Fat and Jolly?

Today is Christmas Eve...The night kids all over the country await the visit from dear Santa...That fat and jolly old Elf.

While I was on the treadmill this morning I got to thinking about that description, "Fat and Jolly."
Is it really possible to be both?
I wonder whether St. Nick is Jolly just one day of the year? It's hard not to be joyful when you give others so much. And man oh man...He has a bottomless bag of happiness to hand out tonight.
But I wonder about tomorrow...After his binge on Cookies and whole milk? How will he be feeling then? Will his sugar hangover force him to consider some New Years Resolutions to make lifestyle changes and follow through on them? Will his climbing cholesterol and blood sugar be the final straws that force him to turn his life around? Or will he like so many, many people make those resolutions, follow thru and drop out within days or weeks. Facing another year of health problems and unhappiness?

Is it possible to be Fat and Jolly?
From my own experience. I'd say absolutely not!
When I was carrying around an extra 50 pounds and sporting a size 16...I wasn't jolly. I wasn't happy...in fact my feelings were so buried under my insulation of fatty tissue I rarely felt anything.
And during those times feelings of anger, sadness or frustration managed to bubble out to the top--I grabbed my comfort foods to force those feelings down.
One of the best gifts I have ever received came from my friend, Julie Tullius. She found Body for Life. It changed her life.
She shared the program with me and it changed mine.
Today I work hard to give the Gift of Body for Life to anyone willing to make the tough changes in their life now to have a better future. Maybe next Christmas they too will be basking in the joy of a healthy body, mind and spirit.
Tonight...when Santa makes his rounds he'll find something a little different at a little log cabin in Northern Minnesota.
Gone will be the plate of cookies.
Instead, he'll be able to feast on a myoplex bar...or shake.
I'll also be leaving him a gift of Bill Phillips' Body for Life Book.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good nite!

New study on obesity and physical inactivity and women

A new year is dawning. We all have resolutions to become healthier and happier adults. Sometimes we need a wake-up call or nudge to set these resolutions into motion. Don't allow that nudge to be a medical diagnosis...that may be too late in coming. Please take action now and begin a new lifestyle. It could save your life!
If you still need to be convinced that lifestyle changes are important for women...please read the information below regarding the latest study on obesity and its side effects as published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dec. 2004 Issue of The New England Journal of Medicine:
Adiposity as Compared with Physical Activity in Predicting Mortality among Women

Frank B. Hu, M.D., Walter C. Willett, M.D., Tricia Li, M.D., Meir J. Stampfer, M.D., Graham A. Colditz, M.D., and JoAnn E. Manson, M.D.

The above mentioned doctors examined the associations of the body-mass index and physical activity with death among 116,564 women who, in 1976, were 30 to 55 years of age and free of known cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The Doctors found... During 24 years of follow-up, 10,282 deaths occurred — 2370
from cardiovascular disease, 5223 from cancer, and 2689 from other causes.
Mortality rates increased monotonically with higher body-mass-index values among
women who had never smoked (P for trend <0.001).>

In combined analyses of all participants, adiposity predicted a higher risk of death regardless of the level of physical activity. Higher levels of physical activity appeared to be beneficial at all levels of adiposity but did not eliminate the higher risk of
death associated with obesity. As compared with women who were lean
(i.e., they had a body-mass index lower than 25) and active (they spent 3.5 or
more hours exercising per week), the multivariate relative risks of death were
1.55 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.42 to 1.70) for lean and inactive women,
1.91 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.60 to 2.30) for women who were obese
(defined as a body-mass index of 30 or higher) but active, and 2.42 (95 percent
confidence interval, 2.14 to 2.73) for inactive, obese women.

Even modest weight gain during adulthood, independent of physical activity, was
associated with a higher risk of death.

We estimate that excess weight (defined as a body-mass index of 25 or higher) and physical inactivity (less than 3.5 hours of exercise per week) together could account for 31 percent of all premature deaths, 59 percent of deaths from cardiovascular disease, and 21 percent of deaths from cancer among nonsmoking women.

Conclusions Both increased adiposity and reduced physical activity are strong and independent predictors of death.

Source Information
From the Departments of Nutrition (F.B.H., W.C.W., T.L., M.J.S.) and Epidemiology (F.B.H., W.C.W., M.J.S., G.A.C., J.E.M.), Harvard School of Public Health; and the Channing Laboratory (F.B.H., W.C.W., M.J.S., G.A.C., J.E.M.) and the Division of Preventive Medicine (J.E.M.), Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital — all in Boston.

My take on the above information...if you want to live a full productive life and be here for your loved ones you have to make changes. It is never to early nor to late!
Find a program that will help you become physically active and learn to fuel your body with the food it needs to thrive and be alive!

For more information I urge you to talk with your Doctor and/or Nurse Practicioner. They can be important partners in your health!

Cycling your success.

Recently I've begun to be more intune with my rhythms and cycles.

You might know what I mean. Some days its a real fight to get to the gym or follow through on the day's nutrition plan. Other days---it's a breeze.

In nature so many things revolve around cycles. The phases of the moon...Its pull on the earth. Why wouldn't we be ruled by the same laws?
What got me wondering about all of this is the recent experiences of several of my BFL Buddies. Some have been on program for several years...others for several months.
Their programs progress nicely, they transform their bodies, minds and spirits and then for some unknown reason...they collide right into a brick wall.

They begin to gain weight. They start dropping out of their workout schedules.
They are just as dedicated in maintaining their hard won successes but can't seem to find that spark that ignited their remarkible progress.

Success in BFL is like capturing lightening in a jar. As you begin a transformation and follow through on your self promises day in and day out the air begins to tingle, the sky seems a bit bluer...you begin to fill with hope and are eager to make changes in your life...as the days become weeks your hard work creates results. Those positive results stoke the fire in your belly and you strive harder to meet your goals. Like the jar--you glow with self-confidence.

Listening to my friends struggles and noting my own ups and downs during the past year...I'm starting to think that even BFL has its cycles. The body and mind gets a bit tired and we need a break. If that is indeed the case, we must always remember our self promises and make that break a short lived break. Like a low tide, consider it a down cycle.

The good news...high tides always follow and an up cycle always, always comes.
My point today is...do what ever you can to ride out that down cycle. Some BFL'ers call it active rest. Do what you can to live healthy and maintain your progress. And things begin to turn around--ride that wave (high cycle) for as long as it will take you.

Those highs are when we can break thru our plateaus and make significant gains in our mental, physical and spiritual health.

Dear Santa...

All I want for Christmas...I've already got!

Looking back at the past year I cannot begin to count the many blessings I have received. It all began when I made the concious decision to change my mind about exercise, nutrition, supplimentation and goal setting. When I did--I changed my body.
When you think about it--its not all that surprising.


The book Body for Life by Bill Phillips offered me a plan of action. In its simplicity to offered me the tools I needed to turn my life around.


Last night I attending a Christmas Party. Many of the women there wanted to know about my transformation. I told them about my life before BFL and how its changed since I've adopted this new Lifestyle.

Prior to BFL I was constantly obessing about my weight. You might know what I mean.
The frustration of never feeling good, never really looking good....
Being fat was a fulltime job.

Being healthy is also a fulltime job.
You have to work out, you have to plan and follow through on healthy eating.
Each day--sometimes each moment--you have to decide which job you want...and what payday will bring.

Essentially I've have exchanged one obsession for another.
The difference is...my new obsession with BFL is much healthier and it has made me much happier.

Bottom line--is you could chose you obsessions. Which would you chose?
Here's hoping that all of your choices in the New Year are the right ones for you!