Fitness Fund

Well, I did it...I put together evening snack bags, complete with contents and total calories and now have a jar that says Fitness Fund; I have to pay 25 cents each time I grab a snack bag.  So far it seems to be working.  I don't have a whole bag of cookies, I have the option of one or two and it seems to settle my craving.  This way I don't say, well I have the whole bag so I just eat.  Also, but paying, I am less likely to go back to get more w/o thinking about what I am doing.  The calories on the bags help me see what fits into my remaining calories for the day.  I also have the option of adding a tablespoon of ice cream.  The other day I had one cookie and 1/4 cup of cottage cheese.  It worked great.

For me, knowing how many calories I had left for the day, none, and being faced with the number of calories on the bags plus having to pay, I decided to not get into the snack bags.  It worked just like it was supposed to.  I was very proud of myself and how I am sticking to the agreement I've made w/ myself.  So far I have 50 cents.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do w/ the money when the jar fills up, but I think I will make a donation to a charity that works on fighting obesity. 

I look not only at myself, but at the community around me, we are fat!  A large (no pun intended) portion of the patients that I have case managed over the years are obese; not just a little obese either.  Walking through the my place of employment, there is a high percentage of people are obese.  I am not sure of the numbers, but it is well known that obesity causes or contributes to many of our chronic conditions such as Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure as well as puts more stress on the body's skeletal and muscular structures.  Our livers, heart, lungs, and stomach are all effected by the amount of adipose tissue (fat) that is being carried around in our abdomen. 

While there are numerous issues that obesity causes physically, the emotional scars that those of us that are obese carry with us can be more harmful.  There are very few of us that want to be fat...and those that do are on the fringe of the bell curve.  I also want to make a definition here, morbidly obese is a BMI > 40.  I am not talking about curvy women who have the appropriate amount of body fat, those women are beautiful just they way they are.  The obesity I am focusing on are the morbidly obese.  I am part of the morbidly obese category; my BMI is 43.  I am way beyond curvy. 

The emotional scars that a) influence how we take care of our selves (or don't) b) reinforce our negative self image and c) take away our feelings of hope, are harder to fight.  We all know, diet and exercise lead to a healthy life, but emotionally, how do we deal w/ the pain?  How do we fix all the negative that is thrown at us on a daily basis?  Being fat just increases the negative messages we get and that continues the vicious cycle of getting fatter and fatter.

Changes in our food source have also added to the amount of obesity being seen in my community.  High fructose corn syrup and changes in how we grown and harvest wheat have added to the obesity epidemic.  Add to that, our portion sizes have increased, our amount and type of exercise has decreased, TV/Movies/Video Games/Computers slow down our metabolism and increase mindless eating. 

There has also been an increase in stress, causing our adrenal glands to be in high gear on a continuous basis rather than reacting to an immediate threat, then rest until the next threat comes roaming by.  Our threats have gone from animals and natural disasters to an intellectual stress that doesn't stop, even when we sleep.  Constant stress increases our fatigue, our feelings of being worn down, and our risk for stress related diseases like angina.  Learning to enjoy our life, relax, and laugh counter acts the negativity of stress.

There isn't a one size fits all to weight loss.  Our body image and weight are tied into so much more than just diet and exercise.  Our community, food sources, past/present/future, emotion, and ability physically all play a role.  Part of our job is to learn to love ourselves regardless of society, physical looks, and the negativity that we are bombarded with on a daily basis.  We are all children of the universe and most of us yearn for love and acceptance.  Love and acceptance starts with you.