[babydawn]

I am a person who was always thin growing up regardless of what I ate and regardless if I exercised or not. As I started having children that changed and it has become almost a necessity for me to watch what I eat and to excercise. I have been getting rather frustrated with the whole concept also, because I really like food, and only like to exercise if someone is doing it with me, so it has become quite a challenge for me. So, as I was exploring the lds website a few minutes ago, I ran accross this link in the provident living section...http://providentliving.org/content/d...3374-1,00.html.
talk about motivation. If you are motivated to do the things that the prophets have asked us to do, but have a hard time getting motivated to get healthy, check this site out. It has all sorts of info on the Word of Wisdom and excercise and physical health in general...it is really great. What do you all think. Has any of you found the Word of Wisdom to be the best "weight loss/get into shape and get healthy plan" ever? Maybe we should make a goal and be our own support group. Who needs weight watchers when you have the Word of Wisdom group to support you!

[MaryA]

I have found the Word of Wisdom to be very powerful in repairing, maintaining and improving our health. Everything is not spelled out in the word of wisdom but individually we all can recognize things other than alcohol and hot drinks that do not promote our good health. Section 89 does tell us things that are good for our bodies so the Word of Wisdom is not just staying away from alcohol and hot drinks.

Being the cook in the family I have been making an effort to improve our health and stamina through better foods. One thing my husband and I have been doing is eating a salad for lunch each day. I choose organic lettuce and vegetables when I can to get the most from the food. We both notice more energy in the afternoon and a natural weight reduction and a reduction in cravings that we know personally do not increase our health such as sugar treats and ice cream. The more healthy foods you add to your diet the less you will desire the things that add only calories and weight gain.

There can be times when foods that normally would be good for one person are not good for another. This was the case with my husband. He has been affected by a chronic auto-immune disease and tests within the complementary medicine arena showed that he was developing inflamation from all the night shade vegetables, dairy, eggs and wheat. When we eliminated those from his diet he improved in pain and symptoms by fifty percent. Once more healing takes place he will be able to add those back in to his diet.

We exercise too. My husband likes to walk and my preference is to bounce on a rebounder. If you find something you enjoy exercising can be something to look forward to each day.

[writerchick]

I've seen so many women, mostly LDS, go on every fad diet that comes along. Some don't seem to follow the principles of the Word of Wisdom at all, so you have to wonder how healthy they could be. I'm sticking to the W of W and doing lots of exercise myself. Although weight loss is sllloooooow, I think it's the healthiest way. I trust God more than Atkins!

[babydawn]

Originally Posted by writerchick

I've seen so many women, mostly LDS, go on every fad diet that comes along. Some don't seem to follow the principles of the Word of Wisdom at all, so you have to wonder how healthy they could be. I'm sticking to the W of W and doing lots of exercise myself. Although weight loss is sllloooooow, I think it's the healthiest way. I trust God more than Atkins!

I completely agree with you. I would rather have slow weight loss and have it be healthy and stay off than have dramatic weight loss that gets put right back on once I have a bad day. I have found that once I started exercising and eating better for the health benefits, and because of how it made me feel, it is alot easier to do. I now want to exercise because I want to be healthy for my kids and my husband, and myself. I am a better mom when I am eating well. I think that Heavenly Father saw a lot more than just problems with drinking and drugs etc when he gave Joseph Smith the Word of Wisdom. I think he probably knew about the problems with obesity we would have today as well.

[writerchick]

I'm reading the book "Fat Land" right now, about how America got so obese. It's so interesting. It's definitely a different world with easy and cheap access to high fructose corn syrup and palm oil and cheap meat. Bring on the whole grains!

[shannon_heslop]

Hi!
Saw BabyDawn's thread -- I've never done anything like this before, but I've been thinking about it. I have 7 kids -- 3 of them are my step-kids (17,15, 14) who are here part time and 4 more (8, 6, 2, 15 months). I'm feeling terrible physically these days because I need to eat more healthy (major sweet tooth) and exercise. I used to be so great about both of those. Was always very thin growing up, but having kids blew that. I'm not into all the fad diets -- in fact, the first thing I've always done when I hear about one is compare it to the Word of Wisdom. They just never measure up. I really know what I need to do, but making time and getting motivated and having some support have all been issues. I love walking (used to be a runner big-time) but could really use a double-jogger stroller. It just seems like there's always something to do and taking care of me gets pushed back. I'm a stay at home mom (love that, but it's a huge challenge) have a great husband who really needs to loose some weight too (more than I do, actually. We joke that he gained weight with each of my pregnancies and passed me up. I lost most of it, but he didn't).
Stress definitely gets me eating. I feel like it's out of control these days. And then I think, the gospel is all about self-control -- or at least learning it. I need to get a grip. Anyone out there have ideas or want to do a group thing? Thanks!
Shannon

[babydawn]

A group thing might work out well....a Word of Wisdom Get Healthy Support Group....mmmm. That just may be a good idea. I have a hard time also trying to fit exercise into my daily routine. I ride my kids to school on their bikes, total distance is less than two miles though, and I do walk twice a week with a friend of mine. But I feel like I need to get some strength training in, and to up the amount of cardio I do. I tell myself everyweek....this is it, I am going to exercise well this week....usually, it doesn't happen. So as far as a group and accountability goes, do we just post on here and let everyone know how we did the last week or what? I have never been involved in a support group...what do you think?

[shannon_heslop]

Originally Posted by babydawn

A group thing might work out well....a Word of Wisdom Get Healthy Support Group....mmmm. That just may be a good idea. I have a hard time also trying to fit exercise into my daily routine. I ride my kids to school on their bikes, total distance is less than two miles though, and I do walk twice a week with a friend of mine. But I feel like I need to get some strength training in, and to up the amount of cardio I do. I tell myself everyweek....this is it, I am going to exercise well this week....usually, it doesn't happen. So as far as a group and accountability goes, do we just post on here and let everyone know how we did the last week or what? I have never been involved in a support group...what do you think?

Like I said, I've never done this either. I actually looked at another lds group but it looked more like they were in to the fad diet stuff -- not what I wanted. What if we reported in once a week -- like maybe Mondays or Fridays. If we wanted to could report actual weight loss, but maybe it would be better to just put down what our goals are for the next week and report how we did on meeting the ones we set for that week. That way, people could figure out what they need to do themselves and can track their own progress, but still have someone they feel is going to be checking on them and supporting them. We could also put down things we might be struggling with and share ideas about what has worked for someone else, etc. I just know that if I commit to someone else that I'll do something, I'm a lot more likely to follow through. I know I should be able to just commit to myself.... but support helps. We could share resources, etc. What do you think? I'm open to whatever works!

[babydawn]

I think another suggestion would be to start off small.... I think it would be much easier if we each (all who wanted to be involved) chose one goal a week and then reported the next week....does that make sense? I think it makes making changes to lifestyle easier if we set small goals and work up to the big one of a totally healthy lifestyle.

Okay, so I will start. My goal is to do strength training at least 3 days next week.

Anyone else who wants to get involved, we are making goals and reporting them on Fridays! We are baseing our goal makings decisions on the Word of Wisdom. (For anyone who is interested in joining who is not LDS and would like a quick overview of the Word of Wisdom, let me know!)

[writerchick]

Does this mean I have to give up my Diet Coke?