carole
 
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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
My Websites:
www.fromfat2fit.com
www.houndpress.com
Quote:
The ancestor to every action is a thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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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?
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This Week's Fitness Tip, Featured Member and "Try-Athlon"

Fitness Tip: A Rule to Live By

Have you ever tried to go a whole day without expressing a single negative thought? The effort makes us aware of how many of our thoughts are on the dark side of life. To keep on the sunny side, try a simple rule: "Don't complain and don't explain." By that I mean, don't complain about difficulties and don't make excuses. Once you remove these options, you'll find yourself getting more done and more out of life.

Featured Member: A Poet in Residence, Jack Schmidt

When we feel strong and committed, it's easy to believe that we will follow through on our good intentions to get fit. Other times, we can feel our resolve slipping away. Our actions follow the lead of our feelings and perceptions; hence, it's important to keep a positive perspective.

Jack Schmidt, a member who's lost 81 pounds, wrote the poem below from his experience. Last week, I posted it in the topic area, and several members commented on how valuable they found it. Some even shared the poem at the office or with family and friends. For those of you who missed it, I've posted it in its entirety here. Be sure to read to the end.

I will always be fat
And I refuse to believe that
I can lose this weight
I do
I realize that isn't the way most people think but
"Eating to live instead of living to eat?"
That's just not working out, and I truly believe
Eating what I want will make me happier in the end
It's just a big fat lie, thinking
Being fit is the most important thing in my life
Now I understand that
Making myself happy with food
Is more important than
Making myself healthy with food
And this much is true:
People are succeeding at losing weight every day
But I know in my heart this will not be the case for me
This could wind up killing me
Doctors tell me
I will shorten my life and steal time away from my family
Right now it doesn't seem possible that
I can change my ways and be fit for the rest of my life
This is what I believe:
This journey is just too tough for me
I don't want to even consider the fact that
I can control the causes of my shortcomings and my failings
It's just a fact of life that
People like me are weak-willed and lazy
And it's ridiculous to believe that
I will lose weight and be healthy

Jack says: "That's how I used to think; then I chose to reverse it (read from the bottom up)."

To acknowledge Jack's contribution to our community, I am sending him an autographed copy of From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction. Do we have any more poets? Want to you try your hand at writing reverse poetry?

Where Are the Holiday Try-Athletes?

Thanksgiving is next week. How much will you eat? Given our goal of fitness, it's tough to get through a day dedicated to overeating. And as soon as Thanksgiving is over, it's time for another six weeks of holiday treats. If you're like me, you'll find yourself in situations that encourage excess and challenge your efforts to eat carefully.

You can keep your focus on fitness, though, by joining the Fat 2 Fit Try-athlon. Instead of regrets, you can begin the new year feeling good about yourself.

You don't have to be an athlete. You only have to be willing to try three new "sports."

Sport One--Eating: Try a new food each week, try a new recipe, try a different eating pattern, etc.

Sport Two--Exercising: Try a new exercise activity each week, try a different routine, try to extend your routine, etc.

Sport Three--Contributing: Try a new way to support others' fitness efforts, try a new way to share your commitment, try to create a social event that doesn't focus on eating, etc.

Report the results of your weekly participation in the try-athlon topic area of the forum. By posting our results each week in one topic area, we can see what each other is doing and get ideas for additional ways to compete.

The Fat 2 Fit Holiday Try-athlon ends Monday, January 4. Each week, I have a surprise weekly prize for the member who is most creative in his or her try-achievements. This week's winner is Lady Phoenix, who will receive a Fat 2 Fit coffee mug. Congratulations, Lady Phoenix!

About Our Community

More new members joined us last week, so the Fat 2 Fit Online Community group has 3,963 members. Do you have a friend, neighbor or relative you could invite to join us? Just for the fun of it, I've set our goal at 4,000 want-to-be-fitter members.

A Few Reminders

Collect Your Messages: Next time you take a break, click on your Message Center to get your messages. Some of you have reported problems with notifications, so log on to make sure you don't miss any comments.

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: November 15, 2009
Views: 45 | Comments: 0 | Bookmarks: 0
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  Comments (28)  
aheads52
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
carole
carole says:

I am going to post your request in the topic area where our members can respond
Posted: November 1, 2009 10:29AM EST
anneart
anneart says:

this is all so insprirational. Just reading all of the wonderful comments helps put things into focus and reminds me to take better care of myself, after all, there is only one me.
Posted: August 25, 2009 4:04PM EDT
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