What the participants have to say about the Pounds for Poverty program

by Participant

I was writing a friend and I told her that I was feeling much more in control of my eating. Then I realized that wasn’t quite right. I am feeling that my eating is less in control of me.

I used to try to control my eating with will power, which took a lot of effort because my urges to eat were pretty overwhelming. Sometimes they still are, but now most of the time they don’t feel so overwhelming. I am losing that automatic hand to mouth response. It doesn’t feel like I’m having to use willpower.

Karen

Just One More Time

by Maryann Marks

Just one more time….....How often have you said these words, even after you have made the promise to stick with your diet plan? The other day, I had one of those moments which gave me a lot of clarity on this subject. I was about to have a glass of wine, shortly after I had told my partner that I was giving up alcohol and sugar for a month. I had made my declaration, and no more than a few hours later, I wanted to have a glass of wine with dinner. My justification is that I hate to waste things, and I thought we would just finish off the bottle, and I would start on my pledge the next day. I was struck how much I felt like an alcoholic asking for just one more drink, and then I’ll give it up tomorrow.

We dieters have a very similar issue that the problem drinker has. I saw very clearly that my entire adult life has been a series of “just one more time” in regard to dieting. I believe I can have the thing I have decided to give up, stick with the diet plan tomorrow, really honest I will. Luckily, I have a very savvy partner who saw my good intentions being ambushed. Having cultivated a fairly good practice of mindfulness, I saw that what I really want is to observe what might change if I give up sugar and alcohol for a month.

I’ve been having trouble sleep and stiffness in my joints. I have read numerous things about the effects of sugar on sleeping and joint problems. We probably all know that white sugar is a culprit for many ills of the body. Note- alcohol turns into sugar. I don’t consume that much sugar or alcohol, but maybe more than I realize. The real point is about the “one more time” issue. It is very easy to make a resolution, and then sabotage it with the “one more time” gig. My suggestion is to keep your observing mind on the look-out for ambush and find someone who you count on to keep you honest with your plan.

Who am I? The question and the pursuit of the answer lead to health

by Elad Levinson

Thirty-eight years, I attended a three day retreat training focusing upon self investigation and awareness. During this very long weekend we were inquiring into what seemed at first to be a ridiculous task- to come up with an answer to the question Who Am I?

You would think that by 21, I should know the answer to that and do on some levels. I had loads of concepts, feelings, physical sensations and ideas tied to the question and all of them turned out to be habits of thinking and feeling that with examination seemed insubstantial. What I mean is they felt flimsy, transparent, without any real solidity that I could say with confidence- yes, that is who I am at my core.

Through inquiry, many false beliefs and feelings about me dissipated and disappeared. The big insights turned out to be life changing. I cannot replicate them in detail as the specific is less important than the evidence of the power of the insights. Two weeks after the retreat I remembered that from the age 12-21, I smoked two- three packs of cigarettes per day and I was now seemingly a non-smoker.  Then a few months later, I realized that I was ready to lose the 100 pounds in a new way- one that I can only describe as an outcome of self awareness and self respect coupled with a commitment to make the lifestyle changes necessary to sustain the loss.

I had to do quite a bit of soul searching to come to this new ability. I found such a well spring of emotions that I did not know I had- having a father who was alcoholic and seething with violence left me quite the chameleon, always looking for ways to blend in and not incur his wrath. I had my own pool of anger that I could never have admitted except in the safety of the retreat. Other emotions like grief, sadness, joy were also unavailable to me. I had a blanket of unawareness and depression that covered over the bad experiences of childhood and gave me a false sense of security because I did not have to feel much of anything.

It is ironic that the measure of a person in our culture is their outer success because that gives the impression that you do not have to be happy with yourself- as long as you can have the applause and acknowledgment of others you are fine. But it turned out to not be true. I was wildly successful for a 21 year old and inside I was miserable- evidence of that- smoking, eating and drinking alcohol excessively, smoking marijuana frequently and of course the ever present tire around my middle.

The tools and the methods that led to my transformation are all the same that Pounds for Poverty is founded upon:
1.    Mindfulness training- basic skills in self observation, reducing the tendency of self judgment and criticism via compassion, awareness of our internal experience in thinking, feeling, sensing and making meaning out of life’s information.
2.    Rigorous self honesty- a willingness to explore and express the seemingly “dark” side of personality and our personal histories so that we can feel a sense of truthfulness and measure of relief.
3.    Support- learning to listen non-judgmentally and expand your network of like-minded people on the same path.
4.    A healthy diet of whole foods, vegetarian cooking, no alcohol and lighter foods so that we were not involved in over consuming and weighed down by the aftermath of our eating.
5.    Movement from the inside out. Learning how to focus our awareness on the physical sensations that we experienced while walking, sitting, standing or stretching.
6.    Service- Building a community that was co-creating ideas, a safe  environment and learning to exchange over consuming with community service. I became aware of how important it is to me to be of service and not just be served. I end up feeling more engaged and better about myself.

All of the above practices have become my life style and they continue to be nourishing and lead me to health, well being and happiness inside.