Lola's equation

* Plan ahead--look at food as lifestyle NOT diet
*Love & accept my body--be good to it!
*Develop a healthy self esteem--accept myself!*Work on relationships---address issues
*Learn to manage stress/worry of the future--don't eat for comfort...only when hungry
*Get healing for old wounds...let things go!
*Journal food daily in WW food tracker
*Spend time in God's word---read Bible and/or books daily 10-15 minutes
*Run/videos 4x/week
*Give myself grace---don't fall off the wagon totally for one food slip up...remember the lifestyle NOT diet.

DQ mom's equation

• CONNECTION WITH GOD: Spend daily time in the word and at least 20-30 minutes per day in prayer Monday through Friday.
• CONNECTION WITH BUDDY: Connect with a buddy at least once a day. I will also be open to friends.
• EXERCISE: Use the bo-flex 3x/wk. and walk or stretch 3x/wk.
• GROUP THERAPY: Attend a group session once a week. This can be either a LIFL or Celebrate Recovery group.
• JOURNAL: Write down daily food intake during the week. Journal any thoughts when anxious.
• EMOTIONS: Deal with the emotions instead of eating. When not hungry and desiring food, figure out what the emotion is, and sit with it for at least 20 minutes. Write down thoughts if necessary. Call someone if necessary. Do not eat out of feelings.
• DESSERTS: Only eat one dessert per week, preferably on Sundays. This could change as eating habits change.
• WATER: Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. Tea or coffee can be included in this liquid.
• COUNSELING: Seek counseling for issues that seem too big to handle. If feelings of straying occur, seek counseling right away. Counsel personally after every 25 pounds to deal with the new me.
• POSSITIVE THOUGHTS: Read positive affirmation statements to self once a week.
• GRACE: I will give myself grace when I fail. I will remind myself that this is for life. Tomorrow is a new day!

The Polar Bear's equation

• Read more: Bible, LIFL book and workbook.
• Journal: my feelings, exercise, food, and my life.
• Move my body: Walk, curves, bicycle.
• Limit TV when I'm by myself.
• Develop more fun and fulfilling things to do with my time.
• Sing. Practice, get out guitar, buy a piano.
• Take an inventory of my time.
• Connect with a Lose it for Life buddy.

JT's equation

• Spend time soaking with God in his presence-surrender to Him
• Claiming I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength
• Connect with someone daily
• Exercise 5x a week for 30 minutes increasing to 60. Goal of also increasing steps to 8,000 per day
• Sleep 8 hours
• Go to weight watchers for accountability of food eaten by journaling and turning it in weekly
• Shop only 1 time a week for good keeping cupboard and refrigerator only full of food I can eat with WW
• Relationships: Become more connected with community and journal feelings-reach our ask for forgiveness
• What ever it takes to get in touch with emotions
• Plan fun into my schedule
• Plan little reward for things well done
• Accept myself

ChefAngel's equation

• Develop a more intimate relationship with God. Spend a minimum of 1 hour connecting with God daily through Bible reading, Bible study, prayer, and meditation.
• Set weekly and monthly goals. Modify goals and action steps, as necessary, to accommodate life crises, prevent relapse, or permanently maintain desired weight.
• Eat only within the boundaries of hunger and satiety. This means I can essentially eat whatever I want. The only restriction is my physical hunger must be 0 or 1 on the 10-point hunger scale when I eat, and I stop eating when I reach 5.
• Move my body a minimum of 5 days a week for weight loss and 3-4 times a week for weight maintenance. Incorporate things I really like to do and that are fun: walk outdoors, ride my bicycle, do strength training, use exercise videos, roller skate, etc.
• Connect with others. Have regular times of sharing with friends either face to face or over the phone where I'm able to discuss anything and everything. Free therapy! Make being an active member of a community of believers (family group, small group and/or support group) a priority.
• Monitor my self talk. Continuously be aware of the lies I tell myself. Adopt techniques to confront the lies, old tapes, and negative messages dead in their tracks, and transmit positive, affirming, and kind thoughts to myself instead.
• Eat anywhere but in front of the TV. Avoid multi-tasking whenever possible, but absolutely forbid eating in front of the TV. Better yet, restrict television watching altogether.
• Heal old wounds, and resolve issues. Attend support/recovery groups, see therapist, or do whatever it takes to no longer be tied like a ball and chain to the past, dysfunctional relationships, or undesirable behaviors.
• Increase tolerance for discomfort. Learn to live with uncomfortable feelings without seeking to immediately gratify, medicate, or numb the pain with food (or anything else for that matter).
• Work on improving my relationships. Become more “other” focused. Continue to work on social skills; risk rejection; be vulnerable, open, and real; eliminate destructive thinking that hinders relational growth; give and receive love; forgive others; and accept others as they are.
• Live life to the fullest! Try new things; travel to see new people and places; explore; create; keep learning; periodically get away from it all; maintain a balance. Live my life NOW and not wait until I'm a certain size or weight. The food doesn't have to work so hard if I have other things going on.
• Transform my pain into a life mission. Help others who are also in recovery from food addiction by sharing what God has done in my life, motivating them to change their eating behaviors, and facilitating the process of total transformation in their own lives.

anne's equation

• Remain mindful of my utter dependence on God and keep growing closer to Him.
• Give help/encouragement/love to at least one person and receive help/ encouragement/ love from at least one person every day. I will continue to make and keep good friends throughout my life and care for those God puts in my path as He would have me love them.
• Continue to learn and try new things with food and exercise management.
• Keep collecting daily affirmation statements that I keep on index cards with the Bible I use for morning devotions and read a few each day. I may choose one to write at the top of the daily "Gotta Do" tracking list or appointment book page and look in the mirror and say it to myself at some point during the day, i.e., "My objective today is to burn more calories than I eat."
• Stay in charge of what I eat. I will not let myself gt set up to be a victim of circumstances or allow anyone or anything to dictate my "weight fate." I will not hesitate to speak up and will pleasantly persist until I have answers when I need to know what ingredients or preparation methods were used in order to make the best possible choices or make plans to compensate later that day or the next for an intake other than what I would have liked. I will preview buffet tables before deciding what I want most. I will plan daily menus, including portion sizes, and be mindful of the difference between being flexible and getting derailed. I will continually revise lists of foods I like that pack and travel well, restaurant strategies, and for meal and snack choices at home and keep them on the refrigerator for quick, easy reference. I will develop a thicker skin to shield me against insensitive or sabotaging comments of people w ho are trying to influence me to eat or do something that is not going me make me healthier. I will continue to say "No" to those people who insist that I "have to" eat something I am not choosing to eat, because I am an adult and don't "have to" do a lot of things others want me to do. I will wipe out mindless eating. I can prepare food and put leftovers away without starting to pick at them. When there is a bowl of pretzels or other food sitting in front of me, I can leave them where they are when that is what I should do.
• Consciously burn off something every day. I will keep a special notebook in which I reserve one section to record daily exercise so I can see exactly what I am doing or not doing.
• Stay in touch with my good friend, "reality." I will use several tools that add up to the total picture to keep the truth in front of me. I will take scale readings several times each week and graph them in a designated section of the notebook I use to record daily exercise, the look and feel of the fit of several pieces of clothing that I wear frequently, photographs taken with every 5-pound weight loss, and check and record what a tape measure tells me quarterly. I will budget the funds to get good advice and quality clothing that works for me. When I have lost the final 10 pounds that stand between me and my healthy weight, at least once each week I will pick up a 5-pound weight in each hand and thank God from the bottom of my very grateful heart for His help in getting me to and keeping me at my healthy weight. Just for laughs, on occasion I will stop by the sugar shelves in the grocery store and use two 5-pound bags of sugar. If anybody in the vicinity notices my weird-looking behavior, I will tell them what I am doing in hopes of helping them or someone they know slay a few dragons of their own.
• Do something I enjoy every day. I will go back to the list of 50 things I like to do that I made at the Lose It For Life Institute when I need to get back in touch with what I like. I will take a minute to stop by the florist shop in the entry way of the grocery store and really look at the detail and color and experience the scent of at least one bunch of flowers or plant and thank God for making it for us to enjoy. It's my turn. There is time for me. I will not let the pressures of life on this broken planet drive my resentment level that there is so much stinky survival stuff and so little fun to where I unconsciously seek quick relief from eating more than is good for me.
• Do something pampering with food every day to relax, nurture, comfort, and remind me that I am a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will one day start dining in style forever at the Marriage Suppper of the Lamb. Here are some of the ways I will do this: pretty dishes and plates, beautiful music from CDs or a classical music radio station, removing clutter from the table while I eat, a champagne flute for my morning juice when I want a little juice in the morning, refusing to answer the phone while I am eating at times, keeping a little knife, pretty plate, and colored toothpicks in my desk to cut that cheese stick into little pieces and spear each one with the toothpick to enjoy something that will satisfy more than eating it while peeling it from the plastic wrapper at break will.
• Reflect. I will sit down at least once each week and start to write about what is going on with me in a journal. I will look at what I have been thinking, feeling, and doing and at what has been happening around me. I will pray for people who have been in my week and ask God to show me how to show His goodness to them. I will look at things that did not go as I would have liked in my Lose It For LIFE journey and see what I can learn to go forward. I will look at my life. I will grieve the losses. I will celebrate the joys. I will learn. I will change. I will never stop working out what it takes to maintain a healthy weight and live a healthy life.

D-squared's equation

• MULTI-TASKING: Set limits on eating while doing other stuff, particularly watching TV or at the computer.
• BINGE FOODS: Set daily limits on 'binge foods,' such as chips dipped in something, pizza, chocolate/desert.
• EXERCISE: At least 30 minutes, at least 5 days a week.
• GOD TIME: Daily
• BUDDY: Call my buddy daily.
• INTERNAL ISSUES: Consistently work on my internal issues, such as fear of criticism, self-sabotage, over-sensitivity, body-image, sexuality.
• TIME , TASK, and DATA MANAGEMENT: Continue to develop and implement effective routines, tools, and strategies to help ensure that I keep track of my obligations, desires, and ideas, prioritize my time well, and not lose my mind in the process!
• LATE NIGHT EATING: Set boundaries around time and amount. For example, no eating 2 hours before bed.
• REST, RELAXATION, REJEUVINATION: Take frequent breaks, plan fun into my schedule, spend time in nature. Unwind! Go to bed at a normal time.
• RELATIONAL SKILLS: Saying "no" when I need to, saying what I think or feel in the moment, keeping short accounts, choosing close friends wisely.
• EMOTIONS: Be aware of them, let myself feel and express them, and find other ways to deal with them besides eating.
• MEDICATION: Take anti-depressants, or other psychotropic medicine as required.
• GROUP: A place I can go weekly to be completely real.
• WATER: Drink regularly throughout the day.
• SOCIAL: Put fun, enjoyable social activities into my schedule.