FREEDOM!

FREEDOM!

A friend sent me the following link to a session Dr. A recently conducted online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvOgukStlsM

It's rather a long video....but one point Dr. A made that I heartily agree with (and that resonated with me) was he talked about how we are so into FREEDOM in this country....but in fact, obesity is making more and more of us LESS "free" in our choices and limiting our lives!

And how TRUE that is!

When I was obese, I felt constrained and constricted at every turn. (and NOT just in my clothes....LOL). 

I hated parties, holidays and 'events' with my family because it meant I'd have nothing to wear, as usual....and I'd look for the biggest blackest dress or pantsuit I could find to 'cover up' my bulk. I felt LESS FREE, certainly, at these events, worrying that people would watch what I was eating and might even make comments, worrying that some child or callous individual would make a remark at my expense...worrying most of all about a CAMERA coming out at some point, OOPS...where can I HIDE? Where's the nearest CHILD I can plop down on my lap to hide my stomach? Can I stand in the back PLEASE?

I hated going to the gym because I felt everyone was staring at the 'fat girl' who couldn't even do a sit-up. Whose stomach jutted out a FOOT from her body, so that I couldn't even see my toes. Who couldn't do 80% of the exercises and had to 'fake it', and PRAY the instructor wouldn't single me out or come over to me to adjust my form (when the truth was, I wasn't doing it right because I simply had TOO MUCH FAT to get into the right position!)

I hated working in my garden because I'd get so EXHAUSTED so quickly....bending down, bending over took such a toll on my body that I'd be miserable and in incredible pain after just a brief session....I'd look at all I had to accomplish and sigh, knowing I could never get it all done because I just didn't have the stamina.

I hated housecleaning because my flexibility was so bad I couldn't bend and clean things on the floor very easily...in fact if I had to get on my hands and knees it would be a real trial getting back up again....I couldn't take baths because I couldn't get into and out of the bathtub on my own and I got to the point where I truly thought I'd get STUCK....I hated even sleeping at night because I SWEATED profusely and my legs rubbed together painfully when I walked, causing a rash on my upper thighs....

I hated looking in the mirror at my double/triple chin....remembering how I USED to be so pretty, and now look at me....my husband couldn't even put his ARMS around me.

Most of all I hated thinking about the future. Because what kind of future did I have to look forward to? I already was pre-diabetic and on medication....my blood pressure, normally normal to low, was rising to the point where soon I'd need to take blood pressure pills....I had an angina attack once that I thought was a heart attack and the nurse at the hospital complained she'd have to get out the 'big scale' for me. 

Life SUCKED. Plain and simple. All I had was pain and misery and fatigue, day after day.

And diet after diet that I'd fail on. Lose a few pounds, get fed up because I was so HUNGRY all the time, go off the diet and feel even MORE like a failure.

Over and over again.

Yes, being obese is LIMITING YOUR FREEDOMS. Bigtime.

It took me two years and a lot of struggling to get to goal....but now I remember those old days and I CHERISH my 'new' body and I APPRECIATE all it can do. 

And I never ever EVER want to go back there again.

You may feel, when you first go on this program, like you're 'depriving' yourself. You may tell yourself that you're only doing this 'until' you lose the weight and 'then' you'll be able to 'do what you want' (i.e., EAT what you want...which of course is dangerous....because if you go back to eating the same way....guess where you'll be a year from goal?....)

But in reality, if you think about it, you are TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF.

Maybe for the first time EVER in your life. You are putting yourself FIRST.
You are putting your HEALTH first.

You are realizing that 'something's gotta give', and that something is your OLD WAY of eating.

Having that piece of sludge or goodie just DOESN'T COMPARE to having your LIFE back.

--
Linda
Linda Leiby
Take Shape For Life Certified Health Coach
"Keep on keepin' on!"
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