How to Fight Fat 

I was in the store trying on clothes one afternoon when I said to an elderly lady,
“You look great. Do you work out?”
“I don’t let myself go like some people do,” she said as she looked me up and
down.

”I work out everyday and watch every bite I eat. Getting in this kind of
shape is hard work, but you would look and feel better if you would do it”
“OUCH” I said as she walked away.

What she said was true. The way she said it was toxic. All I could think was,

“Lord, make her fat (Oops, sorry about that).”
My scales have inched up in the past 10 years as I keep trying to dress in a way that
hides it.  My husband, Richard, video taped me speaking at a church last Sunday
and I saw what I really looked like. Fast food, church buffets, breakfast meetings,
snacks after a hard day of work. eating at nice restaurants, holidays, busy
schedules with no time to exercise and FAT HAPPENS.
My weight has gone up, I have watched my assistant, Erma Moenkhoff and her
daughter Donnell’s faithfulness in planning meals and eating with wisdom. Both
have lost over 80 pounds.
I sat down with Erma yesterday and asked how she was able to lose 80-90 pounds. It wasn’t a particular diet or
exercise program that helped them get into a size 8. It was commitment. “I realized that! had to make a life
style change,” said Erma. “I cou1dnot go on a diet and then go back to the way I was eating.”

Erma andDonnell began by going on Weight Watchers. They went to meetings and learned a whole new way
of eating. They learned to make their lunches and bring 1he foods 1hey could eat wi1h 1hem. After they stopped losing weight on Weight Watchers they started the South Beach Diet. ”’The first two weeks of South Beach were tough, but after that it wasn’t hard to stick with the program,” said Erma.
”Were you hungry?” I asked. ”No, we weren’t really hungry,” said Erma.
They eat about six times a day with snacks such as almonds to keep their metabolism going at a highrate. Erma brings appetizing salads with chicken, spinach, onions and low cal dressings for lunches. When we have
meetings with breakfast or lunch buffets, she will either bring her own meal or eat with us and go right back on her health program when she has dinner that evening.
“We gave ourselves permission to go off our program when there were special events. But we made ourselves
go right back on our diet afterthc event,” saidEnna.
When Erma and Donnell hit a plateau they started an exercise program. It was then I recognized two trim
ladies in great shape. “Three times a week I walk with ‘Leslie Sansone’s Puwer Walking System’. That is all is
takos to get physically in shape,” said Erma.
Erma and Donnell decided in 2003 that theywere not going to continue eating the way they had been. It wasn’t
one diet that helped them. It was a commitment to change their lifestyle. ”I know I can never go back to they
way I was eating before,” Said Erma.
“Don’t look at it as a diet,” said Debra Young, owner ofFitsmith. ”it is a lifestyle change of daily making
healthy choices. Choose chicken that is not fried rather than fried chicken. Choose fruit rather than a fattening
desert. As you begin making healthy choices you willl earn to enjoy healthy food more than unhealthy foods.”
We must change the way we think about food and exercise to change our bodies. As we begin to live a healthy
lifestyle our beliefs about food will change. Fried foods don’t taste better, they make our bodies feel sluggish.

bloated and toxic. A refreshing salad with low cal dressing will

energize us for the afternoon. A pizza will make us feel sluggish
all afternoon. We must change the way we think about food in
order to change our bodies and health.
Part of changing the way we think about food is learning to look at
the labels. I was looking at some low calorie dressings recently
and found that every one of hem had corn syrup or sugar in them.
I enjoy Marie Callender foods, but when I looked at the fat content
in one of her pot pies, I changed my way of thinking about them.
Her chicken pot pies are no longer comfort food for me. Instead I
see them as fat producing, bloating, sluggish, toxic food.

As we baby boomers get older we can not eat everything we like or
that is easy because FAT HAPPENS. We must eat live, rather than
live to eat by changing our belief system about food. When we
think of unhealthy food, we need to think of our bodies feeling
achy, headachy, bloated, tired with irritable bowel. It is not just
about being thinner, it is about feeling healthy. Learn to associate
unhealthy food with feeling bad and healthy food with feeling
healthy. 

“I got frustrated as a fitness trainer,” said Debra Young, “when
people came to me wanting to look like a model in size 5 jeans
without changing the way they think about food and their health.

I wanted to help them live a healthy lifestyle. A lot of people get on a program and

lose weight but never change their way of thinking. Being healthy feels good, but it requires making

healthy choices 90% of the time.” Think! A breakfast full of sugar is going to cause food cravings and

inflammation all day. A high protein breakfast along with a morning walk will help us feel good the rest of the day.
“You don’t have to have a conventional breakfast,” said Debra Young. “You can eat fish, nut or chicken
for breakfast. The Jewish people eat lox.” “When I am healthy, my body will look the way I want it to,”
said Debra.

ERMA’S TIPS
1. If you get off your eating plan, go back to it the very next day or meal.
2. You are human forgive yourself and move on with your eating plan.
3. Exercise helps you see your progress sooner.
4. Make weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight a lifetime commitment.
5. It helps to have a partner or a friend, who will encourage you.
6. Buy healthy snacks when shopping for groceries.
7. Eat three smaller meals and two snacks instead of three large meals.

LIVING A HEALTHY LIFE
1. Think healthy foods.
2. Think of exercise as fun. 6. Give yourself permission to go off your
healthy lifestyle once in a while, but go right
3. Plan ahead when eating out, for work lunches back on it.
and snacks, holidays and special occasions.
4. Buy Healthy Foods at the Grocery Store-Look 7.
at the labels and note the portion size!
When FAT HAPPENS, focus on learning to
think and live a healthy life style rather
5. Look at Labels. than just losing weight.
There are many more good choices you can make at restaurants. Write us and tell us the restaurants that
serve healthy meals that don’t cause “FAT HAPPENS” Or just write and tell us your weight loss tricks. If
you are struggling, write your comment below and we will encourage and pray for you.