The Big Fat Lie
by Pamela
Over the past year, I’ve felt deprived, a lot. It’s a personal
choice I’ve made. It’s necessary. People selling weight
loss and fitness solutions don’t really like to talk about this
much. You hear it on info-mercials all the time “I lost 30 pounds and I ate whatever I wanted!” or “I never felt hungry!” The
same is true of exercise gimmicks; “It was easy! I completely reshaped my body in only minutes per day!” Whatever. What a
pile of crap.
The truth is--the whole process of becoming fit and healthy is painful and uncomfortable. I’m not saying every minute of it is
excruciating, but it is truly a painful process. Eating so my metabolism is burning more effectively, makes me feel hungry
more often. That’s how I know my body is working properly. I eat an apple and 30 minutes later I feel hungry. I tell myself,
“You’re not really hungry. You just ate an apple 30 minutes ago. That’s just your body…working.” It still hurts. It’s an
uncomfortable feeling.
Often, in social situations, at work, out to lunch, wherever there is tempting food being offered, I have to decline. I say “No,
thank you.” much more often now. I have to make alternate choices that often involve broccoli. Sometimes I come prepared
with an apple in hand to ward off what I know will be many offers of things I’d more enjoy eating. I do a lot of self-talk at these
times and remind myself that this just how it is now. I eat apples. They eat cake. It’s an uncomfortable realization.
That’s one aspect of the pain in the process. There is also not using food as a coping mechanism. Emotional pain, I have
discovered at the tender age of 38, is something a person can go through without food. I’ll never be perfect (or completely
healthy--get real). There will always be those times when only ice cream will make it all better but I’ve learned that during
most difficult times, things just suck, it hurts for awhile, and then it gets better. Life does that on its own, without the ice
cream. Wow. Still, uncomfortable.
And then there is the physical pain of working out. When I hear someone on television boasting about how his or her home
gym or workout DVD will help me become physically fit without pain, sweat or tears, I feel insulted by this non sequitur. Why
would anyone believe a claim like that? Unless you are blissfully free of nerve endings, tearing down and rebuilding muscle
hurts. Think about it. Exercising joints that are out of shape, weak and inflexible, hurts. Doing it over and over again day
after day in one form or another is not always fun or pleasant. Just when it starts to feel ok, you realize you’re not doing
enough anymore and you have to increase your effort. Some of us don’t get all buzzed and happy on post-workout brain
chemistry, yet it absolutely must be done. It’s an uncomfortable demand.
That’s the heartbreaker for me. If I want to be fit and healthy, I have to eat and workout as a fit and healthy person does. It’s
so unfair. When I get my own universe, I am going to make ice cream and corn dogs “health food”. The fastest way to ripped
abs in my world will be lying on the grass, watching the clouds pass overhead and gravity will actually lift breasts and make
them perky. Until then, I guess I'll have to learn to cope with the rules and truths of fitness and health in this universe, where
discomfort is a constant and gravity definitely works.
by Pamela
Over the past year, I’ve felt deprived, a lot. It’s a personal
choice I’ve made. It’s necessary. People selling weight
loss and fitness solutions don’t really like to talk about this
much. You hear it on info-mercials all the time “I lost 30 pounds and I ate whatever I wanted!” or “I never felt hungry!” The
same is true of exercise gimmicks; “It was easy! I completely reshaped my body in only minutes per day!” Whatever. What a
pile of crap.
The truth is--the whole process of becoming fit and healthy is painful and uncomfortable. I’m not saying every minute of it is
excruciating, but it is truly a painful process. Eating so my metabolism is burning more effectively, makes me feel hungry
more often. That’s how I know my body is working properly. I eat an apple and 30 minutes later I feel hungry. I tell myself,
“You’re not really hungry. You just ate an apple 30 minutes ago. That’s just your body…working.” It still hurts. It’s an
uncomfortable feeling.
Often, in social situations, at work, out to lunch, wherever there is tempting food being offered, I have to decline. I say “No,
thank you.” much more often now. I have to make alternate choices that often involve broccoli. Sometimes I come prepared
with an apple in hand to ward off what I know will be many offers of things I’d more enjoy eating. I do a lot of self-talk at these
times and remind myself that this just how it is now. I eat apples. They eat cake. It’s an uncomfortable realization.
That’s one aspect of the pain in the process. There is also not using food as a coping mechanism. Emotional pain, I have
discovered at the tender age of 38, is something a person can go through without food. I’ll never be perfect (or completely
healthy--get real). There will always be those times when only ice cream will make it all better but I’ve learned that during
most difficult times, things just suck, it hurts for awhile, and then it gets better. Life does that on its own, without the ice
cream. Wow. Still, uncomfortable.
And then there is the physical pain of working out. When I hear someone on television boasting about how his or her home
gym or workout DVD will help me become physically fit without pain, sweat or tears, I feel insulted by this non sequitur. Why
would anyone believe a claim like that? Unless you are blissfully free of nerve endings, tearing down and rebuilding muscle
hurts. Think about it. Exercising joints that are out of shape, weak and inflexible, hurts. Doing it over and over again day
after day in one form or another is not always fun or pleasant. Just when it starts to feel ok, you realize you’re not doing
enough anymore and you have to increase your effort. Some of us don’t get all buzzed and happy on post-workout brain
chemistry, yet it absolutely must be done. It’s an uncomfortable demand.
That’s the heartbreaker for me. If I want to be fit and healthy, I have to eat and workout as a fit and healthy person does. It’s
so unfair. When I get my own universe, I am going to make ice cream and corn dogs “health food”. The fastest way to ripped
abs in my world will be lying on the grass, watching the clouds pass overhead and gravity will actually lift breasts and make
them perky. Until then, I guess I'll have to learn to cope with the rules and truths of fitness and health in this universe, where
discomfort is a constant and gravity definitely works.
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| copyright 2006 Pamela Peterson & VTLD All rights reserved. |
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