life; COUNTING IT ALL AS JOY and I will NOT fall into temptation because I know that I am being tried in my faith. If I overcome these feelings of boredom and temptation, I will gain patience! Patience IS an admirable quality. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had others ask me, “Where do you get all that patience?” Well, it must be the byproduct of all those years of YO-YO dieting! (HA! HA!)

But seriously, I will appreciate and try to enjoy the smaller things that our weight loss journey has to offer us. Maybe you and I can just sit down on a bench when taking our walk and just check out the beauty that surrounds us for a moment. You know we don’t have to be entertained ALL the time! So many people think that if you’re bored something is seriously wrong! The first thing they want to say is, “You must be depressed!” Don’t believe that for a minute! There can be JOY and PEACE found in ALL THE DAY TO DAY boring routines of life.
This is how I stick to it. I just keep walking and walking and walking. I make a list of what I want to accomplish during my week and I keep PRESSING ON! And as always…P.U.S.H! Pray Until Something Happens!

Sure, as I said before, I get frustrated and bored and agitated at the monotony sometimes. Still, I have learned to really enjoy so many small things now. A great way to appreciate the fact that you are on the journey is to write down 10 things each day that you are grateful for. Get out your journal and pen, now! Write them down. Try to think of things that your efforts have accomplished and write those down. Remember, they don’t have to be big things. Just think, you woke up with a song in your heart, you got out of bed without pain in your back, you took a shower, you noticed a glow to your skin that was not there before, you were able to put on that old pair of jeans that used to be too tight, you tried a new breakfast dish, you listened to your new CD by the Booth Brothers, your son called just to say, “I love you, Mom.” …………………..Simple but priceless!

Journaling in January and Renewing My Mind

Wouldn't it be exciting if there was some health trick or special formula that would help you to double your weight loss efforts? One that was easy to do, had no side effects and didn’t cost you and arm, a leg and your first born? Well, there is something that you and I can do that is better than all the health tricks and special formulas according to one of the largest and longest running weight-loss trials ever conducted.

You ask what this new weight-loss miracle is. Well I can tell you that it is so very simple and many weight loss programs like Weight Watchers and others have already tried to encourage it in their programs!
The miracle is just this -- keeping a food diary or journal -- recording what you eat throughout the day can double a person's weight loss efforts, according to a study conducted by Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research.

This study, published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, found that keeping a daily record can keep your diet on track. Weight Watchers has enforced this good habit for years; but today we have a method much better than filling out forms and weight loss logs using pen and paper! Today we have our computer key boards!

According to Kaiser Permanente lead author Jack Hollis Ph.D. in a press release, “The more food records people kept, the more weight they lost," and he also stated, “Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records. It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories."

You know, I have known this is really an effective dieting trick for quite some time, but I never even think about how much I am eating or how many calories I am taking in when I am in the midst of shoveling down a country buffet or indulging in my favorite Chinese cuisine. Lord, please forgive me! I am guilty of living an unhealthy life of abandon! When I am in the middle of a buffet line, I have sinned to my tummy’s content and I am sure that I am not the only person who has gotten caught up in this buffet feeding frenzy! So, let me encourage you to renew your mind! Stay out of buffets! Record your daily food intake. Keep up with the calories that you consume. Follow a balanced heart – healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables and keep a daily record of it!

According to the study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine the average weight loss over 6 months was roughly 13 pounds, with more than two-thirds of the nearly 1,700 participants losing at least 9 pounds. Those who participated in this study were asked to follow the heart-healthy DASH diet, which is rich in fruits and vegetables, and they attended weekly support group sessions and exercised for at least 30 minutes a day, as well as kept track of what they ate daily. Participants of this study who used their daily food journals doubled their weight loss results!

Here is another fact of this study….more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight …with the African American community being particularly susceptible to problems linked to obesity, like heart disease and diabetes. But this study was one of the few trials to have a large percentage (nearly half) of the participants who were of African American decent.

If we all just lost 9 pounds, like the majority of people in this study did, our nation would see vast decreases in hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Losing as little as 5 pounds can reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure by 20 percent!

If it's as simple as tracking what you eat to lose weight, then fire up that computer. Download one of the available Diet Journaling Programs and practice this new behavior! If you eat anything, type it in! One thing I have learned as a Christian and a pastor’s wife is that we need to be held accountable for our actions. Food diaries increase accountability and demonstrate where excess calories are coming from, according to the study participants. Keeping this food diary doesn't have to be a formal thing but taking account of what we eat helps us to become aware of our daily eating habits and it helps us to be able to change our unhealthy behavior.

I want to encourage you to do as I am doing and use the tools that are now conveniently available to us. The study has proved that people can lose more weight if they have and use the right tools and have support. So please use the weight management programs and diet classes in conjunction to journaling your food intake daily. There are several programs out there but please let me suggest a few to you. Below is a short list of these programs:

1. http://www.dietpower.com/ - DOWNLOAD RIGHT NOW AND START MINDING YOUR DIET COACH within as little as 2 minutes! Plans meals, favors foods that you like, analyzes recipes, counts and tracks calories, monitor 33 valued nutrients and has helped people who have 200 + pounds to lose!
2. http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/ - After providing a day's worth of dietary information, you will receive an overall evaluation by comparing the amounts of food you ate to current nutritional guidance. To give you a better understanding of your diet over time, you can track what you eat up to a year.
3. http://www.weightbydate.com/ - this is the WHOLE PACKAGE folks! It includes everything you need for recording health, diet, fitness, low carb foods, huge food database. Highly Recommended. Daily journaling of all food, exercise, weight, and other measurements; the close to perfect program!
4. http://www.fitday.com/ - Can you say…FREE? Yes, it’s completely FREE!
· Track your Foods, Exercises, Weight and Goals
· View your Calories, Nutrition, Weight Loss and more!
5. http://www.betbyte.com/kdiet.htm - This powerful program analyzes recipes, builds meals, tracks your progress (weight, ketosis, measurements, blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, exercise and medications) and even stores pictures in the photo album. Make a slide show!
I hope that this information will help you get your diet off to a great start this January! I am looking forward to a lighter healthier YOU & ME this year and for years to come! Here is our favorite promise from God’s word to His people to help encourage you:
1 Corinthians 1:7
“Now you have every grace and blessing; every spiritual gift and power for doing His will are yours during this time of waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Isn’t THAT a beautiful promise of God? Just think of that! We have every single grace and blessing (if you claim them and walk in them) and even more than that, EVERY spiritual gift and power for doing His will. Stop and think of what ability that this gives us! Not just a little power is given to us but every spiritual gift and power are yours! God has never asked us to do anything that He has not already made provision for! All of us who believe can walk in this power which He has so freely given to us! Just think of it, God didn’t devise a plan where we had to be brilliant; He simply said that all we have to do is believe! Now listen to what this next scripture says:

1 Corinthians 10:13

“But remember this – the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.”

Isn’t that wonderful? It says right here in God’s holy word that we are not alone. Our temptations, of food, drink, sex, and so on are no different than anyone else’s temptations! Others face the same problems that we do! So relax! And just “Tarry Still” this is a word that came to me last week as I was praying. So I looked us the word “TARRY” in the Webster’s Dictionary and here is what the definition was – ‘to linger with expectation” – and “still meant “Nevertheless.” Praise the Lord! As we continue on our journey to the land of health and wellness we will be faced with temptation, but God has equipped us with EVERY GRACE and EVERY SPIRITUAL GIFT and POWER from on high to accomplish our goals as long as we are in His will. So do not be deceived! We can overcome our temptations of over eating or eating food that is not healthy for our bodies! Just STAND upon His promises! Tarry still! Linger with expectation, nevertheless – and we will overcome by accepting health in our bodies! Then we can offer our bodies as a holy sacrifice to service for our Lord and Savior!

Keep that Food Diary! And Be Blessed and Healthy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR FAT FIGHTERS!!

I hope that everyone had a happy and blessed start to the NEW YEAR! I can tell you that 2009 has started out on the wrong foot for most of the people I know. Some members of our church has had some strange events in their life so far! One member reported that her fathers store was robbed, another member had a terrible wreak in her van just last night (Praise God, she came out of it without a scratch) and half the church wound up in the local Emergency Room! Two members were attacked by a stray pit bull dog and had to get rabies shots! I am glad that it was only a "half moon!" Only the Lord knows what a "full moon" would have brought in! Ha! Ha!
But greater is He who is in me than He that is in the world! I can count it as joy and still praise His wonderful name because I can see how the Lord kept them safe through it all!

Nevertheless, Colene and I are still journeying on this year to improve our health! We are dedicating our bodies and minds and soul to the Lord God Almighty! This month we are checking our diets to remove all the fats that we can from the foods that we eat! Because fat has the highest concentration of calories. We will cut down on fat intake, and saturated fats in particular like heavy cream, butter, sour cream, and cream cheese. Hew Boy! Now removing cream cheese from my diet is gonna be tough! I do love bagels and cream cheese!

Be Blessed,
Rev. Kirby