Looking for Name Suggestions (Pagan Weight Watchers)

[Winter Black]

This is going to be a sort of... Weight Watchers-style thread for Guild Members who want to get motivated, start eating healthy, record the weight they're losing, gain moral support from the community, and so on...

We're taking name suggestions.

This project is run by Winter Black and Gypsy Blue.

Post 1: Index
Post 2: Explination & Rules
Post 3: Guide to Eating Healthy
Post 4: Simple Exercises to do Daily
Post 5: External Links (Articles, Essays, and Guides)
Post 6: Blessings and Moral Support (?)
Post 7: Confessions, Journals, and FAQ

 

[Winter Black]

Explination and Rules

How did we come about?
We started after Winter Black made the Pagans and Self-Image thread. A lot of members seemed to be saying that they weren't active enough, they could stand to lose some weight, and similar responces.
Gypsy Blue had the idea that perhaps we should have a sort of "Weight Watchers" thread for Guild Members to gain moral support, check upon each other, and get advice. Thus, this thread was created.

What do we do?
Essentially, we provide information on eating healthy, simple exercises, and keep track of not only how much weight they've lost, but how much others are losing as well.
We provide, also, advice on healthy shopping on a budget, and other such things. I know how hard it can be to eat right when you don't have much money.

Rules:
1. I think it should go without saying that there is no flaming, no trolling, no mean-spirited comments, and so on... I mean, we're a community, and we should love each other. But I'll say it anyways. Wait, I just did.
2. You can have conversations, yes, but make sure thats not all you do. Try to positivly contribute to the thread, and also, feel free to let us know how you're doing at any time. (Winter is always willing to listen, if you need to rant or a kind of 'shoulder to cry on.)
3. If you have any questions, feel free to post and ask. We'll answer as best we can.
4. Try to be positive and give your support to the other members whenever you can. A lot of people sometimes get into a funk, where they think "no one cares, anyways, so why should I bother?" This is bad, because it leads to lazyness, the gaining of more weight, and so on. We should focus on making everyone feel loved, and cared about, and give them a reason to get active, and lose weight, and eat healthy. But also remember, you are all the reason you should need.
5. If you're really serious about this, why don't you take "The Pledge"?

The Pledge

I, the undersigned, hereby agree that I am taking my life into my own hands. If I am unhappy about either my lifestyle or my appearance, I have the power to change it.

By signing this pledge, I promise the following:
I will try; and by trying, I have taken the first step towards success.
I will be supportive towards other members, because everyone needs a hand some time.
I will keep a positive attitude.
I will make the changes I need to not only fascilitate my desired changes, but to make them permanent.

Signed__________________________________

Feel free to just post it in your journal, or to actually print it out and sign it. And be sure to read it out loud, to solidify The Pledge with the Gods. wink

I think thats it for the rules... I'll add more as I think of them.  

[Winter Black]

Guide to Healthy Eating

What should I eat?
Here is what you should eat more often in each of the food groups.

Grain Products
Choose whole grain and enriched products more often.

Vegetables and Fruit
Choose dark green and orange vegetables and orange fruit more often.

Milk Products
Choose lower-fat milk products more often.

Meat and Alternatives
Choose leaner meats, poultry and fish, as well as dried peas, beans and lentils more often.

Servings recommended per day
The amount of food you need every day depends on how physically active you are, as well as your body size, age and gender.

Grain Products
5 - 12 servings per day
Vegetables and Fruit

5 - 10 servings per day

Milk Products
Children 4 - 9 years: 2 - 3 servings per day
Youth 10 - 16 years: 3 - 4 servings per day
Adults: 2 - 4 servings per day
Pregnant and Breast-feeding Women: 3 - 4 servings per day

Meat and Alternatives
2 - 3 servings per day

What about "Other Foods"?

The information provided is from Canada's Food Guide to Healty Living. You can read the full Guide here.

Submitted by Gypsy Blue:
Drink lots and lots of water. You're going to retain it at first, but it will eventually taper off and will help to both flush your system and keep you hydrated.

Avoid foods that are high in starches, like potatos; starch is turned into sugars by your body, and sugars get sotred as fat.

Don't skip meals!
Avoid eating after 7:00 PM, or at least 2 hours before bed. (this one gets me all the time. It's best if you can set a time, and stick to it.)  

[Winter Black]

Simple Exercises to do Daily

The following are some simply exercises that you can do in the morning, every day. Its easy, but it works.

Exercise One:
Stretching. Every day, stretch for about five minutes. This loosens up your body, and helps you feel better, and more awake.

Exercise Two:
Jumping Jacks. Every day, you do ten jumping jacks. Every two weeks, add five. Jumping Jacks are a good way to loosen up your body, and lose a few pounds.

Exercise Three:
Sit-ups. Every morning, do five sit-ups. Every two to three weeks, add five. Sit-ups are a great way to tone the muscles, and lose fat, around your waist.

Exercise Four:
Push-ups. Every day, do five push-ups. Every three weeks, add five. This is a good way to build up your arm muscles.

Added by Gypsy Blue:
1. Walk for (a minimum of) 20 minutes three times a week. (Winter says: I usually go on a 45 minute walk almost every night. Mostly uphill, at the end, but it starts off nice and level.)

2. Using a jug (either a 4L jug of milk or water, or a full jug of liquid laundry soap) do ten curls on each arm. After two weeks, add 5 more.

3. Take the stairs! They're great cardio, and tighen up your tights and butt. whee

4. Swim. It's summer time, so hit the beach, hi the lake, hit the local or a neighbor's pool. Great low impact (for anyone who has an injury to nurse like I do) and it exercises the whole body.

5. Cycling. Instead of driving or taking the bus, ride a bike for a short trip to the store. Not only is it great exercise if you have one handy, but it cuts down on both your fuel bill and polution.

6. Dance! It doesn't have to be anything fancy. You don't have to belly dance (which is fun and you can find instructional videos to download) or jazzercise. Just turn on the radio and groove either just for the sake of moving, or while you work on cleaning.

7. Do anything that's going to sustain physical activity for at least 20 minutes, whether it's aerobics, weight training, running, jogging, walking, or extra cleaning around the house. Just be sure to stretch.

If you can think of any others that can help, please let me know, and I'll add them.  

[Winter Black]

External Links (Articles, Essays, and Guides)

.+. Small Steps. - This is a fantastic site that encourages gradual weight loss, and provides resources on dietary planning, exercises, additonal resources, stories and support... It's founded on common sense, and the first thing it does is teach people to have reasonable expectations and approaches. - Submitted by Gypsy Blue.  

[Winter Black]

Blessings and Moral Support (?)

Coming Soon  

[Winter Black]

Confessions, Journals, and FAQ

This section was inspired by Gypsy Blue when she posted the following.

Gypsy Blue

Starting today, I'm going to start using my Gaia blog to start tracking my success, and I'll invite anyone else who feels so inclined to join me. Maybe at some point we can get a list of users up in here who are going to take part? That way we know who's working towards a goal and we can check in on eachother. Might not hurt if we opened up with a confessional, too.

Below will be a list of people who's Journals are tracking how they are doing in terms of weightloss, frequently asked questions, and the confessions of our members.

FAQ:



Journals:
Gypsy Blue


Confessions:

Gypsy Blue

So it's confession time. My name is Gypsy, and I'm a fast food junky. I will not cook when I can simply run to KFC, or McDonalds, or Wendy's, or I can grab a slice of pizza. I crave, and therefore I immediately satisfy that craving, and this has got to stop.

I'm also a late night snacker. The craving usually hits any time after 9:00, and I i'm on the phone to order pizza, or making nachos or ripping open a bag of chips. This also has to stop.

I'm also an emotional/comfort eater. When I'm upset, I eat more. And I eat poorly; cheese cake and ice cream, anything greasy or fired.

All of these are not only horrible for my health, but they're expensive! And with the over all money I'm spending on these, I could forego the bitching and whining I do over the expense of healthy food and actually buy it!

I'm also lazy, but I'm picking at that a little bit; I walk around the plant some times at work, and I'm going to start doing that more. I'm learning to belly dance, and will do that as often as I can. I should also haul my bkie up from down stairs and start going for short rides, and gradually increase them, plus walk some on my days off. I drive way too much, and spend too much time on the somputer doing nothing. So what's my plan?

Well, forst of all to get a plan going. I need to eat more fruit. More grilled meats, and more rice. I should be eating small amounts of things like trail mix and rice cakes, even get pop corn instead of chips and chocolate bars. Once a week, I'm entitled to a reasonable fast food treat, ie. a cheeseburger and fries (single paddy).

 

[Winter Black]

Come in, we're open!  

[The Bookwyrm]

Wow, glad to see that this is up! I'll see what I can thinkof name wise, but I don't know if I'm going to come up with much. The line "My body is my temple" keeps popping into my head and makes me think "SS's Inner Temple Project" but that just doesn't fit, and in a bit misleading. I'll think on it, though.

I have an exercise to add! Actually, I have a few I could add...

1. Walk for 20 minutes three times a week.
2. Using a jug (either a 4L jug of milk or water, or a full jug of liquid laundry soap) do ten curls on each arm. After two weeks, add 5 more.
3. Take the stairs! They're great cardio, and tighen up your tights and butt. whee
4. Swim. It's summer time, so hit the beach, hi the lake, hit the local or a neighbor's pool. Great low impact (for anyone who has an injury to nurse like I do) and it exercises the whole body.
5. Cycling. Instead of driving or taking the bus, ride a bike for a short trip to the store. Not only is it great exercise if you have one handy, but it cuts down on both your fuel bill and polution.
6. Dance! It doesn't have to be anything fancy. You don't have to belly dance (which is fun and you can find instructional videos to download) or jazzercise. Just turn on the radio and groove either just for the sake of moving, or while you work on cleaning.
7. Do anything that's going to sustain physical activity for at least 20 minutes, whether it's aerobics, weight training, running, jogging, walking, or extra cleaning around the house. Just be sure to stretch.


Extra tip: Drink lots and lots of water. You're going to retain it at first, but it will eventually taper off and will help to both flush your system and keep you hydrated.

Avoid foods that are high in starches, like potatos; starch is turned into sugars by your body, and sugars get sotred as fat.

Avoid eating after 7:00 PM, or at least 2 hours before bed. (this one gets me all the time. It's best if you can set a time, and stick to it.)

I also have a website to submit, Small Steps. This is a fantastic site that encourages gradual weight loss, and provides resources on dietary planning, exercises, additonal resources, stories and support... It's founded on common sense, and the first thing it does is teach people to have reasonable expectations and approaches.




I'm totally onboard for the project, and I'll help out and throw in more helpful info whenever I get it. One thing I think maybe we should do is have a pledge; I know I take things more seriously when I open state that I'm making a commitment. Even if it's something to the effect of

Quote:

I, the undersigned, hereby agree that I am taking my life into my own hands. If I am unhappy about either my lifestyle or my appearance, I have the power to change it.

By signing this pledge, I promise the following:
I will try; and by trying, I have taken the first step towards success.
I will be supportive towards other members, because everyone needs a hand some time.
I will keep a positive attitude.
I will make the changes I need to not only fascilitate my desired changes, but to make them permanent.

Signed__________________________________

Starting today, I'm going to start using my Gaia blog to start tracking my success, and I'll invite anyone else who feels so inclined to join me. Maybe at some point we can get a list of users up in here who are going to take part? That way we know who's working towards a goal and we can check in on eachother. Might not hurt if we opened up with a confessional, too. I know I'm 168lbs, and terribly unhappy about it. My goal is to get down to a nice 135 lbs, since I'm only 5'3". In the mean time, I'd be happy to go from a size 18 to a 14 by December, so I can wear an old prom dress to the Christmas formal.

Well, that's my bit. Cheers!  

[Trollhammarentime]

I think my goal is a bit at odds with most going to be posted, but it's a goal I want to reach.

Right, the past 9 years I'v been going to a private highschool with a dress code and basicly, just boring as hell. No sexuality, no religion, no community, nothing. and now that my sister is in grade 8, we're moving highschools.

At this new school here is around 800-900 kids, as opposed to the 108 in my previous school, not to mention no dress code, a bunch of new electives nd general all-around awesomeness.

I personally want to look good when I join a new school. You know, not that skinny kid who can't stick up for himself, I want to be that strong, handsome kid everyone is happy about being friends with and respects. Now here is my goal...

My goal is to hit 145 pounds of good healthy weight and look good. I'm currently 135 and not the most toned person on earth. As for the handsome features...well...there is always plastic surgery.


My current routine is:

6:30: Wake up, have nice light breakfast.
7:00: 5 mins of stretches
7:05: Go for a 45 min run
8:00: Get back home, feed cat & dog.
8:15: While still slightly warm form my jog, do 3 reps of 15 bicycle whatsits for my abs, 3 sets of 20 pulls with an 8lb weight, 3 sets of 20 pushes with an 8lb weight, 2 sets of 20 pushups and 10 mins of scales and warmsups on my guitar to help my hand strengh and help warm them up.
9:15: After all that, I go have a nice hot shower to warm down my body and get ready for the day.

With this routine I hope to build and tone my arms, legs, chest and sholders. I'm not looking for the body builder type body. I just want a healthy, fit body that I can be proud of and have some extra stamina.


Does anyone have any tips as to things I could add or change to my routine to make it more effective? I'm open to ideas and i'm interested in hearing them.

EDIT: Too many "rights."  

[The Bookwyrm]

Trollhammarentime

Does anyone have any tips as to things I could add or change to my routine to make it more effective? I'm open to ideas and i'm interested in hearing them.

Thanks to my gym buddy Matty, I actually do have a few suggestions. My first is to eat a biger breakfast; you're trying to put on weight, so you need to eat. But you also need to eat the right things, and since you're looking to put on muscle, that's protien so your body has something to convert to muscle.

My next... observation is that you're doing a lot of cardio. Cardio work outs are great to slim down, but that's not your goal here, so try to include more work with weights. You've got some, which is good; try to either increase the amount of weight you're working with, or increase the number of reps on a regular basis; increasing reps will tone while increasing weight will put on bulk. My suggestion is to go for bulk right now, just to get the weight on, then just focus on maintaining it.

I also wonder if you'd be able to find anything on line about the programs that varsity football hockey teams have to go through; they go on very strict diets and training programs before the beginning of the season to help get back into shape. I know you don't want the body builer physicque, but you do want to increase in size, which is always their goal to. Try it in moderation; I'll take a look around and see if I can find anything to help. If I do, I'll PM you. 3nodding

With the schedule you've got set up, so long as you can stick with it, you'll do great!  

[Winter Black]

Alright, I'll be here everyday, so no one should feel hesitant about posting, and about checking back.  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

If you're looking for a good activity to exercise with, I'd suggest swimming. It is very literally the best for an overall fitness program. It works every muscle so evenly that you don't even bulk up, which is caused by working a few muscles at the expense of all the others (usually biceps and triceps are what's seen bulked)  

[The Bookwyrm]

Nihilistic Seraph

If you're looking for a good activity to exercise with, I'd suggest swimming. It is very literally the best for an overall fitness program. It works every muscle so evenly that you don't even bulk up, which is caused by working a few muscles at the expense of all the others (usually biceps and triceps are what's seen bulked)

It's also incredibly relaxing; with no stress on the body and the rhythmic movements involded it's a great way to kill stress. Even if the pool is full of screaming kids. xd

And Winter, I'm happy to help out with the thread! I'm on most days, and I pop in and out. ^^