Weight Loss For The Lord

[alicemary]

What a great topic and I am really happy to see that, though we all have a somewhat varied opinion, it has been done with real caring for each others opinions without alot of backbiting. Amen to that, and hopefully we can continue in that vein.

[Saint Therese]

I am soon to acquire a treadmill. I will either read while I walk, or pop in an inspiratinal movie, like In This House of Brede!
I changed my avatar- I thought it was appropriate!

Edited June 8, 2008 by Saint Therese

[Alycin]

[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1563393' date='Jun 8 2008, 01:23 PM']My sister is soon to give me a treadmill. I will either read while I walk, or pop in an inspiratinal movie, like In This House of Brede! [/quote]


Elliptical machines are miracle workers, they are really good workouts, and it is very easy to stay on there for the length of a movie. I used to watch entire seasons on America's Next Top Model while working out on the treadmill.

I've also thought about getting an exercise trampoline. Hehe.

[franciscanheart]

[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1563393' date='Jun 8 2008, 12:23 PM']I am soon to acquire a treadmill. I will either read while I walk, or pop in an inspiratinal movie, like In This House of Brede!
I changed my avatar- I thought it was appropriate! [/quote]
I didn't know they'd made a movie of the book! Is it worth it? I mean, is the movie even close to the book? Does it do the story line justice? Do tell!

[quote name='Alycin' post='1563395' date='Jun 8 2008, 12:27 PM']Elliptical machines are miracle workers, they are really good workouts, and it is very easy to stay on there for the length of a movie. I used to watch entire seasons on America's Next Top Model while working out on the treadmill.

I've also thought about getting an exercise trampoline. Hehe.[/quote]
I never got the hang of the elliptical machine. Call me crazy... I'm pretty sure I'm the only person I know who can't seem to get the hang of the suckers.

[Saint Therese]

The movie is different from the book, but it is still a GREAT movie, especially a vocation type movie. I love it because it shows that nuns are human without making them out to be knife wielding maniacs.
Phillipa Talbot____>
I've never even tried an elliptical machine.[img]http://www.mustardseed.org.au/catalog/images/1867.jpg[/img]

Edited June 8, 2008 by Saint Therese

[DiscerningSoul]

[quote name='Saint Therese' post='1563413' date='Jun 8 2008, 02:46 PM']The movie is different from the book, but it is still a GREAT movie, especially a vocation type movie. I love it because it shows that nuns are human without making them out to be knife wielding maniacs.
[img]http://www.mustardseed.org.au/catalog/images/1867.jpg[/img][/quote]

I have this movie its great, just got abit confused about the young gal that comes in and is still in love with a boyfriend????
Anyway, maybe I watch it again tonight.

[Saint Therese]

One thing that is suprising since I've lost some weight is the difference in energy level. I have A LOT more energy now.

[franciscanheart]

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!

[IrishSalesian]

Im not a light person, i am 5'8", and weigh 325lbs. I was accepted and nothing was said of my weight. However, once i was established they asked me to go see a weight counseler. Now I have to hold myself accountable. The community helps me alot. I eat what i need, and only that. No soda, no carbinated drinks of any kind. I have tried to exercise at the gym in Seton Hall University where i go to school, but some of the people who go there need a lesson on modesty. The gym became a distraction so I no longer go there, but i should go back because I need do get back in to a routine, and it is not easy to lose weight if there is no routine. My goal is to lose 100lbs, in three years. Pray for me!

[CatherineM]

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.

[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