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Fat To Fit
Fat To Fit
Background
Gender: Female
Status: Married
Location:
NEVADA CITY, California
United States
School:
Cornell College Mt. Vernon, IA
University of California, Berkeley
Work:
Author, From Fat to Fit--Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction
Author, The Fat to Fit Meltdown Manual
Author, Remembering When I Was Young
Motivational Speaker and Columnist
Hometown(s):
Rowley, IA
San Francisco, CA
Quote:
The ancestor to every action is a thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Me

From Fat to Fit I was a medical time bomb as I approached my 60th birthday, yet one event changed the direction of my life. When I stepped on the bathroom scale, the numbers flew up to 183 pounds (I am barely 5-foot 2-inches) and then the scale broke. In that instant, I decided to break from my unhealthy ways and get fit.

Over the next six months, I lost 62 pounds and chronicled my weight loss adventure in the local newspaper. Later, I invited friends and neighbors in our small Northern California town to join me in losing weight and getting fit.

More than 1,000 neighbors and friends showed up for the Nevada County Meltdown. During the next eight weeks, we lost nearly 4 tons and found a renewed sense of community. Afterward, I wrote the book From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction. And to help communities tackle the growing issue of obesity, I wrote The Fat to Fit Meltdown Manual.

Now I'm coaching the AARP Fat 2 Fit online Community! Members have the opportunity to team up to tackle issues of weight and fitness. We support each other as we move toward a healthier lifestyle. The Fat to Fit online Community provides information, inspiration and insight on the journey towards fitness. Each week, I report our total weight loss and celebrate the inspirational contribution of one member.

If you are weighed down by surplus pounds, I would encourage you to join the Fat 2 Fit online community.



Interests:
Family outings, writing, tennis, cooking, sewing (especially quilting and handwork) along with workouts on the floor in the morning. And did I mention tennis?

My Photos (22)

My Videos (1)

My Journals (77)

Fitness Tip of the Week: Celebrate Our First Anniversary by Inviting Friends to Join the Fun

In one year, our community has grown to over 4,000 members. More members means more voices, more perspectives and more lives improved and extended by the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Our strength and vitality lies in numbers.

Please help our community grow by inviting friends and family to join the Fat 2 Fit online community. You can ask anyone to join because our program is free and welcomes all ages. The online community is open to AARP members and nonmembers alike wherever they live--in the United States, in Canada or around the world.

When you are deciding whom to invite, think how you have changed over the months and how this group has contributed to your health and well-being. Think what it would mean for the promotion of fitness and the visibility of our efforts were each one of us to step out and publicly take a stand for fitness. And consider how your effort will reinforce a commitment to your own healthy lifestyle.

Thought precedes action. Reflect on the opportunity you have to contribute to others--then act.

Featured Member: SuzanneMA

MaureenClaire began a discussion by asking if she could take a vacation from her fitness regimen. She reported lots going on in her life--a new grandchild, travel, social activities, heavy workload and other commitments. She received many comments, but the most potent was from SuzanneMA, who wrote:

"In my opinion, YES, you can take a vacation from your plan if you're only on a diet to lose weight. NO, if you want/desire to live a healthy lifestyle, free from obsessing about food and exercise.

What you're currently experiencing is just life, and eating any food handy to deal with life is not the answer. I know because I am a food addict. I am working on my particular plan too, just like you. You can do it! We can do it together. Stay in the present moment. After you read my comments, plan, right this minute, your next healthy meal. Then just eat that planned healthy meal. Go one meal at a time.

Enjoy your new grandchild. I will be a grandmother for the first time in August and want to be a healthy role model too."

I picked SuzanneMA as this week's featured member because she effectively reminded us that fitness achieved through healthy daily choices is our goal; weight loss is the wonderful and predictable byproduct of those choices. Our bodies never take a vacation. Every day, whatever our schedule or workload, our bodies need nutritious food, exercise and rest. That's why we can never take a vacation from our commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

As a thank you, I am sending SuzanneMA an autographed copy of From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction. I have no doubt we'll receive more insightful comments from her in the weeks ahead.

Resolution Challenge 2010 Club: Last Week's Winner, FlyingDi

FlyingDi is last week's winner. She reached a turning point in her life and wrote, "It is time to wake up!" And she's using the Resolution Challenge Club to keep herself on track.

Her report, along with that of other members, helps us stay on track. Because of its usefulness, we'll continue the Club until May, when the second weight-loss challenge will begin. Until then, please continue to send your weekly reports.

If you, like FlyingDi, are new to the Club, you can still begin this week simply by posting your resolutions. Resolutions need to be specific, measurable and anchored in time. Here are examples:


--I will exercise 60 minutes each day 6 days a week unless I am injured or sick.
--I will eat 3 servings of fruit each day.

You can post one or more resolutions. You may resolve to modify an existing habit (such as replacing a nightly bowl of ice cream 6 out of 7 days a week with a serving of fruit). Or you may resolve to eliminate an existing habit (such as giving up sugared drinks 7 out of 7 days a week).

Each week, one person will be selected from the names of those who made, kept and reported their resolution, and this person will receive a prize. Weekly prizes will vary and include one or more of the following: CDs of "Skinny Songs," Fat 2 Fit coffee mugs, T-shirts and autographed copies of From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction.

A Few Reminders

Removing Notifications: The Fat 2 Fit group is very popular. If you are receiving more notifications than you like, you can change your notifications under the settings tool by following these instructions:

1. Go to your profile page.
2. Click on the "Settings" button under your profile picture.
3. Scroll down to "Notifications," where you'll find a list of actions. Check the boxes to indicate when you'd like to be contacted and whether you'd like to be notified by e-mail or via your AARP.org Message Center. Or both!
4. If you do not wish to receive any notifications, be sure all the boxes are unchecked. (That is, they should not have a check mark indicated.)

Collect Your Messages: I notice that my personal messages to some members remain unread. So next time you take a break, go to the AARP site and log in. After you have successfully logged in, you will see a welcome notice in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Underneath the welcome, you will see "Messages." Click on the word to find your messages from individuals and also notices of postings in the group forum. You can also compose and send messages. Some of you have reported difficulty in locating messages, so feel free to ask for help.

Next Week's Featured Member: Next week, I'll pick another member to lift up to our community. Who will it be? Maybe you?

Have a great week.
Coach Carole

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Added: March 14, 2010
Views: 13 | Comments: 0 | Bookmarks: 0
jammin44 says:
Posted: February 12, 2010 7:22PM EST
carole says:

Thank you for my Valentine and compliment.

Best,

Coach Carole
Posted: February 13, 2010 6:31PM EST
aheads52 says:

I'm a 58 year old widow, still working with a 25 year old unemployed son living with me. I work for a large telephone company and have been working 12 to 14 hour days Monday thru Friday. It's difficult to do much of anything once I get home and on weekends I just want to catch up on my sleep. Does anyone have a suggestion for this type of lifestyle? Still have to work for another 10 years, before I can truly retire, and don't want to keep packing on the pounds
Posted: November 1, 2009 9:40AM EST
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