Weight Loss For The Lord

[IrishSalesian]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1564133' date='Jun 9 2008, 12:44 AM']IrishS-I lost twice that much in 6 years, so your goal is obviously reasonable. The Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado has the best information. They maintain a weight loss registry where anyone who has lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year, can register and they collect information about how they did it. Most people on the register have actually lost 100 lbs. and kept it off for 3 years. 3 years is the the goal because they have found that once you keep it off for 3 years, it gets much easier to not regain. They have a listing of the 7 habits of highly effective weight loss maintainers, that has been very helpful to me.[/quote]


THANKS!!!

[VeniteAdoremus]

I weigh 170 pounds (if the converter is right). I'm insanely proud of that. This academical year is the first year that I've consistently been above 155 pounds! Yay!

My metabolism is such that it's rather clear I'm not called to a community like the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles - if I don't get three meals a day, three GOOD meals, I faint. Well, first I get extremely cranky and THEN I faint. It's not gluttony, it's how I'm made, and I can't do anything about it (although it might change when I'm middle-aged).

So monastic fasting, Poor Clares, Carthusians, it's all not for me. I used to feel like a failure over that, but later I realised that we've already had St. Catherine of Siena and although having a few other saints like her in our times wouldn't hurt at all, I don't have to be one of them! (St. Catharina "subsisted on Eucharistic foods alone for long periods of time", that is, she was on a hosts-only diet.)

As for communities turning you down because of your weight: that's bad. They can turn you down for the underlying reasons, true. If you have a health problem that makes you obese, that could be a reason, and if it's because you can't control yourself when it comes to food, that's a good reason, too. But the weight itself is NOT a reason: that would be purely aesthetic, and I do hope we can expect better from nuns!

It's also well-known that obesity gives you a higher risk on certain diseases, but that's statistics. The true reason behind that is an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. If you're overweight despite eating well and exercising, you're probably healthier than me with my BMI of 20! So if the convent provides healthy food and gives you an opportunity to work out (you might not even need a treadmill - if you see how some sisters have to fly about to keep on schedule!), you don't have a health deficit even if you're overweight.

(Okay, so I used a lot of can'ts and shouldn'ts here - it's not like I presume I can or should tell convents what to do. Really, I wouldn't dare - sincere lack of wisdom here! But I can get so mad if people tell my roommate off for having a normal meal or stare at my mum's plate. Raah.)

[Laudem Gloriae]

I know of a woman who entered (I haven't talked to her for awhile so I hope she still has!) a wonderful full habited Visitation and before she did she told me they were letting her bring her Total Gym with her to used 30 mins or so everyday! Not just to be Ms. Fitness, to keep her figure or for some vain reason but it helped her stay loose, functional everyday - without it she has a very hard time gettting around.

Obviously, most orders aren't going to let you do that but it's nice this Visitation offered it as it was medically necessary.

[-I---Love]

Interesting ? that I am sorry you have to be in the position to deal w/...real bummer...nevertheless I have 2 thoughts:

1) some ppl gain weight when the enter religious life (although usually not at first)
...depends on many things of course

2) www.crossfit.com

[-I---Love]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' post='1562895' date='Jun 7 2008, 09:22 PM']I'm not sure how... realistic? the concept of BMI is... Take myself for an example. I'm an athlete, so I train and lift weights and play sports all year round. I'm 5'2 and 160lbs. Which puts me at the high end of the over-weight almost obese end of the scale. Now, I could probably loose a bit around the middle section, but honestly, I don't have all that much fat on me. (Take a look at my profile picture, I'm a bit over-weight but no where near obese). It's mostly muscle. And I'm in good shape. I can squat twice my weight and can run a mile in less than 9 minutes. Yet, BMI tells me I'm nearing obesity.[/quote]

Good point about the BMI. Really BMI is a load of malarky but to some small degree it can be vaguely useful. But, one knows if they are overweight or not. You don't need a scale, mirror or anything else to tell. We know how we feel, how we felt when we were a child running around the yard, and we can tell how our clothes fit, and what size other ppl our height are. Also, what the BMI scale now considers overweight use to be much closer to the category of obese only some 40 years ago.

Btw - if you can full squat 2x's ur bodyweight then I am impressed!


[quote name='Caramelonion' post='1562964' date='Jun 7 2008, 10:59 PM']When I went to visit the Poor Clares six years ago...I was heavier than I am now and nothing was said to me about it...for which I was grateful...I figured that since they eat mostly a vegetarian diet...I would be able to lose weight for that reason alone.[/quote]

Losing weight because you are not eating meat....Although it's just not true, at least provide some info. so you don't deceive ppl.

I noticed several ppl who mentioned how much fat they lost. Really cool to hear!

[jkaands]

Tim Russert’s untimely death had led to a lot of discussion of risk for heart disease in the media, including a discussion of BMI and waist measurement.

The BMI is widely regarded as a reliable indicator of overweight and obesity. For each height, there is a considerable range of normal, overweight and obese categories, which should embrace all ages, body types and relative amounts of muscle.

People who might consider themselves exceptions to the BMI categories should use the equally reliable waist index. A woman’s risk of heart disease rises when her waist exceeds 35 inches, regardless of BMI, age, weight, or muscle mass. A rough indicator of optimal waist circumference is that her waist in inches be half her height in inches. The waist measurement is important because it reflects the accumulation of abdominal fat, which has been found to correlate highly with heart disease.

A person’s strength has nothing to do with heart health. An obese young person may not have any symptoms in youth, but soon the limitations and dangers present themselves--diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and arthritis, risk of heart disease and stroke.

I am frankly surprised that religious orders accept persons who are obese, especially morbidly obese, but feel that they are trading off having a new member now versus paying for the health problems later. This may turn out to be a very expensive decision.

[Saint Therese]

It must be a relief to know that thin people never get sick or have health problems.

[CatherineM]

Yeah, my 54 year old cousin died two weeks ago. She was 6 foot tall and maybe weighed 110 lbs. soaking wet. My short stout mom has outlived both her younger, taller, and very slim sisters by a decade and counting. I had a nutritionist tell me once that the diet I am on, is the diet everyone should be. Being overweight just made me go on it younger than other people might. Slender people can sometimes overlook the need for proper nutrition.

[Alycin]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1577108' date='Jun 20 2008, 01:14 AM']Yeah, my 54 year old cousin died two weeks ago. She was 6 foot tall and maybe weighed 110 lbs. soaking wet. My short stout mom has outlived both her younger, taller, and very slim sisters by a decade and counting. I had a nutritionist tell me once that the diet I am on, is the diet everyone should be. Being overweight just made me go on it younger than other people might. Slender people can sometimes overlook the need for proper nutrition.[/quote]

Might I ask what diet you are on?

[the lords sheep]

I really love this topic, not only because I have struggled with my own weight for most of my life, but because it is something that is so human. I feel as if people, in focusing on the spiritual preparations to enter religious life (which is, of course, important) sometimes forget that they take their very human selves into the convent with them. And this human self includes things like weight issues, physical insecurities, health problems, etc. It's not as if it all ceases because one is now called Sister or Father or Brother.

Just my oho.

In Jesus and Mary,
Lauren

[alicemary]

There are worse factors then merely weight that affect ones longevity and usefulness. Several, like genetics, you have no control over. I am overweight. I am 54. I am in relativity good health, good enought to go out each day and work as a nurse on a very busy unit. I am not keeling over yet, nor unproductive, so be very careful of judging others.
And there is definetly some sex discrimination going on....an obese man is allowed to enter the seminary, and I don't hear a discussion of it. Oh heck, all men have beer bellies....sure. A woman is always expected to be rail thin.

[gloriagurl]

[quote name='alicemary' post='1577305' date='Jun 20 2008, 10:05 AM']And there is definetly some sex discrimination going on....an obese man is allowed to enter the seminary, and I don't hear a discussion of it. Oh heck, all men have beer bellies....sure. A woman is always expected to be rail thin.[/quote]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I might also add that men don't have the same problems as women when seeking to enter religious community later in life. Yes, some seminaries/orders are starting to have age limits for men, but I've not seen anything close to the 33 or 35 year old limits I see for many women's communities. They may be out there but I've not seen them. For heaven's sake, I've seen 1 or 2 communities for women with a 29 year old age limit......Jesus Himself would have been too old for these folks.

When I think that it is women imposing this kind of (at least, borderline) discrimination on other women, I shudder. How sad that God's own daughters treat each other so shabbily and call it by various terms such as "discernment", "wisdom" and my personal favorite when we want to reject someone, "it is/isn't God's will that you be accepted to do this/that".

Now please don't all go off on me at once. I'm not saying that we ought not to seek the will of God, and I'm not saying that God's will is not "knowable" - I'm just saying that sometimes, some of us USE the term "will of God" as and excuse or reason to accept/reject a certain thing when really it's about a personal preference, choice, prejudice or even a very LEGITIMATE, but human, psychological, or perhaps even institutional reason/decision for a particular action. Sometimes we ought to leave the "will of God" out of it and start saying things like "We/I don't like it, don't want it, don't think it's a good idea", "don't trust it", "have determined it's not right for us" etc etc etc. In my opinion we could accept responsibility for a lot more of the "hard stuff" than we generally do.

I have no issue with a community encouraging a person (male or female) to a more healthy balanced lifestyle - one might even say it's an encouragement to lay aside the sin of gluttony (which it may be for some people)....but let's be fair about it. Weight can be as big a problem for men as it is for women but we all know that we have been culturally tuned to manifest unequal attitudes/treaments when it comes to women and weight. It comes through quite loud and clear in what some communities have said to women who approached them for discernment.

There is a feminism that is properly ordered and in line with the teaching of the Chruch - but sometimes it seems to me, just not being upheld.

[Thomist-in-Training]

To IrishSalesian with the problem of immodest gym-mates--How long is the gym open? I know some gyms open very, very early so maybe there's a time you can go with no one there. Maybe the desk clerks know?

[MissScripture]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' post='1562895' date='Jun 7 2008, 07:22 PM']I'm not sure how... realistic? the concept of BMI is... Take myself for an example. I'm an athlete, so I train and lift weights and play sports all year round. I'm 5'2 and 160lbs. Which puts me at the high end of the over-weight almost obese end of the scale. Now, I could probably loose a bit around the middle section, but honestly, I don't have all that much fat on me. (Take a look at my profile picture, I'm a bit over-weight but no where near obese). It's mostly muscle. And I'm in good shape. I can squat twice my weight and can run a mile in less than 9 minutes. Yet, BMI tells me I'm nearing obesity.

As for communities judging a candidate based off of weight alone... I don't know. Yes, living a healthy life-style is important, but so is responding to God's call. People are different sizes, plain and simple. So long as a person is able to keep the daily routine of the community and does not pose extraordinary health problems on the community, I don't understand what the problem would be. I can see perhaps asking an over-weight or obese candidate to be able to stick to a certain meal-schedule/routine that is similar to the communities for a few months before entering, just so the community and the candidate can discern whether or not the candidate possess the self-control and will-power to live the life-style that may otherwise be difficult for someone of their weight. But if that pans out, I don't think it should be a barring factor. I think communities may need to take some extra discerning time with an over-weight or obese candidate for the above reasons, but I do not think it should be a reason to completely dismiss a candidate.[/quote]
BMI works better for non-athletes, because muscle weighs more than fat. And it's more of a guideline for risk-stratification and the like than a set in stone sort of scale.


[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1562973' date='Jun 7 2008, 09:09 PM']Thank ya'll, Ireally appreciate all your input. I am on a program of healthy eating (NOT a diet). I have been ever since I was ill in February. FOr me, at this point, having the desire, knowledge, skills and willpower to eat healthily is not an issue. I know what to eat, how much to eat, how often to eat, and I have the strong desire to continue doing so. Also importantly, I've discussed my eating program with many family and friends, so if I were to go back now, I would definitely be held accountable.
THe thing is, I've always been a sedentary person(aside from my job), especially since I'm such an avid reader. Now that I'm strong in my eating habits, I plan to begin some sort of structured excercise program. I havn't decided exactly what yet, I'll probably just start with walking,which is very convenient for me, and then progress from there.
I do understand that serious health issue are strongly correllated with obesity,DUH!
While I am not an athlete like Teresabenedicta, I am fairly active at work, do lots of lifting, so its not like I'm using a walker or something.[/quote]
[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1563590' date='Jun 8 2008, 04:49 PM']One thing that is suprising since I've lost some weight is the difference in energy level. I have A LOT more energy now. [/quote]
That's fantastic!
Really, how you feel is more important than the number on the scale.
I just graduated with a degree in exercise science so hearing this stuff makes me really happy.

Try getting a pedometer. I think 10,000 steps equals approximately five miles. Then you can sort of incorporate it into your day, already and do things like park farther away and always take the steps instead of an elevator. Little steps are the best way to make changes, because they're not overwhelming and they add up!

[quote name='hugheyforlife' post='1563775' date='Jun 8 2008, 08:23 PM']i think its more to do with your reserve energy. if im correct, being overweight exhausts you like three times as fast as you would normally exhaust. but i could be wrong.. and usually am... haha![/quote]
I don't know exact ratios like that but you're correct in the idea...
I know it takes more energy just to do the basics, because you're carrying around that much extra weight, plus its harder to breath, plus it elevates blood pressure and the blood has a whole lot further to travel. I was told by a physical therapist that for obese people, daily routines max them out, so if they get sick and can't move for a while, they have a lot harder time recovering, too.

[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1576959' date='Jun 19 2008, 10:57 PM']It must be a relief to know that thin people never get sick or have health problems.[/quote]

Interesting fact: Researchers now believe that you need some fat on your heart. There have been deaths of world-class athletes that no one could explain, but one of the things that was noticed was that they lacked the streaks of fat on their heart that most people have.
Moderation is the key!

[quote name='the lords sheep' post='1577279' date='Jun 20 2008, 07:41 AM']I really love this topic, not only because I have struggled with my own weight for most of my life, but because it is something that is so human. I feel as if people, in focusing on the spiritual preparations to enter religious life (which is, of course, important) sometimes forget that they take their very human selves into the convent with them. And this human self includes things like weight issues, physical insecurities, health problems, etc. It's not as if it all ceases because one is now called Sister or Father or Brother.

Just my oho.

In Jesus and Mary,
Lauren[/quote]
In my exercise science program, we had some of the nuns (I went to a Catholic university that Benedictines had started) in our personal exercise programs (basically we were practicing being personal trainers). It was really odd doing the tests on them, because you had to have them take off their shirts for some (like ECG and skin-fold testing). And for me, it was really hard to ask a nun to take off her shirt, especially when my partner helping with the testing was a guy...

Edited June 20, 2008 by MissScripture

[CatherineM]

Alycin-I'm on a modified version of the Mediterranean diet. Whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins like salmon and chicken breast, olive oil (in moderation), and measured in calories. I add in a lot of soy products that the Greeks probably wouldn't normally. I have a bad case of portion distortion, and can only make it work if I measure everything and write it down. There's a woman I saw on TV once who at the time was a diet guru to the stars. She had been heavy in the 50's, but had lost the weight, and more importantly, kept it off for decades. She still wrote everything down that she ate. Journaling is important. If your problem is spending, writing down where you spend every penny works, for me it's food. I also have to exercise. With my disabilities, about all I can do is walk or water aerobics. Movement is very important for me. I wish I could lose the weight I have left quicker, but I have to be patient and do it slowly. I didn't put it on overnight, and can't take it off quick either.