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 Dear
Readers:
It's been a while since I've sent an eNews...so much
has happened in my life. This is such an exciting time of
life, being in mid-life.
I hope everyone is enjoying the break in the winter. Here in
WNY, spring has sprung and it is beautiful. The sunshine does
so much to lift the spirits.
Today's issue is chock full of information that I
feel you will find useful. The lead article as well as the
featured book is by Carol Carson, author of
From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction.
Carol's story is amazing. She decided to begin a journey
of fitness just before her 60th birthday and the results were
life-changing, not only for her, but her entire community! You
will also enjoy the article about
following your passion by Keri Wyatt Kent.
Make sure you enter the
contest this month. The
prize is a copy of Carol's book. I will look for your emails!
Until Next Time!
Patti
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Have You
Always Wanted to Be an Expert?
By Carole Carson |
Why not be an expert on your own body?
I struggled for nearly 40 years looking for the key
to getting fit and losing weight. I must have read hundreds of
articles. After reading sometimes conflicting information and
advice, I came to one conclusion: each of us needs to be an expert
on our own body. We cannot delegate this job, not even to
physicians. As lifelong occupants, we are the experts on how our
bodies work and feel.
I divided my hard-won expertise into three
categories:
1. Body Awareness: Looking inward and paying
attention to your body’s signals, what can you learn? What impact
does eating or not eating breakfast have on your hunger? How much
protein do you need and how often? How many hours of sleep do you
need to maintain your energy and help you avoid catching the flu and
colds? How important is it to start the day with a spiritual
exercise such as yoga, prayer or meditation? How do you feel when
you overeat, or eat too much sugar? How can you use that information
to guide your actions? Dieting tells us to ignore our body’s
messages and follow an externally imposed set of rules. Strict
adherence to an externally imposed eating regimen is
counterproductive, occasionally dangerous and almost always
self-defeating. Abandon dieting. Respect your body’s signals and
honor its needs.
2. Impact of Choices: Analyzing the costs and
benefits of your lifestyle habits, what would you change? List the
pluses and minuses of a habit that is troubling you. Go through this
process in detail. Knowledge of what you are getting and what you
are giving up will give you the power to make future choices more
consistent with your best interests.
For example, after enjoying wine for many years, I
recently wrote down the costs and benefits. Benefits ranged from
relaxation to taste. The costs included fatigue, a headache, surplus
calories leading to extra weight and an increased appetite for sugar
the following day. When I analyzed the pluses and minuses, the
decision to remove wine from my daily routine was easy. Now I save
it for special occasions. Note that willpower isn’t involved.
3. Self-Determined Measures of Success: Stepping
away from the model proposed by the media, how would envision your
unique profile of fitness? Accept and respect genetic and biologic
differences. A poodle will never look or perform like a Saint
Bernard. A ballet dancer will not succeed as a football linebacker.
Each of us has genetic predispositions that can be enhanced if
desirable or minimized if unhealthy. Charts for weight and body mass
index provide useful information, but decide for yourself at what
weight and with what level of exercise you feel best.
When I weighed 183 pounds, I felt bloated, fat and
uncomfortable in my body. My clothes fit uncomfortably tight, and I
didn’t like myself. When I reached my goal of 122 pounds, my clothes
looked great, and I felt energetic. But I also felt unnaturally
thin, almost fragile. Today I keep my weight around 130 pounds. At
this weight, I feel trim, fit, athletic, strong and solidly healthy.
Best of all, I can maintain this weight without heroic measures.
Over the years, the sages have repeated the
importance of self-knowledge in various ways. “Know thyself.” “To
thine own self be true.” We can learn from others, yet we must apply
this wisdom in ways that meet our unique needs and help us create
our fittest body possible. Making the task worthwhile is the
wonderful reward that accompanies the effort.
Carole Carson is a fitness advocate and the author
of
From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction,
which chronicles her own 62-pound weight loss and the inspirational
Nevada County Meltdown. Visit www.fromfat2fit.com for more
information.
 For
this month's contest, we are offering a copy of this month's
Featured Book selection From Fit to
Fat,
by Carole Carson. You can read a description
below.
I would love to
make this a more interactive site, so for this month's contest, I
would like you to send me an email with a tip on how to improve
Beyond the Bend, or a suggestion of a topic that you would like to
see addressed in the eNews or on the site.
Send emails to
patti@beyondthebend.com
Do you like to
read, but aren't sure what books you would like? You can
find book reviews of the latest titles at:
www.bookbargainsandpreviews.com
From
Fit to Fat:
Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction
By Carole Carson
Hound Press
Retail Price: $14.95
Amazon: $10.17
Book Description:
This guide chronicles how one
woman’s very public journey to lose weight mushroomed into a
community quest to get fit. At the age of 60, Carole Carson broke
the taboo of speaking about obesity when she openly admitted her
shame and guilt about being fat and out of shape on the front page
of the local newspaper. As she recounted her transformation from
butterball to butterfly in a weekly newspaper column, she
gradually inspired more than 1,000 people in her Northern
California community to join her. People who had struggled with
weight loss and fitness suddenly found that when they joined with
their friends and neighbors they could accomplish together what
they could not do by themselves. They learned a completely new way
of living and discovered that getting fit was fun and in the
process lost the equivalent of a school bus! Through the guide’s
seven-step process, among other practical strategies and
resources, readers will find a framework for duplicating the
Nevada County Meltdown’s successes in their respective
communities—their congregation, their office, their friends and
family—realizing the power of partnership and revitalizing their
ties with each other.
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Beyond the Bend Review
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This is a wonderful story about a woman who began a
personal weight loss journey and decided to go public. Her efforts
to get fit served as a catalyst for an entire city to lose weight
and pursue a healthy lifestyle.
This book not only tells Carole's story, but the
story of Nevada County's quest for fitness. This book depicts the
struggles, insights, and momentum of a community that came together
over the common goal of getting physically fit and staying that way.
I really enjoyed the individual stories from Carole
as well as other participants. Besides the interesting narrative,
this book gives concrete steps for you to begin your own personal
and/or community "meltdown".
If you are looking to lose weight and begin your
journey on living a more healthy lifestyle, you should read this
book.
Order This Book!
You can order this book for $14.95 with free
shipping by using our
special
order form. You can also find this book at various
Internet stores such as:
Amazon.
2 cups cooked chicken, cut up
4 cups chicken broth
1-2 cans Northern white beans
1 large onion, chopped
sprinkle of garlic powder
1-4 teaspoons cumin
1 4-oz can green chilies
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Monterey Jack cheese, grated
In a soup kettle:
Sauté onion in a little oil. Stir cornstarch into cold
broth and add to the onions. Stir in all the other
ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes.
Serve topped with the cheese.
Recipe taken from Homemade Meals in Minutes by Linda
Spivey and Cinda Coon, Harvest House Publishers.
 Letters,
I get letters…
My recent blog posts and newsletters on listening to God’s
calling, following your passion, etc. have prompted many of you
to get in touch. What if you don’t know what your passion is?
What if your “dream job” is wearing you out? Where is the line
between contentment and passion? Between rest and boredom? The
stories and questions are challenging and inspiring.
A reader named Becky, after reading my book Listen, wrote
to share her story. With her permission, here’s an edited
version of her story:
Knowing I am searching for significance, a dear friend gave
me your book "Listen." I’m 44 years old, and a year ago my
health crashed. I have been slowing climbing up with God’s help.
I can't tell you how your writing is so on target for what I am
going through. I battle mentally everyday because I am not out
"working" making money. I recently starting drawing again and
got into a gallery. Nothing has sold yet ...
One of my problems is I don't know what my deepest desire is.
God has given me lots of talents/gifts and I don't know which
one to pursue. I am most happy when I am outside. I have started
a garden.
All I want to do is garden, read, write and paint. Is that ok?
I’m married (20 years) but I feel guilty because I don’t earn
money. I feel I must follow this path of finding who I am. I
lost myself a long time ago and if I don't find it now, I may
never. We have two teenagers which will be leaving soon. I have
been a people pleaser most my life. I am trying to break free of
fear.
Thank you for writing this book. I will have to read it over and
over because there are so many good things in it. Thank you!
Becky
I think Becky is very typical of many of us who, at midlife,
realize that we have spent so much of our lives taking care of
others that we are not even sure who we are or what we love. And
yet, take a look at the photos Becky sent me of her artwork.
She’s oozing with talent. But sometimes we discount our own
abilities, thinking they don’t have value. Or we think that
being an artist isn’t practical.
Some of us need encouragement to follow our dreams. But you have
to dream the dream before you can follow it, so I wrote back to
Becky to encourage her to dream. Here’s some of what I wrote to
her:
“Keep asking God to direct your steps, to show you the way.
I will say this, though: I have found that when I am working,
not just volunteering but working for pay, even if it is small,
it has helped my self-esteem tremendously. You said your
drawings got into a gallery--that's so terrific! It's a huge
accomplishment. Now, what if you were to find a job in a
gallery? You obviously know a lot about art.
Having your own money and your own accomplishments will build
your confidence. I'm not suggesting you go out and get a
high-powered career in the corporate world--that doesn't sound
like a good fit for you at all. But you love to read and paint
and garden. So put in an application at your local bookstore, or
garden center, or library, or art gallery. Or apply at all of
them, and see where God leads you.”
I suggested that if she were to work outside the home, even for
only a few hours a week, she’d need to get her teenage children
and husband to take on some of the housework that she’s been
doing. And that she keep at least part of her paycheck to spend
or give as she likes, without guilt. I suggested she check out
my blog posts on “chore wars” which chronicles how we've been
working through these issues at my house as well. check it out
at
www.keriwyattkent.blogspot.com
Becky wrote back to say that this time of life is one where “we
are truly becoming someone we haven’t been before.”
I agree. People talk about mid-life as a time of crisis, but I
think it is more a time of awakening—a time when we can actually
begin to consider—who am I and what is it that I love? As Becky
said, “I don’t know what my deepest desire is.” But this is the
time to discover that—by trying different things.
A friend of mine who is my age (same as Becky’s) recently
started working at a health club. Before that, she’d tried
running her own business but didn’t really enjoy it. But she
loves working for someone else. She’s getting involved in
marketing, and other aspects of running the business. She loves
the respect her colleagues give her, the money she earns, and
how her being gone forty hours a week has forced her family to
step up and take on more of the household chores. She’s more
confident, in better physical health (free exercise classes!).
She’s becoming more of herself.
In her second note, Becky wrote “I have a very bold side of me
and a very scared side of me, but I will see where God leads me.
That’s what it always seems comes back to, completely leaning on
him.”
She’s right. We need to lean on God. But to walk forward, even
as we lean. God supports and guides as we move forward. As I
told Becky: Do you know which command from God is repeated most
often in scripture? It's "do not be afraid." Live boldly!
Until next time,
Keri
Keri Wyatt Kent is an author of several books including
Listen: Finding
God in the Story of Your Life, Oxygen: Deep Breathing for the
Soul, Breathe: Creating Space for God in a Hectic Life.
You can also visit Keri's site at
www.keriwyattkent.com
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