Holiday classic re-make!

[Guest guest]

This is an excert from a newsletter from http://www.weightlossbyjulia.com

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A Christmas Carol Diet!

Every year at this time the movie " A Christmas Carol " is shown and new

generations fall in love with it. It is one of my favorite movies, and

I bet it is one of yours too! Regular readers of mine know that most

things in life get my thinking about our weight loss journey, this

year Scrooge got me thinking!

A woman that I know has been struggling with her weight for years. She

has been writing me and asking for advice for at least 3 years now. I

really like her, I really do, but her emails were beginning to drive

me crazy-she had more excuses than any one; she knew everything and

was convinced that she was going to be obese and miserable forever. I

told her that would only happen if she decided that it would be so. I

kept telling her that she needed to make a few changes in her life,

that she absolutely had to break her addiction to soft drinks, dessert

and white bread. The amounts of those three things that she consumed

on a regular basis, coupled with the fact that she didn't get any

exercise, in my opinion were largely to blame for her excess 120

pounds of body weight.

Every time that I told her that she had to refrain from these things,

it was met with frustration, anger and even dislike-for me! She really

" loved " these vice foods and couldn't imagine a life with out them.

She didn't want life with out them.

Well, she fell asleep one cold winter night and was awakened by the

sound of wind whistling through her room and a cold breeze blowing her

blanket off of her. She sat up with a start and saw me, the Ghost of

Christmas past standing right there in her NYC apartment! I looked

rather pale and was wearing my old size 24 jeans-thankfully they were

still too big for me, but being held on with suspenders! I explained

to her that tonight before the morning arrived that she would visit

Christmas past, present and future. She seems scared but reluctantly

she took my hand and our journey started.

First, I took her back to her childhood and let her see where some of

her habits started. There was her loving mother giving her a soft

drink out of a nice small glass bottle-it was 8 ounces. She gave her

mother a kiss and hugs and said thank you. She drank her soft drink

over the next hour while playing tag outside with her brother. When

her mother called them in for lunch, she had sandwiches made for them

on white bread. The sandwich had turkey, lettuce and tomato on it. The

young girl ate a few bites of it and ran back outside laughing as she

and her brother ran down the street to join in the T-ball game. It was

getting dark outside before she and her brother made it back to the

house. They had been riding bikes, playing and having fun with their

friends all day.

My reader, we will call her Scroogia, remarked at how slim she was

back then, how active she was and how healthy she looked. Yes, looking

back it is easy to see why. She had an 8-ounce soft drink, small by

today's standards; she ate a healthy sandwich on white bread and was

active all day long. Ah, the endless energy of youth.

Scroogia said that she would love to go back to that time in her life.

Back then; she loved her life; now she loves food. She started sobbing

and said that she wanted to go home and have some pie, she needed

something to make her feel better-and that it would be better company

than me! She swore if I took her home that she would start her diet--

" tomorrow " .

" You're not getting rid of me so quick sister! " I snapped! I told her

that I had heard all of the excuses, whining and " tomorrows " from her

that I intended to take and to sit back and learn something.

Next, we went to the present day. We peeked in at her office Christmas

party. There she was standing next to the appetizer table and

eyeballing the dessert tray as it went past. There wasn't much about

the woman that was recognizable as the energetic girl from the past.

This woman was 290 pounds. She was wearing a dress that was 2 sizes

too big on her (room to grow?) and didn't have time to talk to any of

her co-workers because she was too busy trying every offering on every

tray and drinking her 32-ounce soft- drink (3rd of the day!).

We followed her as she went home. She had a huge fight with her

husband and said that if he really loved her, he wouldn't care that

she was fat. Silently, he kept driving, shaking his head and painfully

unaware of what he said this time to upset her. He only commented that

the food was good, wasn't it. When they got home, he asked if she

wanted to go for a walk with him. She said that her knees hurt too

badly and that she had to make some desserts for the party tomorrow.

He went grabbed the dog and both had their tails between their legs as

they went for their walk.

Scroogia really started crying this time. As though for the first

time, she saw how much her weight was hurting not only her, but also

those around her. " , take me home---I want to go home right now

and start a diet tomorrow. I promise that I will start on the Cabbage

Soup diet in the morning! "

Not wanting to accept that promise, I told her that we had one more

stop to make--her future.

As we neared the house she couldn't believe what she saw---there was

her husband with a stunning woman. They were leaving the front door

pushing a baby stroller and holding her dog's leash!

She was fuming at this point. " Here I am dead and before I am even

cold-he has himself some young hottie! " she said. I corrected her and

said to look a bit more closely. She was in disbelief. The stunning

woman in the size 8 jeans, wearing the cutest hat and winter coat was

HER! " But how? , this can't be! How? "

" Remember when I told you that if you only stopped drinking soft

drinks, chose your foods a bit more healthfully and got some exercise

that you would lose weight? "

" Well, you finally listened. "

Suddenly, popping up from the stroller was her son, Toddler Tim and he

said is first words: " Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good diet! "

I like this kid. I really like this woman. Except for the obvious

creative license, this is a true story! The lovely woman in this story

finally kicked her soda and white bread habit. She now " LOVES " to

exercise and is not only losing weight and feeling better than she

ever has in her life-she is setting a healthy example for her son. He

offered her a sip of his soft drink, when she said " no " , he asked

" Mommy, aren't you ever going to have any ever again? " Again, she

replied " NO " ! She said " I had it for 30 years and it is part of why

mommy's body got overweight. I don't ever again want that stuff that

held me back "

Humbug? No? I think she has finally gotten it! She has totally

embraced healthy living and will realize all of her goals and dreams!

Hope you liked my tale, it is hard to see a classic so altered, but

enjoy! Happy Holidays. Stay on track and make healthy choices!

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http://www.weightlossbyjulia.com

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As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! 24:15