Monday 3 April 2017

Rapid-Fire Tip 2 - Do you have Arthritis and struggle with your weight?

Have you been diagnosed with advanced Arthritis in your body and are overweight?

As a volunteer, I have been trained to speak for and in behalf of the Arthritis Society to help with the Arthritis Self-Help Program (ASMP). This program is conducted regularly across Canada and run by volunteers. The program teaches people who are suffering with Arthritis how to manage their symptoms and overcome their dis-ease.

By the way, in order to be a volunteer and facilitate these programs, the facilitators were also arthritic. If the facilitator also has Arthritis, they can relate with their groups more effectively. They are all on the same page, so to speak.

One of the common things I noticed when I have been facilitating one of these programs is that most of the people in the classes were extremely overweight. Very few of the attendees were considered to be slim or average.

I also noticed, as a personal observation, that the more obese these people were, the more discomfort and disfigurement they seemed to have.

The program helped me in many ways to manage my own Osteo Arthritis. One of the things I came to understand from the ASMP was the affect of carrying extra weight on the body had on the knees.

Did you know that for every pound you carry on your body, you are creating 10 pounds of pressure on your knees?

For example, if a person is 30 pounds overweight, they are dealing with 300 pounds of extra pressure on their knees!

Personally, I have noticed on my own knees that as I have released weight from my body, my knees have been feeling better.

I have now released just over 16 pounds of body weight, and thus have relieved my knees to the tune of 160 extra pounds of pressure!

It adds up fast doesn't it.

Sure feels great not having to take Advil, Aleve or Tylenol all the time.

Walking is much easier now, and I can walk for longer periods of time.

If you have questions about how you or someone you know can help themselves reduce the pressure on their knees, write me.

It is not all about me. It is about how many people I can help.

Christine Till
Rapid-Fire to Retire
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Rapid-Fire Tip 1 - Why do people release weight and then gain it back again?

Have you been on almost every weight loss plan available...lost...gained...plus?

Did you know that there are multiple reasons why this happens?

When I was young, the common thought was that when people were overweight, they just had no willpower. It was thought that obese people were just lazy and had no resistance to carbohydrates and extra fats. It was also thought that obese people were not as clean as they could be either...mainly because they could not bend to clean floors, bathrooms, and vaccuum, etc.

I have been doing some research on this subject and have discovered that there are a myriad of factors involved with obesity.

People who were obese had huge challenges finding work...in fact they still do. It is all because of the underlying thought that fat people are less productive and not as smart as slim people. There is still a stigma around being fat.

So, when you grow up being fat and your friends say mean things about you behind your back, within earshot, how does that make you feel?

Chances are that the reason someone is 'fat' is because of something you would never have thought.

Don't you think that a fat person would like to be accepted and respected just like anyone else? 

What do you feel about society's view is of fat people?

What can they do to help themselves overcome some of these societal barriers?

If you have questions about what to do about your situation or someone you know, feel free to ask. I am also open to your comments.

This is the first in a series of blogs on the topic of yo-yo diets.

It is not all about me. It is about how many people I can help.

Christine Till
Rapid-Fire to Retire
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Do you Remember the Community Nurse coming to School?

Remember when the Community Nurse came to weigh, measure and inoculate you in school?

The first time the Community Nurse (Nurse) came to school, I was impressed to see her dressed in a white nurse's uniform, complete with the little nurse's cap. I was excited to see what she was going to do. 

My teacher had forewarned us that "the Nurse was coming to weigh, measure and check to see if our immunization was up to date."

This meant nothing to me until the day the Nurse walked into the classroom!

In walked this lady in a white uniform, and she looked...clean! 

Shiver, shake-shake!

Our teacher asked us to go to the back of the room and let the Nurse weigh, measure and 'poke' us (if we needed an update on our shots). So we all just sat there in our desks waiting for our name to be called.

The teacher had given us some math problems to be working on while we were waiting our turn, but who can concentrate on anything else when the "White Nurse" was in the room?

My name started with an "S", so I sat there listening to all the class being weighed and measured. The Nurse would call out the height to someone who had been assigned to write down the information for the Nurse. Then they would step up on her huummuunngguuss bathroom scale to be weighed! The Nurse would call out the number again, check her immunization sheet, give you a shot if needed, and send you back to your desk.

Remember this is Grade One. I had never been through this before.

Finally it was my turn!

The Nurse measured me and called out the number, and then she had me step on the scale. Again she called out the number. Then she gave me my shot, and I went back to my seat.

This same procedure was re-enacted each year.

However, it was not until Grade Three that the alarm button went off in my young brain that I was head and shoulders taller and also 15 pounds heavier than the rest of the class!

It was this day that would alter how I felt about myself for the rest of my life.

When it was my turn to be measured, the Nurse called out my number.

There was an audible sigh heard through the classroom!

Then she called out my weight...another audible sigh, and someone in the class said, "She's a witch!"

It did not help that I was also a redhead!

Well, that name stuck for the rest of school in Milk River. I became the brunt of many bullying occasions, but in those days people just thought it was normal growing up and there was no word for what other kids did to you. The teachers did their own fair share of bullying as well. 

From that fateful day onward, I became acutely aware that I was "big, fat, and ugly".

I would not eat in front of my classmates. There was a series of throwing my entire lunch in the garbage.

I had to appear like I was eating when at home, because my Mom would ask me questions.

Eventually in college I became anorexic and bulimic. However, I did not know at the time what this was, but I had heard my Mom purging in the bathroom on occasion and when I asked her if she was ok, she would just say, "I ate too much lunch." I figured she did the same thing I did and that was how you managed your weight.

I would still be purging if it weren't for the two black eyes I get from all the tiny burst blood vessels around my eyes, every time.

Fast forward to today.

There are a lot of diets available to us today, and I have been on many of them.

My main management program has been to count calories, but that only works to a certain extent. I need an extreme amount of willpower, and I noticed that my weight had crept up to about 25 pounds above where I was supposed to be. My clothes were getting tight, and I was determined not to let myself get any more out of hand.

I was looking.

In walked a client who was asking for help with her online marketing. 

I help businesses with LinkedIn and blogging.

As I studied her business and attended a meeting and conference call, I became more and more curious as to whether her program would work for me.

So, I offered to do a trade for products with my client. She was overjoyed at my request and voila! I was introduced to her "Red Box" program!

That was 6.5 weeks ago.

I have now released 24 inches and over 16 pounds from my body!

My clothes are getting loose and I am now wearing some items that have been too tight for years.

Just 10 pounds left to be released.

Loving how much food I get to eat!

Are you feeling like you are starving on a yo-yo diet?

That was me.

Christine Till

Rapid-Fire to Retire

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