A Weight Loss Journey

Obesity:  the definition

• Fleshiness, more than average fatness.
• A condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be negatively affected.
• Extremely overweight:  For men – 20% over their ideal build; For women – 25% over their ideal build
• Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30 (i.e., approximately 30 pounds overweight).
• Being obese means having so much body fat that your health is in danger.

Morbid Obesity:  it gets worse

• A condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that one is 100 or more pounds overweight.
• Being morbidly obese means the amount of weight a person is carrying is life-threatening.

 In all probability, if you are overweight, you know it.  If you are obese, you know it.  If you are morbidly obese, you really know it.  That knowledge is your constant companion and albatross.  Every time you get dressed and struggle to find something to wear that doesn’t make you look like a tightly packed sausage, you know it.  Every time you bend over, try to walk quickly, or settle into an airplane seat for a long flight, you know it.  Being overweight is uncomfortable and unhealthy . . . and in most cases, a situation we can do something about.  It is our responsibility to care for ourselves and our health.

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A few days ago, my husband and I arrived in Atlantic City from our home in Colorado, anxiously awaiting and finally arriving for a few days of well-deserved vacation.  It was too cold and windy outside to walk around much, so we decided to stay in the hotel room and postpone our sightseeing until the next day which was forecast to be sunny and warmer.

We were lounging on the bed, flipping through the channels on the TV.  I had a belly full of spaghetti.  I controlled the remote.  Life was good.  A few clicks into my channel surfing, I landed on a station that was broadcasting the story of a bed-bound woman who looked as though she weighed in the neighborhood of 700-900 pounds.  Painful neighborhood.

I was hooked.  I could not look away.  I could not change the channel.  I felt like a passenger in a car who unexpectedly drives up on a terrible accident; someone who can’t bear to look at the carnage, and who also can’t tear their curious stare away from it.

“You are obsessed with fat!”  My husband observed. 

True enough.

Starting in my early childhood, continuing all through school, throughout my entire adulthood, until this very moment . . . I am obsessed with fat.  Yours, mine, ours.  Always feeling ashamed of my body.  Always fearing food and it’s magical power over the thinking part of me.  Always burdened with the responsibility of needing to lose weight.  Soon.  This afternoon, if possible.

Until today.  Now, I declare myself changed.  I will do differently.  I will be different.

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