Hi!

I've only just joined 3FC a short while ago, and I am AMAZED at the support and inspiration I have been able to get - and hopefully give - in this wonderful forum. Really, you all ought to be very proud of yourselves!

As someone who is rooted in my spirituality (and I just happen to be Jewish), I am convinced that there is most certainly a link between mind, body and spirit. I firmly believe that if we commit ourselves to taking care of all three, we will attain our optimal health and existence - which includes a healthy body weight in addition to having a healthy body image.

I did some searching through some groups and found a wide variety of faiths and beliefs here, which is awesome... but I didn't see any Jewish ones.

1) If there IS a Jewish group - can someone point me to it? and

2) If there is NO Jewish group - I would like to formally try to start one here so that we can talk to each other and help each other take care of our spiritual components (and maybe mind and body, too!).

Thanks so much - have a terrific day, and shalom!

Hey Rowdybliss. Shalom to you. It's always good to meet a fellow member of the tribe (and such a rarity)!

I agree with you whole heartedly about the mind, body and spirit connection and lately I've failed miserably at all three.

If you can find some more fellow Jews out there, well that would be just great. You can certainly count me in on this one. Good luck - I really hope something will come of this.

Hi Rowdybliss - I'm trying to go from zaftig to healthy myself, and would be happy to participate in a Jewish group. I'm new to the forum, but am looking forward to the support that I can already see is available here in abundance.

Heh... this sounds like the beginning of a joke... "Three Jews walk into a weight-loss forum..."



"fed"up, glad to see we have something else in common!! I'm really looking forward to the kinds of support we can give each other. Very cool indeed.

WindyCityChick, welcome to 3FC! And nice to see that you know your Yiddish! I've actually been trying to learn more of it because it's dying out...

Yeah, zaftig could be used to describe me, as well, and I've yo-yo'd back and forth, too. I'm tired of yo-yo'ing!!

I found a bunch of great quotes recently, and one of them spoke to me so much this week and is VERY suitable for putting here:

The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince.

And isn't that the truth?? And isn't it HARD when you live with a culture that is so food-centered!

Anyway - good to see there's some other folks here who can identify... looking forward to getting to know you better!

Rowdybliss: It was kinda cool to find you here in this thread, that you were smart enough to start.

It is absolutely amazing how food oriented our culture is. I don't know if you remember on the "Thanksgiving Challenge" thread how I was talking about that party on Sunday with all that food and the buffet (it was really a smorgasboard, but I didn't know if anyone would know what that meant).
Well yeah it was a Bar Mitzvah. Every holiday and there are so many of them have there own special foods. When I got married and then had the kids is when I became more observant of the holidays and the food aspect was NOT good for me.

The joke part with the 3 jews is funny.... do you think there's any chance of upping the number?

Anyway hope to hear from you and Windycitychick soon. Bringing the jewishness into this weightloss thing is kinda funny, but I like it, new, I really like it.

I hope there's more than three of us here!! But if it's just us, then the Three Weight-Loss Mavens we shall be.

You know what I'm dreading? Hanukkah. It's not even a big-time holiday, but my friends all make it a huge deal and an excuse to have a party - of course! All the other holidays, you can kind of get away with eating some healthier things... my seder this year was very healthy with all kinds of fresh veggies and chicken as opposed to the giant beef brisket I usually have, and next year the plan is to have a completely vegetarian meal!

But Hanukkah?? All that oily, delicious, fatty food!! Latkes out the wazoo! Blintzes filled with all kinds of tempty-things! AAARGH! And it's coming up, sooner than we think.

I haven't been to many bar/bat mitzvahs, but the ones that I have been to have been more extravagant than my own wedding. I have honestly never seen more food in my life. You really have my respect for being able to resist, now that I know what you were up against!!

As for bringing Jewishness into our weight-loss journeys... I don't know how you all feel about it and what your relationship to your faith is, but I have really learned to develop a working relationship with G-d and include that as a huge part of my life. I see G-d as a partner and a guide more so than someone I should fear/obey, and so during the past few years and ALL my struggles, G-d has been right there with me, helping me along, every step of the way. I'm not a religious person - not in the least - I'm not even a terrific Jew as far as keeping with tradition. But I am spiritual - and I think that spirituality in our lives counts for a lot and can really be an asset to us in our efforts to change.

Think about it: we are making a big change in our lives. We are changing the way we live, the habits we've fallen into, and we are changing the very functioning and structure of our bodies. We could probably do it alone... but I think that if we let ourselves get strength from something bigger and more powerful than ourselves, we'll be better at making our choices, recovering from our setbacks and succeeding in our challenges. It's something that has really helped me; finding and getting to know G-d has made a huge difference in my life, and I don't think that this will be any exception...

ANYWAY - yes, hope to hear more from everyone, and maybe find some new folks, too. I have to think of some kind of way to structure our tiny little group... maybe do a weekly chat thread. That seems to work...

Also, the other groups here have cute little names, and we don't have one yet! Any suggestions?

Well Miss Rowdybliss - guess what I am a religous person, well sort of. I really would like to think this out, but I just walked in the door it's almost 2 and in 3 1/2 hours I have to be finished with all my stuff and cooking because at 5:39 I will be lighting candles for the Sabbath. Like I said, I really don't have time to get into this now. I'll get back to you soon on the religous stuff, but just not now.

Moving on to the food stuff: Well for the past 7 or 8 years I have been hosting a HUGE Chanukah party at my home for about 40-45 people. And I do all the cooking myself and all the decorating, I really go all out if I do say so myself and it's really nice and beautiful. I scatter goldtone dreidels everywhere and piles of newly minted copper pennies so people can play.
And we do presents and food and food and more food. I told my husband this year I just can't do it, although I haven't told my kids yet. One of the reasons I'm so overweight it that I love to entertain and I cook like a maniac and there's always a ton of leftovers, so between me picking while I'm cooking and going back to those leftovers ... yeah disaster. And I also always make latkes for my kids, I just don't know yet how I'm gonna handle that one.

I also had Rosh Hashannah by my house, although there's just 8 of us and since I had already started my weight loss, I did make that nice and healthy.
We have a very big traditonal meal every Friday night with challah, chicken soup, roasted chicken and so on and so on. Somehow I have managed to not touch that yummy challah so far. But I do have the soup and roasted chicken.

I'll get into my feelings on G-d another day, you know I'm pressed for time now. By the way I loved how you spelt G-d.

But I will tell you right now the only reason I saw this thread was because when I signed on to my comp and went to this website (3fc) you know how they have on the left hand side latest posts and they list about 5 of them, well I saw the title of your thread "any jews......." Otherwise I NEVER would have found it so I don't know how good the chances are of us finding anybody else .

Anyway, I absolutely must go now, have a Shabbat Shalom and a great weekend and I love the idea of a cute name, I'll get thinking and that's that for now, but I do have a lot to add. Bye for now.

"Fed"up: I think I can learn a lot from you. I am actually a Jewish convert who is living with a Christian husband. I converted two years ago... and although DH is VERY supportive and encouraging of me and my faith and participates very willingly, I am having a hard time incorporating some of the more traditional things into our way of living. For instance, I would LOVE to start doing the traditional Shabbat candles/dinner/challah/wine thing every Friday night because I really think it would help me connect to my faith, but it's hard for me because I didn't actually grow up Jewish, you know? I always feel like I do stuff wrong! (not that DH would know, but I would!)

Your Hanukah party sounds great - but yes, I can see where the difficulties arise... you want to put on a huge party for everyone so that everyone has a good time, especially the kids... and you don't want to disappoint them... and you want to make sure there is PLENTY of food for the small army you're feeding!... I wonder if maybe you could somehow compromise? Maybe let yourself have just a bit of the yummy stuff, but just for one day, and in moderation? Speaking strictly for myself, I think that complete restriction is kind of damaging... I think denying ourselves a very rare treat can end up hurting us in the end because we could very well become obsessed and depressed! So when I really, REALLY have a hankering for something or I know a huge party is coming up, I behave myself - or rather, I try to behave myself - EXTRA well with regard to exercising and food during the week prior so that I can have a "buffer zone" for that one day where I know I'm going to be eating stuff that's not especially healthy. Maybe that could work for you? After all, Hanukah is only once a year, and you deserve to enjoy a little taste of all those festivities, too!!

I'm stumped as to a name for our little group. Maybe "Jewish Weight Loss Mavens" or something like that..?

Hope you had a lovely weekend - and I'm looking forward to hearing more from you.

Well When I said earlier that I was religous that wasn't exactly true. I don't go to temple and pray. I kind of make up my own prayers and have my own kind of relationship with G-d. And I am quite happy with that. What I am I think is traditional. I go along with many of the traditions of Judiasim not because I think that I must and if I don't G-d will punish me, because I don't believe that He will. I go along with the traditions because plain and simple I like to. I was born Jewish, but I never would have known it growing up in my home with 2 my Jewish parents. I always wanted something more, anything would have been fine. I never felt connected to anyone or anything. I was very envious of all my Christian friends and even my Jewsih friends who had all these lovely holidays and we had nothing. And I don't always do my "traditions" right because I just don't have much to go by, although thankfully my husband does, but you know it's the woman who runs the household, so it's all basically up to me. And yes, I always do things wrong too. I really do like feeling connected to a whole people and that we are all doing the same th ings at the same time, more or less. And most importantly I think it is what kids need. Friday nights are the only night we all sit down to dinner together. It really is a family oriented kind of a thing. If there's any questions or anything you need help with I would absolutely love to. I think it's great what you're doing.

As for that Chanukah party that was always my problem, I have no control and I am still too young into this weightloss journey to trust myself with risky situations, especially in my own home. But we shall see.

Not loving the name, but not hating it either.

And I really look foward to hearing from you SOON. Bye for now.

Hey, that's terrific - welcome!! Glad to have you aboard!

I started this thread a while ago... but it seems like there's not a whole lot of Jewish folks here! I'm very glad you're here, though, and I'm happy you found this thread. This is such a huge group, and it can be difficult to navigate at first - but trust me, this site is an excellent resource for advice, support and motivation. You're in among like-minded folks here!

I haven't heard/seen much from WindyCityChick for a while (that doesn't mean she's not around, she may have just found some other groups of friends here!), but RockinRobin and I tend to hang out a lot on the Chicks Up for a Challenge forum, which can be found here:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=159

We're doing a "New Year/New You" mini-challenge, and the girls there are really friendly and supportive... if you want, come check it out, introduce yourself and get on board for the challenge! Your goal could be a weight-loss goal, a lifestyle change goal, anything you want it to be - but the goal is to get there by Jan. 1. If you feel like it, please do come check it out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well - we now have a grand total of four Jewish girls here! Woo!!

Since this thread has now been revived by our fabulous newbie Pickola, and since Hanukah is fast-approaching (holy blintzes, Batman!!!) - what are we all doing for the holiday? How are we going to cope with all the deep-fried temptation? And, just for fun, what kind of traditions do you have in your house?

Yay, I'm so glad that this thread got brought back to life! Thank you, Pickola!!

Hi Ladies! Very glad that Pickola revived this thread, just in time for Hanukkah. I managed to make it through Thanksgiving and my best friend's annual cookie exchange without gaining any weight, but of course, there were no latkes. I'll be celebrating Hanukkah next weekend with my parents, and my brother, SIL, niece and nephew. No exotic traditions, just the usual Jewish food-oriented holiday celebration, and of course, lots of gifts for the kiddies. I'm thinking about bringing a latke recipe I saw on the Cooking Light website. It uses regular potatoes and sweet potatoes, and instead of frying, you cook the latkes in the oven.

Anyway, hope you all are doing well. Rowdybliss, I'll have to check out the challenge forum, sounds like you are having some fun there.

Ooooh... baked latkes... I bet they're really yummy...

I'd be very interested to hear that recipe! I do love to cook, and I'm always looking for ways to lighten recipes. It's funny - DH gets up on the scale lately and says "hey, I'm losing weight!" and he's really shocked by it - not knowing that I've been sabotaging his food and making lower-calorie recipes.

Here's the baked latke recipe...I haven't tried it myself yet, but it sounds good. It's not exactly low calorie, but it's gotta be better than the average latke, given the smaller amount of oil involved. Of course, I don't know if the Macabbees would approve of limiting the oil intake


2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated fresh onion
1 pound shredded peeled baking potato
1/2 pound shredded peeled sweet potato
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
Green onion strips (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.
Drizzle a jelly-roll pan evenly with oil, tilting pan to coat.

Combine grated onion and potatoes in a sieve; squeeze out excess moisture. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine potato mixture, flour, and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions, squeezing out excess liquid. Shape each portion into a 1/4-inch-thick patty; place on prepared pan. Lightly coat tops of patties with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Carefully turn patties over; cook 30 minutes or until lightly browned, turning every 10 minutes. Garnish with green onion strips, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 latkes)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 256(29% from fat); FAT 8.3g (sat 1.4g,mono 5.5g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 5.7g; CHOLESTEROL 53mg; CALCIUM 38mg; SODIUM 337mg; FIBER 4g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40g

Hello, 4th Jew checking in here.

Welcome pickola!!

Hi WindyCity, I believe I DID see you on our New Year/New You challenge. Today was a crazy day what with going to the mall and trying to get some Chanukah gifts, so I haven't been around much. I'm happy that I saw this thread up on the screen when I signed on.

I was just discussing tonight this same thing with my family. Chanukah is a mere week away and I DON"T want to make the traditional latkes that I normally make because they are loaded with oil. So I will definitely give your recipe a try Windy, sounds good. We normally have a party at my house with my husbands side of the family with latkes, tons of other foods, dreidel playing and present giving. It's usually at my house, but I told everyone in advance that it can't be at my home this year becau;se I can't have all the temptation in my house. No one else has volunteered to take it over, spoke to my SIL today (1 of 4) we'll see what happens. The other problem is my hubby has a huge family and alot of the kids are old already, teens for me and even older for one of my SIL"S and they are all so busy it's hard to find a night that is good for them.

Yes, Rowdy my husband has lost 20 pounds as well lately without him even trying. Amazing what elilminating a little oil and a lot of carbs will do. Especially for a man, amazing how the lose weight so quickly, with out any effort.