QUOTE(Kim @ Jan 21 2008, 03:17 PM)

Here is another idea...create a pile of canned goods and dried beans. Say...twenty pounds worth. Every time you lose a pound, move that can over to a grocery bag. Make it your donation bag...it's a way of saying good-bye to those pounds forever. Look at that can...hold it in your hand...feel how heavy it is...then DROP IT IN THE BAG! When the bag is full, you can take it to your local food pantry and maybe even write a little note. Something that says, "I hope that you benefit from the contents of this bag"...as you will be benefiting from getting rid of those pounds!

Gosh, if we all did this, we'd have quite a food drive going!

I wrote this in response to Marianna's post about needing to visualize the amount of weight that she has lost (she did potatoes in a shopping cart...pretty cool idea!).

I thought that this idea would be fun to do as a group...we can all donate our excess pounds to the local food pantry.

I'm going to do this myself...as giving to someone needy is very motivating. Sure, I should be excited for myself, but really...I'm much better at being a "giver". If I look at a pile of food that COULD be in someones empty pantry, I'll be extra motivated to get these pounds off of my a**!!!

If you want to play this "mind/body game" with me, I'd love for you to post here! Maybe even take a picture of the pile of food (aka excess pounds) that you will be giving away. Off of your body, and into someone elses!

Wadda ya think???

Kim, this is just a terrific idea! I can't wait to start my pile of cans!

Yippee!!! I'm glad that you are as excited about this as I am! Really...I'm incredibly excited to create a pile of what I'll be losing!

Kim, I Love this idea. What a good way to put our weight to a good use. I will start today. I just spoke to the chair-women from our local chapter of the food pantry and they are in need of food and money at this time of the year. FANTASTIC IDEA!!!
Pat

Great idea - I will be starting my pile today!

Me too! I'd love to do that! Fabulous idea, Kim!!!

This is a great idea, and I'm going to save it for our Thanksgiving food drive at my office. I'll challenge the others there to join me, and we'll take a photo (honest!) and post it. Thanks for the great idea.

Kim, count me in! This might save the poor stockboy at Wally World some stress too, as well as help the local food pantry!

Wow...what an awesome idea!!!!!
Thanks Marianna and Kim...I'm sitting here now trying to visualize the weight I have already lost (in potatoes) and I AM amazed!!! That's over 22 10-lb bags....TOO COOL!!! And now to think I have about 3 1/2 10 lb bags to get back to where I was...WAAAAAAY TO COOL!!! This is do-able; in fact in light of all that has been lost that is nothing!

Also, I LOVE the idea of giving back as it goes away....

You 2 are ingenius!!!! Thanks! I'm even gonna challenge some of my non- wls friends to participate....Can't wait to give the first 10lbs away....

As a self-motivator, I went and piled cans...each one representing one lb I have lost since doing the 5dpt, and bagged them. Afterwards, I had a brown grocery bag with 23 items in it, and will take it to the food pantry on friday, after I have gotten my weekly total in it. I have the goal of having 2 full bags by then! And as a side effect, I am not hating my scale...but kinda bonding with it...it really is just a tool for me right now to get more food into those bags!
Kim, WONDERFUL idea!

Great idea! Glad you thought of it, Kim.
I'm going to ask the other 2 ladies at my church who have had WLS to do it too.

We could start a world wide movement here!!! Honestly, I can't wait to go shop for my "fat cans"!!!

And just think Marianna...you are going to be such a regular at the food pantry, they'll be cheering you on too!

This is an absolutely wonderful idea. I can't wait until I can particitapte with you all!!

It probably wouldn't be proper for me to take cans away from the food pantry as I gain, lol

Hey Ang...here is an idea. Decide the MOST that you will allow yourself to gain with this preganancy. Put a pile of cans together that represent your acceptable pregnancy weight gain and start pulling cans away from it. It might help to control just how much you put on, as I know that was a previous concern/issue.

OK that is a great idea Kim.

So my allowed gain is going to be 29 lbs, that would put me at the top weight of 184.5. It probably seems like a silly number but I put A LOT of thought into so this is where I am. I mean I hope to gain closer to 20 but I need to set semi-realistic goals and I don't want to be taking cans away.

Thanks for helping find a way for me to play too :)

Ang, although I KNOW that I'm going to enjoy doing this for myself, I'm SUPER excited for you to play along. I think that this is really going to help you with keeping things under control. It will be fun to put those first eight cans in the bag...that will be your baby!

Here it is...my pile of weight to give away to someone that needs it more than I do!

I went shopping and had some challenges. I couldn't bring myself to buy anything "unhealthy"!!! Silly, but true.

Sunday will be my first "deposit" into the Fat Bag. I hope to get rid of at least the Marie Calendar's Cornbread and a container of Raisins for the week!

Today was my weigh-in day for the week. Yippee...2 cans went into the donation bag this morning!

Did anyone else start their pile? How's it going?

This is such a wonderful idea. My dh, with whom I share much of what I read on LAWLS, is also going to participate in the "pounds" donation, too. Photos will be taken as the collection grows. Since my surgery is a couple of months off yet, it will grow slowly for now but we're "in".

Kim, with life happening, this completely took a back burner. Thanks for the reminder! I weighed myself this morning, and 7 cans went into my donation bag! I am so happy...and slowly getting back down to where I was 6 months ago, then down to my target!

@Nana...Cool! DH is playing...most awesome!
@Marianna...7 cans??? Wowsa! That is terrific!

Well...got to keep it real, so I'm going to admit that I had to pull a can OUT of my donation bag. Not to make excuses, but I'm PMS'ing and am pretty sure that it wasn't a pound of fat that I had to pull out of the bag, rather a pound of water. Nevertheless, I should have lost a couple of pounds to offset that pound of water, so I'm kicking my own behind! As a matter of fact, I added 5 more pounds to the pile to be donated. Darn it to heck...I'm going to be borderline gaunt if I apply myself. <--that's a joke right there.

I'm ready for this next week. Solid with my attitude and my goal. Three cans of goods for the bag next Sunday. I'm sure of it.

I think this is a WONDERFUL idea and what a way to give back to the community. Thanks for the suggestion.

I was at my doc appt today...and during the explanation to my oncologist about my current diet...I explained this challenge, and she thought it was a cute idea. I got home after running a few errands, and there was a message on my answering machine. Her ENTIRE office has decided to join the challenge!!! They decided that when their office has lost 20lbs collectively, they will make a community dinner for the clients of the food pantry!

I was so excited....this idea has so much potential to help so many!

Kim, sorry I haven't been back to this thread sooner. Good grief I have been busy! Anyway, I spoke with a friend of mine who has a learning disability and she spends a lot of time with meals for the elderly here. I have known her many, many years. She suggested that I get a lot of peanut butter because everyone likes it and it has a lot of protein and is very filling. So, I had a great idea about that, if anyone has a Dollar Store or that type of store in their area, peanut butter is really, really cheap there. I bought 10 jars for the Boy Scout's food drive so Jake could take them and that is what reminded me of it.

Today, I loaded my brown grocery back with 12 pounds of cans AND 5 of them were jars of peanut butter and took them to my friend! Thanks again Kim for a great idea that makes us all feel sooooooooooo good!

Marianna and Celadon...I love that you're spreading the word! Just an FYI...I wrote Oprah to tell her about it. I really think it's brilliant. Hope someone reads it!

xoxo

Yippee...three cans got put in the bag today!

YAY Kim!!! You hit that goal! Good for you!

This is such a great idea... I'm gonna think how I can do it... can't do the peanut butter thing, 'cuz I can't bring it into the house... my girl is deathly allergic to peanuts and soy products, so I gotta find a different way to handle it... regular canned goods are fine, maybe I can browse the dollar store to see what else I might find that could work as well as the p'nut buttah.

You're just a genius! This is GREAT!!

Genius...yes, it's true. You know, the grocery stores often have a 10 for 10 sale on their canned goods. I'm sure that the local food pantry will be happy with any donation! This is just so much fun for me, as I'm a total "feeder". I love to see others eat and get a real thrill when they are eating something that I've made. I'll admit it...I'm a food pusher. This little program is working just great for me. I was REALLY happy when I got to put the cans in the bag. Silly that I wasn't happy for myself...happy to be just that much closer to filling the bag.
xoxo

Kim!

I just realized when I cleaned out my closet today--- that I probably just organized for donation about he same weight/amount of clothes as pounds I have lost...

I guess this is another way to donate my pounds, Huh??!!

Hi Kim,

I just saw this post for the first time today. I'm really excited to do this. I've lost 5 lbs. so far since I joined
the board and I can't wait to get my collection started. Thanks for this awesome idea!


Barb

Kim,
What a great idea. I love the way you think. I am going to start my bag right now. Maybe having a visual will help me.
Thanks!!

Kim,
You are brilliant. I, too, just saw this post. After I'm done responding, I am off to find 12 cans of food from my pantry to start my donation bag. (That is the amount that I've lost since I started the 5 day last Sunday.) I absolutely LOVE this idea.
Thanks for another way to keep me motivated.
Bev

Too much fun!

Barb...love your Golden in your avatar. And Lynn, I think that getting a visual in any sort of way is a good idea...the fact that someone will benefit from your loss is a bonus!

Let's all give our fat pounds to someone that NEEDS them!

What a great idea!

Thanks for the idea

I think this is a great idea. I am going to do it. I have lost 16#s gonna go look in the pantry and see if ive got that many cans in there!

It's my weekly donation day! I'm happy to report that I dropped a can of peaches (in lite syrup!) and a can of black refried beans into my donation bag. I have to tell you, I weigh daily, but on Sunday morning I get really excited to see what I'll be contributing. It's also really cool to see that pile of food getting smaller...carrying the two cans across the kitchen...feeling the weight in my hands. Yeah, this is a good exercise for me!

How's everyone else doing?

I love this idea and plan to start to implement it. I am trying to get back on track and will start tomorrow. I do want to add that as a social worker I know that food pantries are in bad need of meat items, protein items as they get alot of canned vegetables. Even though it sound yucky Spam will provide a good meal to some kids, canned meatballs, canned chicken, peanut butter is excellent. I have been in homes where all there is to eat is macaroni and cheese and it is made with water. Now I love it but can't imagine it with water so don't forget the canned milk or dried milk. I have seen plenty of children that eat cereal with water or dry. So, take a look at that area of canned meats that we mostly avoid and remember hungry kids. Instant Oatmeal is great as it can be made with water. Same with canned fruit but be aware that most people donate canned vegetables and fruits and macaroni and cheese. I think that the veleeta macaroni and cheese actually has the cheese sauce already made. Ok. Sorry I got off on being a social worker again but these items will really make a difference.

Diamond Girl

Thanks for the tips Diamond Girl! I bought some canned fruit, but also got instant oatmeal, cornbread mix, raisins and peanut butter. I grew up pretty darned poor and remember thinking that raisins were for special occasions and peanut butter was only eaten every so often. Spam was always around...I just couldn't think to purchase this for anyone!!! I like the canned/powdered milk idea...very smart!

Two more pounds of food! Today was a box of whole grain pasta and a can of corn.

The bag is getting full and the pile is getting smaller...fun to see!

I started following a weekly weigh in like so many on here...I have found that seeing the difference in such a larger amount feels better than seeing little by little. Thanks for that suggestion!

So, this morning I transferred 11 cans to my donation bag. Normally I would be overjoyed at that amount, some of this is from working my pouch and exercising, but I feel most is from medical issues and my inability to eat. Lets see how well I do once that reason no longer exists!

I did feel joy from putting them in the bag...and am going to take them to the food pantry tomorrow.

Bump! Last weekend was bad and I had to pull cans OUT of my bag and put them back to the pile. Hated that. Today, I was able to put a can of peaches and a can of milk into the bag. A much better feeling!