Jewish Musings, Tuesday, October 17

[louise]

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:
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[louise]

I decided over the holy days that the relationship I need to work on most is the one with myself. I don’t treat myself well. My apartment is a untidy, I don’t cook for myself, my weight is uncomfortable. Instead of being down on myself for these things I decided to try speaking to myself differently. Asking myself questions like “How can I help you?” “What do you need?” “What would you like to eat today?” “How do you feel?” Maybe this sounds obvious. I readily admit that it is a reframing of ideas we have talked about before – matters of self-worth, self-respect, etc. Treating oneself with dignity. The tone is different. The approach is loving instead of critical or judging. This is my second week. I think it’s going well but after only a few days in the war happened which understandably redirects my attention. This is still what my plan is though. It may take a while to replace some destructive habits.

I could see that I needed a way to post my food – otherwise I get lost. I went back to Noom but am wondering if maybe I should have gone back to WW. Is their latest system much different than it had been?

When you try to redirect your behavior, how do you address it? What is the source? Is it a matter of being “good” or “bad”? A matter of discipline? I feel I should be able to come from a place of love.

Very interested to hear what you all have to say.

[peachymom1]

Congratulations on taking yourself in hand, and for doing it with love. I love the idea of treating yourself with dignity rather than criticism or judgment. I hope you’ll keep us up to date on how things are going for you.

When I try to redirect my behavior, “good” and “bad” don’t work for me. Nor does considering it with judgment. I try to start from a place of forgiveness. I need to forgive myself for making mistakes with food choices, for going off track, for missing opportunities to rein myself back in, and just for my own basic imperfection. Then I think back to the beginning of my WLJ and consider all the things I HAVE learned and HAVE done right.

I also need a way to post my food, and I do still belong to WW, completely online. I’ve kept up with all the new versions since I joined about 14 years ago. I still think it’s an excellent program.

Finally, my best source of success is in making success possible for myself. I am never going to give up sweets or foods with too many carbs. But I can allow myself reasonable amounts of them while still nourishing my body. One thing I especially like about WW is the extra weekly points, which I can add to if I exercise. I know I should exercise because my body needs it and it’s good for my health, but giving me extra points is a pretty great incentive. And finding satisfying (or at least acceptable) substitutes is another tool that helps me. Planning helps a lot too – I can have a satisfying amount of pizza if I plan for it ahead of time. Making my wants / needs / cravings possible is not only achievable, but very gratifying.

One more thing. I absolutely refuse to give up on myself. I started WW at 218, got down to 155, then crept up to 196, and I’ve been working on getting back down. I’m currently at about 181. The older I get, the longer it takes to lose weight, but what I learn about myself along the way is as important to me as the weight loss.

[hollygail]

Yesterday's thread: LOVED the poem! Thank you, Louise, for posting it!

Today's: Working on oneself is vital to living a good life, and possibly the single most difficult thing to engage in. I tend to ignore the things that annoy me (the ones that are my fault, like not cleaning up after myself) but at least I don't berate myself for having made the mess in the first place. I'm very behind on a lot of things, and just plain ignore most of them. So far, it hasn't come back to bite me in the arse... I admire you, Louise, for dealing with your self-criticism and your attention to turning that around. Dignity is so much nicer!

[gazelle18]

Thanks for this topic. Very much needed. I have been so consumed with the news, that I find myself wallowing in grief. Talking about something I can actually DO something about is frankly a relief!

Here are some things I have learned about weight loss and maintenance, from all of you and from WW.

1. I have learned that I feel physically better as well as mentally better when I exercise. For me, it works every time. So I have reframed exercise in my mind as something I do so my all over health, as opposed to part of a WL plan. It was a real boost for me the last time we went hiking. After taking one steep rise with (relative) ease, DH remarked that I was in much better shape.

2. When I overeat a lot, I feel like crap the next day or so. My body can no longer process a binge efficiently. This may be a good thing, as it causes me to think hard before I gorge on a box of cookies. (Doesn’t always work, but sometimes it does.)

3. Roasted vegetables. I used to be very meh about veggies. I have learned that roasting veggies with olive oil and some sort of spice combo makes them much better. I deliberately make too much, so that when I’m still hungry after finishing dinner, that is what is left for seconds. ( I like my veggies charred and crunchy.)

I love the concept of treating myself with understanding and forgiveness. With age, I have recognized that I have used food as a coping mechanism for anxiety. Perhaps there were better mechanisms, but I never found them. At least I didn’t pop pills or gamble or have sex with strangers!! So I think of my past binges as what I did to ease anxiety. As my anxiety has gotten better , I have binged on fewer occasions.

My bday is tomorrow! I’d love bday wishes tomorrow! If you forget, I will remind you!

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE! Please continue to pray for Israel.

I saw my primary doctor and his PA yesterday for my leg pains. They increased my meds, and told me to call back in a week if I wasn't feeling much better.

Re today's topic: I've found that the Ozempic has been helping me a lot with stopping eating when I am full, and not snacking if I don't actually want anything. These are big changes for me.

I always hated writing down everything I was eating, and was very happy when I stopped doing that. I found that my obsessions with food and eating died down when I wasn't constantly thinking about them.

gazelle18, Happy Birthday in advance!

Have a peaceful day, Lee