Too Long...Too Much

OK, so it has been way TOO LONG since my last post and (I suspect not so coincidentally) I have gained way TOO MUCH weight in that time. Along with some friends (and friends of friends), I have started an exercise accountability group called Synergy Energy (join us if you'd like). But I've found that while it is encouraging, there really doesn't seem to be a way for it to hold the members accountable, without it being overly intrusive in people's lives.

Well, that set me to thinking about who we should be accountable too (don't worry, the preacher isn't about to step into the pulpit on this) and I couldn't help but conclude - ourselves.

The reality is, there is very little in this life over which we can actually have complete control. Oh, we like to think we do, but that's just a facade we design for our own sense of comfort. I'm not saying that that is a bad thing; in many ways it is the ultimate coping mechanism. But there are a few things over which we do have nearly complete control. One of those is our weight.

Now it is true that there are those who have medical issues that cause them to have much less control over their weight, but even in those cases they can choose to be at the healthiest weight they can manage. And it is also true that it is much harder for some people to maintain a healthy weight than others (dang metabolism!), but it is also true that someone who is 5 foot 6 inches has a much harder time of dunking a basketball than someone who is 6 foot 6inches, but Spud Webb not only did it but he also the NBA dunk contest in 1986.

The point is we tend to let our self prescribed "realities" dictate what we believe we can and can't do. That's true in general and it is true for weight loss as well.

I, like many other people, tend to pretend for the preservation of my own positive self image that there is just too much going on in life to do what it takes to loose weight and keep it off. I tell myself I have too many responsibilities and too little time, to lose weight. Which is a real blessing when you think about it - I get to have my cake and eat it too (quite literally and quite unfortunately). I get to be fat and not feel too bad about it because I have excused it away and managed to preserve a bit of a positive self image (albeit contrived) as well.

Life is to short to live in this constant state of self created false reality (unfortunately, for those of us who are overweight, life is statistically shorter than those who are fit). So, today I jump back on the fitness wagon...time to stop being under-fit.

Whose with me?!