CROCKER— TOPS MO1002 met Monday, Sept. 7, 2009, in the Pulaski County Health Department, 102 12th St., with our co-leader Juanita presiding. The Pledge to the Flag was said followed by the TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Pledge. We sang “Happy Birthday” to Joy. Joy thanked everyone for her cards and gifts. Enjoy your birthday, Joy.
Roll Call showed 13 members weighing in. Remember, next week will be “double fines” for a gain - it is the Monday following Labor Day. Three members “pledged to lose” this week. Minutes were read and approved. The Treasurer’s report was read and filed. The August Member’s Report was given by our weight recorder. We did well; we had a net loss of 36 pounds for the month of August.
During our business portion of the meeting, we discussed the cancellation of our Yard Sale last Saturday due to the rainy weather.
It will be re-scheduled at a later date. Linda suggested a creative idea for our table centerpiece at Fall Rally using a shoe box and a clock. It should fit this year’s theme, “Rydell High School Reunion” from the movie “Grease.”
Our weight recorder discussed the guidelines for the Fall Rally Contest, which we need to complete and mail next Monday. Everyone needs to bring their journals with their information on daily water consumption, food journal, exercise data and your daily written thoughts to tally the number of points each member has accumulated.
In conjunction with last week’s program, Juanita made a “Cut and Burn” Chapter Table. This chart will keep track of our chapter’s progress for one year. This week, our chapter “Cut and Burned” 1,100 calories. This is equivalent to eight small packages of “M&M’s” and eight and a half doughnuts. (This was a result of some members having had problems with craving M&M’s and doughnuts and decided to “CUT” them from their diet and increase their physical activities.)
Juanita had the program for the evening, “The Importance of Water to every Body System.” Water— it is so essential to every living thing and for humans. A person can only survive a few days without water, but could survive a month without food.
Water helps regulate the body’s temperature, supplies oxygen to cells and helps the digestion system. A person needs eight or more cups of water daily. A person loses water through urinating, sweating and even breathing. A person can drink water anytime day and night. It has been suggested for everyone to daily fill a 64-ounce container with water and drink from it throughout the day. This way it would be easy to keep track of your water intake. On days that are hot and humid or if you increase your physical activities, you would need more water.
If someone has a problem with constipation or on a high fiber diet, water is needed to process the roughage. Drinking water gives a person the feeling of fullness while eating your meal. Water is calorie-free, as is most flavored water. If you become bored with plain water, try the flavored waters, which offer a variety of different tastes. Be sure to read the labels to be sure it is calorie free. You can also add flavor by adding a low calorie soft drink mix. Some have just 5 calories per serving and are sugar free. Some packets make two quarts while others are single servings.
If you do not consume enough water, you can become dehydrated. Signs of dehydration are nausea, headaches, dizziness, heat stroke, fatigue, a lack of energy and the feeling of being tired. The color of a person’s urine can determine if they are dehydrated. Whenever your urine is gold or dark yellow, drink more water. Vitamins and medicines can also affect the color of urine.
On the market there is available distilled and purified water. Distilled water is not recommended for drinking. Purified water is regulated by the government and safe to drink.
To keep yourself healthy, remember to drink water daily. Start your day off with a full glass of water. It will help you think better, also. It has been suggested that adding lemon juice to water can help curb your appetite, help you lose weight and lead to better health. If you suffer from leg cramps, drinking plenty of water can help because water helps lubricate joints and moisten tissues. Everyone, drink water. It is so good for you!
Betty won the weekly calendar contest, “Let the Pounds Fall this Fall” and drew a gift from the “gift bag.” Our Best loser with the most “fresh” weight was Kathy; she won the “fruit basket.” She, lost the “most” weight and drew a gift from the “box,” and she won the Dollar Contest. Her challenge for the week is to drink more water.
Kathy also had her name on the “Best Loser” gift five times and won the package. It was a gift card from “Subway.” Congratulations, Kathy, You are doing just great!! Vernetia’s name was drawn from the incentive jar. She had a gain and another dollar was added to the incentive jar.
Juanita closed the meeting with this: “The better part of one’s life consists of his friendships.”
If you would like information on TOPS, call Randy at 573-793-6782, our national toll free number at 1-800-932-8677, or attend our meeting on Monday evening.
Weigh-in is from 5-6 p.m. and our meeting is from 6-7 p.m. in the Pulaski County Health Department.
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