wenglund wrote:Those are some good points. However, since the leaders of the Church don't typically participate on discussion boards such as this, I am not sure what advantage may be derived from our discussing what THEY could do. Rather, my hope was was to look more for suggestions about what WE, ourselves, may do. Any suggestions?
Thanks, -Wade Englund-
I think some great suggestions have been made already about what WE can do. Jason speaking up in his talk about it is awesome! I have made suggestions several times during the time I was active in church when the Word of Wisdom was a lesson topic. Like I said, the members I speak about this with are VERY RESISTANT to following the entire revelation because church leaders have only focused on alchohol, smoking, coffee, etc. One woman in my class was angry with me when I mentioned the scriptures about meat! I was quoting right from the D & C but she refused to read it in context.
I have tried to be an example in my family by eating less meat, organic foods, whole grains, and excercise more. The TBMs in my family think I am wrong in how I view the Word of Wisdom since the Prophet hasn't come out to endorse the other parts of it. (which happen to be the bulk of the revelation)
The OP was asking how LDS culture has influenced obesity in the church. There is much that the Church leaders could do by simply focusing on the entire Word of Wisdom in church lessons, interviews, activities, etc. to change the LDS culture of eating unhealthy. I agree with Harmony.
"Happiness is the object and design of our existence... That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another." Joseph Smith
Seven wrote: The OP was asking how LDS culture has influenced obesity in the church. There is much that the Church leaders could do by simply focusing on the entire Word of Wisdom in church lessons, interviews, activities, etc. to change the LDS culture of eating unhealthy. I agree with Harmony.
One thing that I think contributes to obesity in many of our LDS women is that they stay at home. What's at home? A kitchen! Much of an LDS woman's self-image is tied up in how good a cook they are. I find that many times, if the LDS woman has nothing else to do, she's in the kitchen whipping up some yummy something. This does not help maintain the waistline.
It's a combination of factors, but there is no denying that if we were really living the WOW, we'd all be smaller and healthier. But we need to remember that smaller is not the same as healthier. There are many overweight women who are healthier than the skinny ones. Skinny has it's own set of problems.
wenglund wrote:Those are some good points. However, since the leaders of the Church don't typically participate on discussion boards such as this, I am not sure what advantage may be derived from our discussing what THEY could do. Rather, my hope was was to look more for suggestions about what WE, ourselves, may do.
Makes you wonder why people need to listen to church leaders at all when really, they should just learn to live right on their own.
Ahhhh.... the advantages of personal responsibility.
I suppose the same could be said about parents, or school teachers and administrators, or doctors and other trained professionals, etc.. Personal responsibility may be great as long as one's personal development (spiritual and otherwise) is sufficient to competently handle the responsibility (I believe the Church is designed to move people from spiritual childhood to spiritual adulthood, and to become more personally responsible). And, personal responsibility is not incompatible with inter-dependancy, and may even be enhance by reasonable and rational levels of reliance on others. I have found that while to some degree self-reliance is a virtue, so is the economic notion of trade and specialization, if not also the synergy derived from following certain leaders and participating in certain organizations.
Seven wrote:I think some great suggestions have been made already about what WE can do. Jason speaking up in his talk about it is awesome! I have made suggestions several times during the time I was active in church when the Word of Wisdom was a lesson topic. Like I said, the members I speak about this with are VERY RESISTANT to following the entire revelation because church leaders have only focused on alchohol, smoking, coffee, etc. One woman in my class was angry with me when I mentioned the scriptures about meat! I was quoting right from the D & C but she refused to read it in context.
I have tried to be an example in my family by eating less meat, organic foods, whole grains, and excercise more. The TBMs in my family think I am wrong in how I view the Word of Wisdom since the Prophet hasn't come out to endorse the other parts of it. (which happen to be the bulk of the revelation)
The OP was asking how LDS culture has influenced obesity in the church. There is much that the Church leaders could do by simply focusing on the entire Word of Wisdom in church lessons, interviews, activities, etc. to change the LDS culture of eating unhealthy. I agree with Harmony.
I agree that many good suggestion have already been made. And, I would add in connection with the "resistance" you mentioned, that I personally have found it far more effective to focus less on specific interpretation of and/or compliance with various health strategies (such as the WoW), and more on the features and benefits of employing those strategies in certain ways. In other words, I think there may be more resistance when people are told what they should or shouldn't do in terms of obedience to the WoW or other such health strategies, and less resistance to clear demonstrations of the benefits of you and other people having employed certain health strategies--not that you did otherwise.
I really like what Harmony has mentioned about her diet, and I plan to encorporate some of her suggestions into my own.
So, in spite of our differences, we all can, in fact, work together on solutions and progress can happen even on discussion boards such as this. I think this is great!
I completely agree that our larger culture does not lend itself to a healthy lifestyle, the LDS community is a reflection of this, in my opinion.
I'm glad to hear there are fewer activities in church these days, and it seems unhealthy treats are not as much of a problem as they once were in my experience. Great! :-)
in my opinion, the more we listen to our bodies, and learn what nourishes us and what harms us the more healthy we will be in mind, body, and spirit.
For ME, the more I move toward eating in tune, and in harmony with nature the better I feel spiritually and physically.
~dancer~
"The search for reality is the most dangerous of all undertakings for it destroys the world in which you live." Nisargadatta Maharaj
I was fortunate to have a mother who usually fed us a very healthy diet. We rarely ever ate out. I can remember going to McDonalds once for a birthday party and that was it. We ate salads every night, lots of fruit, always had a side veggie, a main course, which was usually fish or chicken, and her dinners were so yummy. My siblings and I were always very thin, muscular, and very healthy. We played outside all day long, constantly moving, running, gardening etc.
I can count on one hand the number of times I had the flu as a child and I never had an infection. As I got older, life became busier, I found myself eating what is quick and not what is best. It became very hard to fit excercise into my schedule. Much of that is from American culture and I don't blame the LDS church for it at all. When I got back on track as a young adult, I was studying and preparing a lesson on the Word of Wisdom and I realized I wasn't living it at all. I had been getting sick constantly with infections and viruses, feeling weak and fatigued all the time. Here are some things I had changed back then and try to do now.
* Get to bed at a reasonable hour and take power naps during the day if needed
* excercise, excercise, excercise! I think lack of it is the main reason for obesity in this country. Computers, TV, longer work hours sitting, and small backyards for children have all contributed to this. Children aren't allowed to run around the neighborhood these days like I did as a child and don't get the excercise they need.
* I look at white flour products the same as candy and don't buy them.
* If I do eat out, I try to pick healthy choices. (our culture is so busy that we eat out way too much)
* I focus on hobbies, dive into them passionately, so that food is not on my mind all the time. When I am really focused on projects, I don't eat as much.
*keep portions sizes small at meal time and every few hours I eat a little something, usually fruit, whole grains. I don't buy junk so it's not there to tempt me when I am really hungry.
* I never skip meals and I always eat a very good breakfast.
* I crave and love desserts, and chocolate. Instead of depriving myself of them completely, I will allow myself a reward now and then if I excercise well. (as long as I don't go overboard wtih them) Frozen yogurt has been a good option when I get that craving.
* I try to avoid meats like pork, beef, processed meats, and less poultry, and do fish instead. This has been a challenge for me having grown up as a meat eater. The smell of a B-bque is so tempting.
* I only drink soda for special occasions, and don't keep it in my home. I don't like plain water unless I am excercising so I add a little juice (make sure it's 100% juice) to my water for flavor. Juice is very high in calories so I make sure to dilute it.
I really struggle with finding time for the excercise and going to bed early but after I do it, I always feel great.
"Happiness is the object and design of our existence... That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another." Joseph Smith
harmony wrote:I don't think this is a bigger problem for LDS than it is for the general population, but I think it should not be a problem for LDS at all. After all, we have God telling us what to eat; we just choose to ignore most of it.
I think a lot of my food choices in the last 30 years were based on what I could afford due to some choices we made early in our marriage (large family, my Sweet Pickle wanted to farm not get a college degree, I was to be a stay at home mom instead of a career woman). So we ate lots of pasta, potatoes, white flour, hamburger, and white sugar, because that's what was cheapest. Consequently, my children all developed a taste for things made out of that grocery list, instead of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat, and skim milk. And consequently, they all battle their weight. Some of them are winning the battle. Others of them are not. I am currently on a diet myself, although it is more of a life choices change than a diet with specific time frame or weight loss goal. I just want to be half my size. I think at least a few of my biggest health problems will disappear or shrink considerably, if I lost about half my weight. And I'm tired of carrying around my two year's supply! So I do what works for me, including walking during the day.
Another thought I had about this general subject is that LDS women tend to be very appearance-conscious in my ward. We have more bleached blonde or bottle brunette 50 somethings than the average, I think. They're desperately trying to hold onto their 30 something face and figure; meanwhile, their husbands get grayer and balder every day. The men don't seem to care that they're aging, while it is just killing the women.
Best wishes on your weight loss goal. Go slow and be patient. A pound a week ii a good goal but even a half pound a week is great. I havbe lost 45 pounds in two years and have 15 more to go for my goal. 500 calories deficit a day will do it. For me it was lifestyle changes. Exercise, less food, better food and so forth. Gradual losses through lifestyle changes that remain permenant are the way to go.
Blixa wrote:I agree with Jason and harmony that the problem is bigger than "Mormon wide," but I think Jason did get at what may be specific to Mormon culture about obesity:
"It is a permissible vice. But my guess is LDS are just not more over weight then anyone else. Face it. The majority of US persons are to fat. Most could do something about it. LDS the same. What may get in the way for LDS is a lot of discretionary time that can be used to exercise may be used by a Church calling."
Anyway, I'm happy to hear you've spoken on this at church, Jason!
Wade said:
"I would think that given the relative infrequency of Church functions at which unhealthy foods are served..."
my experience is that they were very frequent, but if you are correct then that's an encouraging trend.
Anyway, I'm very gonna go to the "dark side" now and invite everyone to post on the Pleasures of Eating and Drinking thread I just started in the off topic basement!
I think what Wade was getting at is that there are relatively few opportunities for unhealthy food at Church functions because there are relatively few Church functions nowadays. We've moved a long ways away from the Church being the center of our social life. I think we only have 3-4 ward parties a year now, very few dinners, very little socializing where food is served. We have a lot of meetings, but relatively few that have refreshments, at least in my ward.
We have at least on ward or stake activiy a month. Sometimes a stake and wards activity in the same month.
Jason Bourne wrote:Over the past few year I have become a bit of an exercise snob. So my wife tell me. But I have commented in my ward a number of times that to be overwieght is breaking to word of wisdom. I once wrote a talk where I said LDS will pat themselves on the back for not drinking wine but then carry an extra 30 or 40 poinds. I said that was worse then drinking the wine which in moderation is actually GOOD for you.
I wouldn't be too dogmatic on the point. I have one friend who works out 10 hours a week and eats healthy and is nowhere near ideal weight due to the way her body works. I think she is following the Word of Wisdom though.
My criteria for my own WoW observance is that if I can run and not be weary and walk and not faint I'm on the right track.
Fitness even if there is some extra weight is the key. So I agree mostly. Key indicators are of good health are blood pressure, cholesterol (though some of this is genetic or can be) blood sugar and yes overall how do you feel.
Quote: What can we, as individuals, do to prevent this from happening to ourselves and our friends and loved-ones, and how can we also help free those who are already in its clutches? In other words, rather than just pointing out potential problems, what can we do to be a part of the solution?
Thanks, -Wade Englund-
I think first and foremost we can accept people for who and what they are. I like it when I can see some real life application for my religious beliefs, and this is one such occasion. Secondly, we should realize that no matter what we do to forestall death, it will still take us. Whether one becomes obsessed with their weight or wheat germ, it will really matter very little in the end.