Reassessing the Reason to Eat
Weight loss to date 29.8lbs
As I am progressing through this weight loss and lifestyle change I am constantly reassessing things. My activity, my eating, my reasons for doing this. It seems like each day my activity increases and my ideas around food seem to be changing as well. How and why I choose to eat and what I choose to eat has done a turnabout.
Eating to be Happy
When you deal with overeating such as myself the reasons for that overeating and or choosing the wrong things to eat are complicated. But one aspect that is easy to identify is using food as a way to feel better about other aspects of your life. It gives you a positive feeling to look forward to a pizza night, or a large ice cream in the evening. This positive feeling doesn’t last long as I then feel sluggish, bloated and unhappy. It is a system of eating that has no logic, but lots of emotion. It is a cycle that feeds into itself that constructs a relationship with food that is both unhealthy and warped.
Eating to Fuel
How I have been changing my viewpoint on food these last few weeks is a great contrast. When I was young, and interested in fitness I remember a TV ad. It went something like this, a super fit person gets out of a sports car at a gas station. The commentary goes on about how you only feed a machine like this the best. The ad pretends to be of course talking about the beautiful car and how you must look after it. However the twist ends up being the commentator referring to the person and what they eat. We take care of our cars but not the machine we are given. My body has always been strong, in fact I won a Provincial Bench Press championship back in 2009. Sometimes it feel like my body was a machine like a muscle car, able to bench press 500lbs. But I have neglected it, let it rust, not changed the oil, running on bald tires. It is time for a restoration and to treat my body with quality food as a fuel to run and maintain it.
Ultimate Goal- Happiness
I do not want to suggest my ultimate goal is to look a certain way. My goal is to move, be more active and appreciate this machine I am given to function in the world no matter how I look. It is to put quality foods in my system to make me feel good, and exercise as my new way to be happy. Right now I am lifting weights again every morning and walking 4km every day. Only six weeks ago I had back pain trying to get my mail just one block away. What is even more exciting is that I am now looking forward to my walks. I am looking forward to a healthy smoothie in the morning to fuel up. It is the same feeling as looking forward to my pizza night, but with the good feelings continuing on afterwards. This process is not just about living longer it is also about living happier.
