Weight - a Heavy Subject

If anyone has seen any of my videos, you already know, I'm not petite.  I was speaking to a friend a couple of weeks ago and naturally the subject of weight came up.  She said she'd like to lose about 20 pounds.  I said I had about 10 I'd like to get rid of.  I'm sure pound for pound and inch for inch, I'm fuller figured than she is, but I have a new method that has worked for me for the past seven years.

I have between ten and twenty pounds that naturally come and go with the seasons and the loss of that weight requires very little obsessing.  The weight shifts with the seasons so it seems a rather natural sliding scale that really doesn't alter my appearance dramatically.  At this point in life, I'm going more by the mirror than by the scales.  I'm used to my body by now, and realize there is a size on both ends of the spectrum in which I simply cannot attain and remain healthy.   I've also realized, as I'm sure most women have.  Our weight comes and goes in specific areas on our body.

With a healthy diet and good exercise, I am still not a small woman.  I'm sure I could do some specifics for toning, but to be honest, I don't care enough to do it.  I want to maintain an active homesteading lifestyle and keep my body functioning well.  My diet and activity level are more important than the scales.  In mentioning how our weight drops or accumulates specifically on our body also should determine what size we feel best about ourselves.  I should want to lose more than 10 pounds, but then my weight becomes my focus and I look like my caricature.  Both of which are undesirable!


I've made a god out of my body before and not only is it idolatry, it isn't healthy.  We weren't all made to be the same size and even when I'm underweight, which I did once . . . my body is not perfectly proportioned.  Just as gluttony is a sin, so is vanity.  Probably ten years ago, I realized, I should have appreciated my body in my 20s and 30s instead of abusing it for appearance.  There's also the regretful wish of . . . I wish I was the size I was when I used to think I was fat.

Being healthy is not a number on the scales, it's portion and purity that makes the difference.  Our bodies were not created to utilize processed foods, fast foods, and preservatives, or eat unclean animals.  What the body cannot utilize or process through digestion gets stored in cells that have little purpose . . . fat cells.   It's no coincidence that Type II diabetes has increased dramatically at the same time chemical sweeteners have been added to much of the food supply.

Just about anyone who is over their "correct weight," not ideal weight, but correct weight according to height and build, will drop 10 pounds in about a month by doing the following.  Increase water intake by 16 - 32 ounces a day.  Prepare all meals at home.   Have fresh vegetables for between meal snacks.  Corn, peas, and potatoes do not count as vegetables . . . they are starch.  Reduce sedentary time by 20 minutes a day.  You don't have to join a gym or force yourself to walk so many blocks, just make a point to not spend so much time sitting or laying as the case may be.  Basically, for most of us, that means turn off the TV, lay down the smart technology or walk away from the computer and do something that requires standing or moving something besides our hands . . .