I met a new friend, yet another from Texas, funny for a big state just how small it can be! Jaye writes from an undisclosed location in an urban area. Her posts on contemporary issues are serious, sarcastic, smart. Tomorrow (5/25) is Jaye's B-day, stop by and put her through the spanking machine at winding road in urban area!
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OK Faith, you have shamed me into posting what I had written on Sunday. I still think it's a tad melodramatic, hence the title of tonight's post, but as usual you are right, what the hell are we blogging for if we are not going to post it. Doesn't that get tiresome for you, the being right all the time thing?! Just kidding. Thanks.
written Sunday afternoon...
Losing weight is really a very simple matter. Despite all the myriads of books, ideas, diet plans, it only comes down to three things; eat less, exercise more or some combination of the two.
Yet there are millions, like me, you are dumbfounded to find a way to do this. For us, it is more than the mere calculation of what we digest and what we burn, for us, we do not eat to live, we live to eat. Food becomes the salve we slather over our emotional burns and scars. Food becomes the healer of our soul. We turn to the one thing that does not judge, it’s only purpose to provide comfort. That comfort is fleeting, so we need more..and more..and more.
The very notion of a "diet" makes us ill. Like we are losing the only friend who has really stood the test of time. Food knows me well, knows my darkest secrets and yet remains and I want to throw that friendship away? Food has protected me over the years, provided a much needed extra skin with which to suffer the indignities of rejection. What other friend can you blame ALL your problems on, and yet still keeps coming back for more. My dog is like that, but I refuse to eat him.
So many times I have said goodbye to this old friend, I have reached the peak of perfection, only to tumble to the bottom again. More often than not, I say goodbye, only to traverse the base of the mountain, just looking at the top, coming full circle back to my friend. He is still there, waiting. Good friend.
There comes a point where this friend becomes deadly. Choking the flow of my very blood, raising my sugar level intolerably. There are times when I can no longer bear the weight of my friend, as he pushes down on my very joints, slowing or stopping those things I most enjoy in life.
Others look at me and see weakness. That is ok, I look at me and see weakness as well. I see a doormat, being walked all over by this friend, I see someone unable to let go of things past.
I want to live, you know? Not forever, just well. I want to live with purpose and meaning. I want to make s difference and validate my existence beyond propping up the Lays / Pepsi Corporation. Does being fat stop me from all that? Yes. It becomes something to hide behind, to peer out from and see what is going on, then dart behind again for protection. Unfair. Being a coward is unfair to the rest of the world. It takes from it that small bit of uniqueness that is you, that tiny infinitesimal part of your potential that fits some niche like a peg.
For sure, there is more here than meets the eye. There is a strangling mess of guts, deep wounds that sink into the caverns of our innards, growing rotten as they go unnoticed. There are nerves like wires that carry old impulses and learned behaviors, like electricity to the brain, causing knee jerk reactions to dangerous and feared stimuli.
Courage then becomes the word of the day, the ability to overcome habitual fears. To have the courage to crush this fatty armor, pulverize it into submission until it melts away. Even more courage is required to let go of that quest, let it slip from your mind, your fork and spoon. Still more courage then to pick up the challenge for things more daunting and scary, for things that move the world. Courage to be a part of the world, instead of just being on it.
Michelle has great advice; a change is probably a good place to start. I am grabbing a Minute Maid Light Raspberry Passion or Guava Citrus instead of a Hefeweisen. I need to go into the doctor for what I think is a wart on my finger. They weigh you any time you go in and I dread it; a couple of years ago he lectured me because I had gained 5 pounds. I had gone from 116 to 121. Am I supposed to weigh what I did in high school for my whole life?
Posted by: Margaret | May 25, 2005 at 23:48
Thanks guys. I guess when you have been feeling this way for so long it just feels like you keep repeating it over and over. I think you might be right Michelle, maybe I need a change to break the cycle somehow.
Posted by: FB | May 25, 2005 at 10:14
This is an awesome post, FB. You said, "Food becomes the healer of our soul." Yep. I've existed on chocolate, donuts and chips for the past week or so. A RADICAL departure from my previously heathly diet. I keep the 7-11 in business. The thing is, it hasn't help. I still feel very sad. I've got to find another way to heal my soul, and you too. For me, it is escaping the grip of negative thinking that grabs me by the throat, and learning to accept things that I can't control. Isn't there something like that in the 12 steps? I mean, I am throwing a food hissy (along with throwing other things as well) because I can't control what is going on with my son.
FYI, I just read a study that shows if you change other behavioral patterns, such as learning new things, vacationing different places, etc. that you can naturally lose some weight. Part of it is getting stuck in our same old rut of bad habits. Man, I don't even want to go near a cholesterol test right now...I try to focus on how good it feels to be thin. I don't even care about the looks as much any more. In some ways, that has made it easier for me.
Posted by: Michelle | May 25, 2005 at 08:35
Substitute the word alcohol for the word food, and you've just described my life over the last fifteen years. I identify with every word you wrote. And I needed to hear them.
Thank you for sharing this. Melodramatic? Um...no. Honest and gut-wrenching? Absolutely.
Posted by: Faith | May 25, 2005 at 07:00