#Reverb11: Health

Health: How did you treat your body this year? You only get this one vessel one time around. How will you treat your body next year?

I confess, I should have given credit to Jasmine for inspiring me to pause and reflect on why it is that I’d like to lose weight. She inspired me to look more at being healthy regardless of any weight change — to simply be healthy for the sake of health. Admittedly, I do suffer from body image issues. I agonize over the shape of my abdomen, which will never regain that pre-pregnancy smoothness. I grimace as I attempt to hide a little pudge here and a bit of pudge there under my clothes. But somehow, not many other people see the flaws I see. (Of course, not many are invited to see what happens after a 5 foot tall woman has three children, two of whom were 10+ pounds.) But I’ve realized it isn’t just about feeling like I look good — it’s about actually feeling well.

I’ve been exercising on and off throughout the year, some days eating a healthful diet, others binging on a bit too much junk. I recognized what makes me feel well and what makes me feel like a rumpled pile of clothes carelessly tossed on the bathroom floor. At one point when I stopped seeing a difference on the scale or tape measure, I decided to stop caring about the numbers going down — I just wanted them to stop going up. I started to accept the fact that stress can be a very serious enemy in the struggles of weight loss, and I started to accept that I really need to focus on eating well for the nutritional benefits and exercising for the overall benefits. I’ve had the burdensome privilege of living with my in-laws, seeing how their poor decisions have negatively impacted their health. COPD, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity — you name it, they probably suffer from it. And I may upset a few of you, but a lot of their physical and financial woes can be traced back to cigarettes and junk food. Put junk into your body, and you’re going to turn your body into a junkyard. This is what I don’t want to do to myself.

Next year, I’m going to go gluten-free for the duration of Lent. I’m going to be eating sweet potatoes, rice, proteins, fruits, and vegetables. I’ve begun to suspect that perhaps my body no longer tolerates gluten, and I also suspect that my metabolism has begun to slow down. Pending how I feel after reintroducing gluten to my diet after Easter, I may or may not go gluten-free as a lifestyle change. Should the weight come off, that would be great. Should the weight stick, I’m going to learn to live with it. Life could be so much worse. And as important as writing and offering my services are to me, I plan to give more precedence to my exercising. I create the task of writing 3 pages each day, and I some times spend more than an hour trying to fill those three pages. Rather than sitting idly while I agonize over words, I could fill that time with a little stress and disease fighting exercise. I want to maintain my health throughout my life, and it is imperative that I take care of myself now so that I can feel great during my 60s, 70s, 80s, and longer (if I’m lucky). There will be more bouts with that punching bag, too.