Not all that long ago, I did set up a weight loss blog. I thought it might be sort of fun to chronicle the journey I was taking, primarily in terms of the visible results I hoped to see. (I enjoy writing, what can I say?) I called it “As The Fat Burns,” and I provided a bit of history concerning my baby boomer body and all the less-than-helpful habits (food/activity/thoughts) that led up to creating health issues for me.
Bad idea. Very bad idea. It did not take long for unsolicited advice to come out of the woodwork; it over-emphasized our obnoxious and unhealthy national preoccupation with weight and appearance; it also invited unnecessary scrutiny and additional pressure….
On the other hand, the experience of it all ultimately encouraged me to re-focus upon my authentic desire. My deep wish was to feel as phenomenal as I could, even after a long history of bad habits and a pile of old, unpleasant health issues. Weight loss was quite secondary to that desire. Bye-bye bloggy.
There was a time when I admired “flat abs” and slender looks. I imagine that if I had those attributes, I’d probably enjoy them. But the insane obsession with looks is NOT healthy for ANYONE! Besides, a person’s self-esteem really doesn’t need to be tied to appearance—something that is very transparent in many weight loss blogs and magazine success stories. While I strongly admire the folks in those success stories, I also detect (often, not always) the attitude that the person feels more acceptable to others as a slender person than an overweight one.
In my early 20s, after experiencing a litany of annoying health problems, the doctor informed me that I was “dangerously close to being diabetic.” She advised me to “never eat sugar again.” For one year or so, I did eliminate desserts, sodas, etc. (I wasn’t particularly overweight at the time, by the way, so this was a good example of how lousy eating habits create insulin issues in folks of any weight or size.)
The next year, I followed an incredibly stringent food and supplement program after seeing a well-known Los Angeles-area homeopathic physician. (Raw fertile eggs for breakfast, anyone? Freshly soaked saw palmetto water with that?) Boy, that was a looooong year of my life, but I felt incredible. Problem was, that type of eating is not so easy to follow indefinitely in our culture, particularly not in the 1970s (prior to so-called health food going mainstream). To keep eating the raw soaked oat groats and preparing daily herbal concoctions meant that I could kiss going out to lunch with friends goodbye; not even the glass of water would be safe to drink, let alone the pesticide drenched salad.)
I’m here to report that being slim is not necessarily equal to being healthy! I’ve seen it all; in fact, at my slimmest, I felt pretty lousy. Truth.
Feeling great is where it’s at, baby! I stil have more work cut out for me, including some serious blubber removal, but a great part of the joy is in the journey, and I’m tasting more and more joy. It’s pretty tasty. Wanna come with me and see what it tastes and feels like?
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