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Post by peachymom1 on Jan 16, 2017 0:06:53 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting - you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in!
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Post by peachymom1 on Jan 16, 2017 0:07:53 GMT -5
Good morning! Today we remember the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday is marked as a national holiday. I am lucky enough to get the day off as a paid company holiday. I plan to get up and go to the gym as usual when they open, but I’ll have time to stay for a longer workout, and I can still make it to the morning minyan. Maybe I’ll call my mom and take her out to lunch; I have a book of hers to return, and she wants to borrow a book of mine.
In college English class, we read Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Every year I re-read it, though now I don’t have to drag out my old Borzoi College Reader; I can pull it up online with Google instead. When I was re-reading the letter today, something jumped out at me in a different way. Here it is:
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
I don’t want to diminish Dr. King’s outstanding letter in any way, but it did occur to me that this message can be applied to our WLJs. We can’t wait passively for our bodies to decide to get thinner or stronger or healthier by themselves or even with the help of others. Although my WLJ is certainly not in the same category as social injustice, and I wouldn’t use “oppression” to describe the state of my health and fitness levels, it seems to me that I can still apply the principle. I don’t need to wait for DH to be ready to go to the gym with me; I don’t have to put off until tomorrow (whenever that may be) the act of making better food choices; I don’t have to conquer all my demons before I can improve my health. Nothing can or should be granted to me; it’s time for me to make things happen for myself and stop letting any oppressive habits hold me back.
Does any of this resonate with any of you?
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Post by louise on Jan 16, 2017 9:35:42 GMT -5
I think that is a good application of his thinking. In some ways I just "hope" that this or that will get right, but in most cases it won't without my active involvement. Right now I have a number of things not right in my apartment - toilet is running, blinds fell down in my bedroom window, an A/C unit has to be brought up form the basement, blah, blah, blah. I don't know how to fix these things and don't have a handyman. As a renter my expectation is that things will get done. I know that I am whining here but there seemed to be an analogy. And my weight - have been feeling pretty hopeless, which does me zero good. Incredible how I take things in hand at my synagogue and job but way less so for myself.
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lee058
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Post by lee058 on Jan 16, 2017 10:24:52 GMT -5
Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well. Today H and I are cooking the turkey that started defrosting when the fridge went out. It's going to be like a Thanksgiving rerun: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. The only things missing are the pies, oh well. I completely forgot about making or buying dessert; there's a first. However, we're having enough carbs without anything sweet.
As for getting things done: My experience in life has been that if I wait for someone to do something for me, I could be waiting a long time. It works a lot better to negotiate and/or state what is needed. On the other hand, sometimes people do things for others without being asked. It all depends on the situation and the relationship.
I'll check back later. Have a peaceful day, Lee
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Post by savtele on Jan 16, 2017 10:32:45 GMT -5
Boker Tov All! I love this! Yes, in many ways our weight/body image problems IS physical/mental/emotional oppression! We "can't" do the things we want, because our body doesn't fit comfortably in the seat, or we need a seat belt extender. Or we are just plain uncomfortable with how we look or feel. One thing I am learning - if I can "see" myself doing it, there is a much greater chance of doing it! When I started doing half-planks on the floor, it was a major production, just to get down & then get back up. Now - ok, it's still a production & the coffee table has to be close by, but it is not nearly as difficult as it used to be. My mind went to work on the problem & muscles followed along!
The path to freedom is never a straight line - this country has been on the road for 150 + years now! There are enormous milestones, and now, setbacks. Eye-on-the-prize - who do we want to be?
My WL/FitnessJ is ALSO never a straight line - and there are setbacks. All I can do is: Eye-on-the-prize - who do I want to be? This is a matter of being comfortable in my own body, in social settings, and in the challenges of daily living!
Hopefully, today is the last day of the bone-numbing cold. John came home yesterday with a new hat - fake-fur-lined, with ear flaps that clip together under the chin. He looks a bit "Elmer Fudd-ish" in it - but I'm tempted to borrow it when I go swimming.
Have a good day ladies!
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Post by gazelle18 on Jan 16, 2017 10:57:15 GMT -5
I love this MLK quote. It is so true.
The concept that oppression (whether governmental or personal) will go away if we simply wish it so, is what they call magical thinking. I indulge in said magical thinking all the time. I think if I waive my wand, calories will disappear.
Can any of us imagine that if MLK really didn't like his own body, that he wouldn't change it? Now he may have cared about "weightier " things, but I'm pretty sure that if losing 10 lbs was important to him, he would have put his mind to it and done it.
I know that helpless feeling Louise is having; I have been there often myself.
Lately,I have been doing pretty well with my eating. I have not yet had the courage to step on the scale to assess the damage from an extended period of magical thinking. But I definitely feel much better. (By the way, a form of magical thinking that I often indulge is is: if I don't weigh myself, maybe I haven't gained as much as I think I have!)
I think that if MLK were talking to me, he'd say, "Stop playing games. Get to it. Now."
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lee058
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Posts: 23,285
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Post by lee058 on Jan 16, 2017 18:46:24 GMT -5
Hi again everybody. We made a fabulous meal, and there were a LOT of dirty pots, pans, dishes, etc. It took me about an hour and a half to clean everything up, but I did it! Yay me!
Just a small way of putting thought into action. Those pans wouldn't have cleaned themselves.
Have a peaceful evening, Lee
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