FINlos reviews…

…being overweight

Apr 29

FINlosdaily life daily life, FINlos, food, obesity, scale 2 Comments

I’m not fat, but I sure feel like it sometimes. There are few early morning ego busters that are quite as efficient as having to lose a notch in your belt or having to change pants because the first pair was too tight. As I currently go through this recurring struggle (it’s not that I can’t lose weight) I find myself avoiding the scale in the bathroom. I don’t need to weigh myself, I can feel it.

No, really. I can feel it. The heavier I get the more I feel gravity pulling down on me.

As a younger person I didn’t have weight issues. I was an active kid, playing baseball for many years. And even once I stopped, my metabolism carried me into high school. But that’s when things started to slow down and I had my first real big weight issues. I have been fighting it since.

The toughest part about being overweight, beyond all the jiggly bits, is that it forces me to examine all the flaws I have that contribute to my weight. I am not the most active person, though I try to maintain a minimum daily exertion. I am also not the healthiest eater. Actually, that’s not accurate. I eat very healthily. My wife and I eat low sodium, no high fructose corn syrup, whole grains, no soda or sugary drinks, no fast food, and we cook most of our meals at home. I just enjoy eating a little too much. And on top of these and other bad habits, obesity runs in both of my parents’ families.

The good thing for me is that it is relatively easy for me to lose weight when I actually make the attempt. Exercise does wonders. I can jog three days a week and the lbs will steadily drop. But again, my bad habits kick in as it very easy to come up with excuses to not exercise.

I guess it’s really all about motivation. So here are all the reasons I should drop a few (or more than a few) pounds. I want all my clothes to fit. I don’t want to die young of obesity related diseases. My belt hurts my belly. I want to be able to take my shirt off and not be self-conscious. I want to be able to jog and not feel parts moving. I want to not get out of breath. I want my heart to be happy. I want to break some bad habits.

And beyond those things, there are greater issues at work. Being overweight has become the American stereotype, and it fits me right now. When I travel to Spain this summer I don’t want to be the “greedy, chubby” American. And more importantly obesity is a symbol of so many things that are wrong in this country: obsessive consumerism, wastage, reliance on cheap, unhealthy, manufactured foods, lack of culture, and on and on. I look at myself and wonder how many people could I feed with the extra, unnecessary food I eat? How many people could be fed with the food that gets thrown away every day?

I don’t want to be a part of that anymore.

And a little closer to home, fat parents tend to have fat kids. It’s hard to decide which is more grotesque, kids so round they can’t move or kids so skinny they can’t move? If I don’t make these changes now, how can I expect my children to be healthy?

I think it’s time to deflate my spare tire.

Rated two stars for embarrassing soft, fleshy mass, disease, and laziness. Would have been rated one star were it not for enlightening self-awareness, the realization of interconnected issues, and the ability to make changes before it’s too late.