Weighing In
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Health on Wednesday, January 07, 2009 9:39 AM
I sat down to write something about Danielle’s previous post, and found she had already clarified a few points. But I’ve been thinking a lot about what she wrote, so I’d like to mention a few thoughts.
The thing I’ve been thinking about, as I read that post and further discussions at other blogs, is that I think we are talking about two different things here. There are those people (mostly women) who are perhaps very close to their ideal weight who fret over those last few pounds. I will admit I am one Danielle’s friends who asked her if that was me she was referring to (it wasn’t). But within the last few months, I have absolutely said (to more than one friend) that I will feel better once I lose those last three (or five) pounds.
What I discovered in the midst of this, is that I was indeed getting wrapped up in a poor self-image, but in a way it was my body telling me I needed something more. Once I started getting back into exercise I felt so much better about myself. It didn’t have anything to do with the numbers on the scale; it had everything to do with all the emotional havoc that I experience when I’m not treating my body right—when I’m not getting out there and revving up the endorphins by lifting weights and taking brisk walks and runs.
There is another group of “dieters” or people needing to lose weight, people who have a lot of weight to lose. And here is where I think the issue really is semantics. Some people have a duty to themselves to get healthy—to lose the weight that is holding them back from living the life they can live. I base this assessment on what people say once they lose the weight—that they feel better about life and living.
A friend of mine recently won the local Biggest Loser contest here in town. The results have been amazing. The before and after shots are incredible—she doesn’t look like the same woman. What strikes me more than anything, however, is her attitude about life now that she has lost the weight. She is so happy about life that it is contagious. I’m happy for her.
In order to lose that weight, however, her diet and exercise plan became highly prioritized in her life. The time had come for that part of her life to be front and center (just after her husband and children, of course). She couldn’t afford to not think about it anymore.
What Danielle is talking about, it seems to me, is something different from my friend. She is referring to so many of us who do fret and worry and get picked off because we get caught up in the world’s definition of beauty. That is indeed a dangerous place to be.
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
