This morning's assignment is to figure out how I feel about what inactivity and overeating have cost me. I'm supposed to keep Ebenezer Scrooge in mind - and how he changed from a miserly selfish person to a generous and giving person - overnight. Personally I always figured that unless he was given a LOT of positive reinforcement by others, his reformation may not have been lasting. He may have wanted it to be - but chances are it wasn't. UNLESS he was given a LOT of positives by others along the way - and for a LONG time!!!
Hmmmm! Several thoughts.... First of all - what kinds of problems/challenges have I encountered because of my overeating and inactivity? Well, this knee problem for one. That is to say - chances are I would have messed up my knee regardless of what weight/inactivity was going on. I mean - when MOST people turn completely around, they move their feet. When this first happened - I didn't! Instead I kept my feet solidly planted in one place facing one direction - and turned 180 degrees around - FAST! Yup! Knee joints ARE NOT supposed to have that happen! Worst thing was - I was showing someone else what stupid thing I had done - and did it again. Same thing! Same knee! And then, I decided that was NOT a good thing to do on that knee - so I showed someone else how I did this - on the OTHER KNEE!
And no, STUPIDITY does not run in my family! I seem to have cornered the market on that!
I wish I could say that was the end of it. Nyet! Over the years I have revisited STUPIDITY INC. - and played Soccer - dribbling the ball down the field - at least until the knee popped out and I did a face plant! Dancing frantically - and not well - and doing a face plant! (I must like face plants!) and running the risk while hiking long distances - without an ace bandage on hand!
So - while I have an interesting knee challenge - it has been certainly contributed to by my being x number of pounds overweight!
There are a variety of other physical challenges that most certainly have been complicated by my being overweight, and being overweight means that I had to buy clothes to cover the body. I don't know that I've ever lost or not gained a job because of my weight - but I do know of others who have. Same goes for friends - and while I've had a few people make unfortunate remarks about my weight - most people haven't. Which is probably a good thing since I have a real 'thing' about people who respond negatively to others who may be a different weight, race, religion, political belief - or whatever - ie, those who respond negatively to anyone who isn't them!
So - what pain has being unfit caused me - has been primarily physical or financial. Certainly NOT social since I don't want to waste my time on those idiots for whom that would be a concern!
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The second part of the exercise has to do with "eating because the food is there". In other words, if the food is NOT there - the eating won't happen! This is interesting - because it smacks of what my family calls the "clean plate club" - and to which every member of my family belongs! Part of that stems from my parents having gone through the Depression of the 30's - and food was something you did NOT waste! In part because there may not be enough food later!
Has that ever happened to me personally? Yup! I called it the 2 week 20 pound loss diet for years! When my dd was little, things were tough - and there was just enough food (leftovers from the day before turned into soup) to feed one - my daughter. For me? Well, I continued to look for a job and visited every restaurant along the way (you could get a cup of hot water and the tomato catsup packages were on the table. Sometimes there was cream and sugar on the tables too!) YOu can make an almost decent soup with the catsup and hot water! And the cream, sugar and water were almost a white hot chocolate!
I had wished that neither of my kids would ever have to experience the 20 pound weight loss diet - but my daughter did and then years later, my son did. As a result - both joined the Clean plate club!
That being said - how to counteract that? When my dinner is cooked - IF I AM SMART (I'm not always!) I will subdivide my dinner into pre-measured portions - and freeze each portion of food - PRIOR to my serving it at the table! This includes vegetables, fruits, main dishes. That way when I want the same item(s) again for some other dinner - I grab the frozen cubes or rounds of whatever, thaw and nuke them - and dinner is ready!
I also like to take a PART of my meal - and designate that as a snack - since snacks can all to easily become a food binge for me!
And I TRY to keep things like ice cream, graham crackers OUT OF THE HOUSE!
It doesn't always work that way - and sometimes I rebel and refuse to do any of that - and invariably gain weight all over again!
My BIGGEST problem however has been exercise - my metabolism has slowed down - and approaches a minimum. AND while exercise burns calories, NO exercise doesn't burn very many calories at all and can really add on the weight!
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