HUGE! HUMONGOUS!
ALMOST OBESE! Hands gesture holding a medicine ball
People have been demonstrating the subtlety of a monster
truck in telling me how much weight I’ve gained and need to lose almost as
immediately as football WAGs do post pregnancy. The feedback wouldn’t be
unwarranted if my lifestyle had only consisted of excessive drinking,
absolutely no exercise, a regular routine of late night snacking and
exclusively living on take outs. I won’t deny some weekly highlights of this
behavior yet I’m one of those unfortunate ones whose metabolism is slower than
snail mail and these occasional indulgences with a lack of consistency in
working out or a healthy diet has taken a toll on my body. Beyond body esteem
issues, there are alarming problems with my stamina and level of energy as
well, which has been more troubling for a former school athlete like myself,
who never wasted even a single physical education period in school outside of
the court or playground.
But I don’t want to crib about body esteem issues that women
are faced with or recall the sweet memories of my relative childhood in repeat
shuffle. There are 2 important realizations I’ve had since entering adulthood
in more milestone (27th birthday, FTW) ways:
- Just like pulling an all nighter of drinking and going to work next day becomes less and less feasible as you spiral downward towards 30, it becomes more and more easy for your body to pack on pounds as your metabolism rate lowers. Yep, that innocent glazed or cream frosted donut costs you more heavily than it ever did before 25.
- With work and responsibilities that comes with adulthood, finding time and energy for physical exercise (that came as naturally as ‘playtime’ in childhood) is a management skill. Regardless, we need to work towards it and take our time to master something so well managed by our parents for so long.
I’m consciously not including anything about food, even as I
have and am making more changes to my diet, because of the vast subjectivity
there is to it. I believe there’s no such thing as a ‘bad food’, just excesses.
Every food contains some nutrients in it, including that evil donut with its
high glucose content. Even if you were to consume any food rich in nutrients,
excess of that would consequentially mean a deficit of another.
Relationship with food is just as unique as any person’s relationship
with God or his or her vibrator. Some of us eat to survive whilst the much
cooler people you’ll love being around, LIVE TO EAT. Given the choice between
living on a GM diet for Kate Moss’ body and a balanced diet that allows the
occasional cheats for an average Kaley Cuocu-ish body, you know what I would
pick. The point is neither should be subject to judgment, given respective
individual priorities.
But the point of all this ramble is to drive the single most
significant thing missing in all this talk of weight loss around me – where the
fuck are the positive reinforcements?
Almost all weight loss regimes work on negative
reinforcements, whether the emphasis on the kgs still to lose, the miles one
needs to run, the hours you need to punish your body or the food you have to
deprive yourself of. The post ab crunch body is supposedly the bait and the
light at the end of the tunnel but lets face it – only the most strong willed
see the light of this day! And surely for that, they must receive some reward,
something superficial like your dream wedding or have a gallantry award in this
category alone.
But fuck strong willed or semi-super humans. I’m not one of
those and I humbly take pride in my mediocrity.
Positive reinforcements? How does that work? I’m likely not
the first nor will be the last average Joe to ask this. But here are a few
thoughts that sound legit enough to blog and maybe, try out.
Health vs Taste – Remember when I said that there's no such thing
as bad food, I lied. There is badly cooked or prepared food. Thanks to a few
good humans that still walk this earth, what is healthy for you doesn’t have to
suck in taste. I used to hate eating my greens until I discovered Italian food
and cooking, which has also moved me towards raw food to quite an extent. My
current thing is to replace all my flour and sugar loaded snacks with these
little green munchies with the right seasoning. Make boring food in more
interesting ways rather than dwell on the fact that you can’t eat the sinful
stuff.
Exercise vs Playtime – I talked about how we all loved
(almost all of us) our evening or vacation playtime when we were little. Well, one of the many
things that suck about adulthood is how everything turns into a task and
anything associated with play is almost always a sexual euphemism. While sex is
a great way (although much acrobatic) to shed those extras, I’m gonna focus on
those exercises that you publically claim your membership for. You don’t have
to do Zumba if you hate anything close to what resembles dancing. I actually
hate the word ‘exercise’ for the nobility that is attached to it. Fuck, I need
and miss my playtime. Not saying that if you engaged in what you naturally like
will ensure you’d stick to it but it will help your attitude a lot more. Say,
would you like going dancing everyday or prefer exercising in the dance studio?
See what I mean.
Age vs Next Big Thing – From all my talks with girlfriends
and ill advisors, age is quoted like the most damning thing to happen. I’m
embracing age with all the wisdom, experience and the opportunities to look
forward to. But hearing “Oh, it gets harder as you get older” for the nth time
(factually true it maybe like gravity) is a dampner. As a late bloomer, I
evolved in a lot of interesting ways that I never imagined in my early years. I
don’t know about you but I get the most inspired not by obnoxious child prodigies
but older and regular folks who achieve (and yes, surprisingly) something much
later, in their journey of self discovery. Move over Mark
Zuckerberg 'coz I’m digging that 50 year old who finished the ironman or climbed
base camp at Mount Everest! Similarly, the chance of rejuvenating yourself
(mentally or physically) for a new feat as opposed to the idea of saving whatever’s
left of your withering being is a lot more tantalizing, no?
Let me caution you or put a disclaimer that this is mostly something that I’ve been ruminating
much about, not a tried and tested formula. Maybe negative reinforcements do work better and I really don't know better right now since I'm still wading in the far dark swallows of the tunnel.
Knowing that it is normal to find ourselves in this dilemma,
as the fatty or the ‘concerned’ friend, I considered it worth sharing with
others to get their thoughts and experiences. If I haven’t made it obvious till
now, I’m very open to feedback J
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