Kick In The Tush Club: Ever-Increasing Waistline

I'm not surprised that America is fatter than ever! Or that the latest report, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2008" from the Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation indicates that obesity rates increased in 37 states.

To those "in-charge," who are implementing food and exercise programs, I'd like to say, you've got it all wrong. What did you expect? You guys keep feeding us the same old stale information over and over again. If it didn't work last year or the year before, why would it work this year?

Thus far, your approach to "weight loss" has only served to "Keep America Fat," so much so that could be your slogan!

Here follows my top permanent fat removal tips in hopes that the tectonic plates in your collective minds will loosen, shift and lift, and you will awake with a clear view and a new perspective on 'weight loss.'

Ten Tempting Tips on How to Fatten the Statistical Pie or Permanently Remove Fat: Your Choice

1. Let's move away from the usual weight loss dialogue, speak a new language, and I don't mean French.

Your Words. Please note that permanent fat removal and weight loss are very different. I permanently removed over 50 pounds 7 years ago. I did not lose it. If you lose it; you will find it!

Think about the word 'loss.' If we lose something, we search for it. We mourn it. We feel loss. We tend to hold on to things in fear of loss. And further who wants to lose their weight. Weight can equal substance, importance.

If the word 'fat' jars you, get over it. Let me ask you. Would you prefer to lose weight or permanently remove fat? Speaking of which, do patients say to their plastic surgeons, "I'd like to lose weight." No, they say, "suck that fat outta' me."

More on words (or moron words). 'Try' to lose weight. If I say I'm going to try and make your dinner party, don't set a place for me. When one tries, it is a way (weigh) out! As Yoda from Star Wars says, "Do or do not. There is no try."

"I struggle" with my weight. You have just identified yourself with struggle. "Try" getting someone to give up their identity! That, my friends, is "difficult." While I won't say Permanent Fat Removal is easy, it's as "difficult" or "hard" as you want to make it.

That's just for starters (like the first course). Plenty more words floating out there that are used that do not support our permanent fat removal efforts.

Words organize our reality and have more power than you might realize.

2. Add Laughter and Fun to Your Statistical Pie. "What IS she talking about? Laughter, fun, permanent fat removal?" Puzzled are you?

You are all so serious merious about the whole thing. Who'd want to jump on the proverbial bandwagon with you?

According to the legendary Bob Newhart, "Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with and then move on." Humor and laughter also activate the will to live, lower stress, elevate mood, improve brain function, dissolve anger, burn calories and exercise muscles.

Isn't that something that should be added to America's Permanent Fat Removal recipe?

3. Permanent Fat Removal Is a HOLISTIC Event. What about the rest of the pie? You keep focusing on food and exercise as THE way to lose weight.

Like hello. Food and exercise are merely two slivers of the pie. Permanent Fat Removal encompasses all areas of life. It's about how each and every part of our life affects our healthy lifestyle and how our healthy lifestyle affects each and every part of our life.

Further, if one is lacking and lagging and troubled in their relationship, finance, career, spirituality, creativity, physical environment slices of life pie, how will they gather enough strength and fortitude to make meaningful lifestyle changes? Let's focus on, talk about all of life as we permanently remove fat!

4. Permanent Fat Removal Is a Creative Process. People tell me that they are not creative. PEOPLE (Yes, I'm fired up and almost yelling - well, speaking in a strong and amplified manner)... PEOPLE create their lives. Whether we want to look at life squarely in the face and waist or not, we created our lives.

Creativity is an essential part of the human experience. It helps us to create balance and order and a sense of control. And, I'd like to point out that those who have being 'trying' to get America to lose weight and get fit, are somehow creating the opposite.

5. Pushing Off the Proverbial Pool. Have you ever watched an Olympic swimmer push off the side of the pool? (How about Michael Phelps?) It is quite amazing, isn't it? The thrust, the power, their determination is enormous. Often the strength of this one solitary push can propel the Olympian right straight the middle of the Olympic sized pool.

When we decide to go on a 'diet,' we essentially push off from the side of the pool of discontent. We gather a vast amount of energy from not liking ourselves, being disgusted, and ashamed of how we look. We don't like ourselves. No, we sure don't. Sometimes this energy takes us half way to our goal weight. Sometimes all the way ... 10, 20, 30, 100, 200 pounds lost. Then what?

Unlike the Olympic swimmer who has a plan; who is moving toward her big win; who sees herself as a champion and knows with every cell and fiber of her being that she is the victor, we only know ourselves to be losers. We are basing this attempt on past attempts to lose, which have failed.

It is easy to get lost if you don't know where you are going. If we want to be victorious at the game of Permanent Fat Removal, then we need to focus on our compelling future. We need to know where we are going; what we want. We need to be moving toward something positive instead of expending enormous energy pushing away from negativity. Go with the flow of life. Negativity is like swimming with lead weights tied to your ankles.

6. Speaking of the often-dreaded "E" word. A good number of Americans do not exercise at all. "Can we please start croquet teams across America?" I ask, in an exasperated tone. Let's just get people out of their homes, away from their televisions and computers and have some fun while doing it. Oh, NO! There's that fun word again.

Do you think going to a gym and walking on a treadmill is fun for the majority of us? Like HELLO again. Croquet teams would be great! Jackets that say "Kick in the Tush Club"* (that's a fun name) on them! Miniature golf and bowling are other possibilities. Think 'getting out' first. What fun and inspiring activities can we create that will get people out and having fun? Let's talk about aerobics and exercise later (maybe).

I'm not saying that exercise isn't vital to one's health. I'm just saying, let's captivate imaginations, excite people, bring the energy up, and get people out and moving first.

*The Kick in the Tush Club is a club that I created. Members receive a weekly e-letter from Our Lady of Weight Loss via my website (www.ourladyofweightloss.com). Over 14,000 people across the nation signed-up for their weekly Kick. Truly, who couldn't use a kick in the tush?

7. Permanent Fat Removal Is a Spiritual Event. It is about self-love, forgiveness, connecting to and manifesting your higher-self - a new self. It's about taking care of yourself; being kind to yourself ... being gentle and embracing self.

It's not about saying self-deprecating things to self, heaping platters of guilt upon oneself or feeling sad that you're not a super-model, or even a model, or even a large-sized model for that fact. It's about acceptance.

8. The Collective Fat Removal Consciousness. There's a lot of industry and money floating out there that support 'weight loss.' Yes, they support your losing weight and finding it. The weight loss industry alone (diet programs and products) brings in more than $40 billion per year. Add in the pharmaceuticals, the food industry, and those who make those less-than-healthy ingredients for the food industry (i.e. high fructose corn syrup, enriched flour, et al.) and geeze louise, you've got the economy hanging itself by a fat rope. A new industry that makes more money has to be born.

9. The Fair Grounds. Please stop deep frying Twinkies. Please stop going out of your creative way to deep fry everything, sometimes double deep fried. Please stop putting caffeine in chips. Or crispy fried chicken skins in little colorful bags that say 90 calories per serving on the nutritional label (4 servings per bag). Why not just put the full calorie count? Why be so dubious? Play nice. Be fair!

10. The After Math. What will you do after you lose weight, aside from find it? A member of my Kick in the Tush Club wrote me and asked what I thought about gastric bypass surgery. I told her that this was her personal choice. And then I asked her what she was going to do after she lost the weight. How would her life be different? How might she feel to be half (the size) of what she was? What might look like, sound like? How might her experience of herself and her life change? What is it that she was really after? Her response was "Wow, no one has asked me any of those questions. I don't know the answers. I need to think." Yes, we all need to think past the weight loss, lest we find it.

What will you do after you permanently remove your excess fat? And I'm not talking about your maintenance plan, wherein you get to eat an additional 100 calories per day, maybe 200.

Well, there you have it. My top ten list of ways we no longer have to wait to weigh less, how to permanently remove fat, have fun while doing same and create a paradigm shift.

Spread the word, NOT the icing!
Janice Taylor

Follow Janice Taylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OurLady

Comments

[captainindustry]

if you can't picture yourself thin, then you don't have a chance. it's all in the self-visualation. Once you've created a thin image of yourself, the roads are many, the results the same.

[barriosbabe]

Eat absolutely ZERO processed foods and go workout in a pool.

[Phoebe917]

the glycemic index is the key. follow it and you will lose weight. no pasta, no potatoes, no bread and now rice. you will lose weight.

[Trittydi]

Those of us who are Hypothyroid are viewed through the same lens as those who struggle with their weight for other reasons unfortunately -- and there are a great many of us. You can easily spot us because all the weight is in the trunk. Not the face, arms or legs.

I don't mind the touch of humor on the subject - but I wanted to make that observation as most people ignorantly assume a "fat" person is completely and personally responsible for their unfortunate condition.
*.

[quiscut]

There is nothing new under the sun.
Behavior modification is the key to any change one wishes to make in life. Simple.
The glycemic index food guide is excellent in helping figure out which foods exacerbate or satiate the tendency to feeding frenzy-type behavior at meal times.Porion control is vital to the process in great part.
What ever physical movement you are doing now is obviously not enough. Any additional movement will be an improvement. I like to put on my fave music and dance around until I'm sweating and breathing hard. Then I do some simple free-weight lifting.Lift up your kids or the dog,or keep an empty 2 quart milk carton filled with a bag of sand ,etc.in the garage. Lift until your arm muscles are warm or until it becomes very difficult to lift. Then do some gentle stretching.Watch your cat or dog when they stretch.simple. By this time you should feel either more energized or like you want to vomit. If you want to vomit that is a sign you are on the right path.Congrats.Do it all again tomorrow.Seek out new movements when boredom sets in. And if you feel energized ,congrats,you now have the keys to change and in the process getting rid of the fat.

If you only try these fundamental steps for eating and movement you will feel the improvement.
Enthusiasm will encourage your efforts and your efforts will reap greater rewards.It works.

[AmyinChicago]

At last, a fresh and humorous take on weight loss. I look forward to receiving your next Kick in the Tush!

[SigmundPi]

Very funny--irreverent but right on the money---dieting is a huge industry and it ain't working, indeed we are becoming a nation of fatties---Perhaps a new approach is needed and this is one perspective that is particularly right on!!! Keep on trucking!

[smithcity5000]

I have lost and found enough pound to make at least 10 people. Permanent Fat Removal is an amusing and yet, useful, idea. I'm going to work on it!

[cat123]

Thanks Janice! It's always so wonderfully refreshing to hear what you have to say. I also enjoy your weekly kick in the tush newsletter!

[cat123]

Thanks, Janice! It's always wonderfully refreshing to hear what you have to say. I look forward to reading your next column! You always seem to inspire me. I also love getting your weekly kick in the tush newsletter!

[LoveCrain]

I get your point about knowing where you are going. Really hit home.
Glad I found you!

[Gary47]

1) Eat less, 2) drink more water, 3) exercise daily. Oh and 4) stop looking for answers that don't involve 1 through 3.

[ThermoChemist]

I agree with your comments. I'd also like to add:

Foods which could be considered "fat burning" foods:
http://food.yahoo.com/blog/hungrygirl/22863/9-fat-burning-eating-tips

1. LEAN PROTEIN
Your body works harder to digest protein and while working hard to process that protein, you're burning calories.

2. WHOLE GRAINS

3. GRAPEFRUIT
The theory is that grapefruit helps to lower insulin levels, which keeps you from being hungry all the time!

4. GREEN TEA
Green tea has been shown to raise our metabolism. It's suspected that substances called polyphenols combined with caffeine are responsible for its fat-burning properties.

5. SPICY FOODS
When you eat spicy foods, you're giving a little kick to your heart rate. These result in a temporary increase in your metabolism, which will help you burn fat a little easier for a bit.

6. LIGHT DAIRY
It turns out that people who eat low-fat or fat-free dairy lose MORE weight than people who don't.

7. CINNAMON
Cinnamon helps the body process sugar more effectively and lower blood sugar levels.

8. APPLES
Pectin contained in apples limits how much fat your cells can absorb.

[4] Get sufficient sleep
Lack of sleep increases overeating because of hormonal changes.

[5] Use Vitamins and Supplements.
Make sure you consume enough of Vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6 - all these B-vitamins keep your metabolism running (important for weight loss) and ensures a healthy thyroid.

Supplements Chromium Picolinate and L-Carnitine also aid in weight loss.

[leftLibertarian]

Right on Gary

[Swerinjer]

11. Atkins. And it renders the previous 10 moot. Do NOT believe any of the anti-Atkins propaganda. there has never been a single case of heart disease or kidney stones from the Atkins diet.

[honestman]

Your compassion is moving. Your approach to weight loss and how to deal with it is inspiring. Thanks Janice Taylor I am interested keep informing us. I love your humour.

[StonedColdPicnic]

Love your style, sense of humor and sarcastic tone. You're on the money. And why don't you ask the presidential candidates what they think about the obesity problem? Something no one talks about. PS: let me know when you've got the croquet teams going. I'm in!