Saturday, May 14, 2005

The low down on being Squishy.

"Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. "
~
Douglas Bader

For someone as Squishy as myself I have an abundance of knowledge when it comes to the topic of mental/physical health. I've read more than my share of books on fitness, nutrition and self help than I care to mention. I've subscribed to Men's Health magazine (one of the best men's magazines on the market...in my opinion) on and off for years. I'm old enough to have lived through the
"eating fat makes you fat" fad of the 80's to the low carb loading craze of the 9o's, which leads us to the current advent of the high protein diet phenomenon.

While nutrition philosophies have swung from one extreme to the other over the years, one universal truth exists that has never really been argued by health professionals worldwide..... and that's the idea of BALANCE. Health crazes are always trying to re-invent the wheel in an attempt to cure the all so familiar problem with obesity in our society. The problem is that with each craze the problem only seems to get worse... which is only all to familiar in my case.

I'm 31 yrs old (32 in Sept.) and I've weighed over 200 lbs since my senior years of high school over 14yrs ago. During that time my weight has fluctuated a great deal. I currently weigh in at 243 lbs, but I have been as high as 259 and as low as 189 (below 200 lbs for 3 months, 8yrs ago). Like many others, my problem with food revolves around an emotional response to it. I tend to eat when I'm extremely happy, sad or stressed out. I've been known to binge and also to hide my eating habits from others. Most of my friends would actually tell you that I'm not really that over weight but I would say this is due to 3 reasons: #1 I hide my weight well, #2 some of them are just being polite, and most importantly #3 its becoming far more common these days to lead and live an unhealthy life to that point that its often overlooked.

I've never been comfortable with being overweight, unfit and unhealthy. I resent the stigma of being "FAT". I resent the name calling, being labeled "lumpy" and more importantly I resent the negativity that I've always felt towards myself over the years due to my weight.

Beyond the self esteem issues and the labeling by society there are other far more important reasons for wanting to address my weight problem and that's the related health issues which I'm currently facing, and the even more serious ones that I could be facing in the future. In the past I've had 3 knee surgeries to correct minor & major ligament damage. Currently I'm off work due a re-injury of my knee and this time it might be permanent. There's no doubt in my mind that my weight has contributed to this and that it might of been prevented if I was leading a healthy lifestyle. More importantly my weight puts me at very high risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer and gall bladder disease just to name a few.... and that scares the shit out of me.

The bottom line is the time has come for me to make a change and not a temporary one.

So what's my overall goal?

To achieve mental & physical wellness by leading a consistent & healthy lifestyle.

I encourage you to join me in my journey towards this goal.

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