Remember that promise that I made to myself back on my two-year bandiversary?
It was the promise to never forget what it felt like to be obese.
If you missed it, you can read it here. It was a letter to the fatty that I used to be.
What it felt like to be out of breath all..the..damn..time.
How the back pain and the swollen ankles were a craptastic daily event.
It's that promise that keeps me going each and every day.
It's that promise that reminds me to focus on healthy food choices and making exercise a priority.
I recently read a fantabulous article that helped me to remember that promise that I made to myself.
The article, Daily Life - Struggles With Obesity, was in this month's Obesity Action Coalition's magazine.
I highly recommend that you give it a read and join the OAC as a member. Just $20/year. That's 5 cents a day people. The OAC is thee bomb, just sayin'.
Anywhoozle...here are parts of the article that really hit home for me:
"It is now 6:20 am and John is getting ready to head out for the day. As usual, his shower was an adventure, as the shower hose does not reach far enough around his body to wash himself. Compounding his frustration, his shirt is wrinkled as it spent the night lying on the closet floor because it continually falls off the hanger, due to the fact that the hanger is not large enough to hold the XXXL shirt.
Dressed for the day, John now reaches for his seatbelt extender as he pulls out of the garage. Backing out slowly, he looks in his side and rearview mirrors, being careful not to back into anything. Turning his neck to actually look backwards is no longer an option now that he has topped 380 pounds.
A woman named Jane has anxiety as she pulls into a restaurant parking lot for another early morning meeting with clients. Jane hopes that all of the front row spaces have not already been taken, so that she does not have to walk very far. She knows her legs will have a hard time carrying her 300 pound body from her car to the doorway.
She thinks to herself, “I really don’t want to have to catch my breath again before I say hello to them.” That thought quickly fades as she scans the room looking for her tablemates. “I hope they didn’t get a booth again! I knew I should have gotten up earlier so I could be the first one here,” she thinks to herself, and then continues on, “Oh good, they got a table. I hope that chair is sturdier than the ones at the library last week. I don’t want to break another one.”
How easily I can forget what a daily struggle it was for me to be obese.
I know that I have to keep remembering that promise that I made to myself or my old fatty behaviors will creep back in to my life:
It was the promise to never forget what it felt like to be obese.
If you missed it, you can read it here. It was a letter to the fatty that I used to be.
What it felt like to be out of breath all..the..damn..time.
How the back pain and the swollen ankles were a craptastic daily event.
It's that promise that keeps me going each and every day.
It's that promise that reminds me to focus on healthy food choices and making exercise a priority.
I recently read a fantabulous article that helped me to remember that promise that I made to myself.
The article, Daily Life - Struggles With Obesity, was in this month's Obesity Action Coalition's magazine.
I highly recommend that you give it a read and join the OAC as a member. Just $20/year. That's 5 cents a day people. The OAC is thee bomb, just sayin'.
Anywhoozle...here are parts of the article that really hit home for me:
"It is now 6:20 am and John is getting ready to head out for the day. As usual, his shower was an adventure, as the shower hose does not reach far enough around his body to wash himself. Compounding his frustration, his shirt is wrinkled as it spent the night lying on the closet floor because it continually falls off the hanger, due to the fact that the hanger is not large enough to hold the XXXL shirt.
Dressed for the day, John now reaches for his seatbelt extender as he pulls out of the garage. Backing out slowly, he looks in his side and rearview mirrors, being careful not to back into anything. Turning his neck to actually look backwards is no longer an option now that he has topped 380 pounds.
A woman named Jane has anxiety as she pulls into a restaurant parking lot for another early morning meeting with clients. Jane hopes that all of the front row spaces have not already been taken, so that she does not have to walk very far. She knows her legs will have a hard time carrying her 300 pound body from her car to the doorway.
She thinks to herself, “I really don’t want to have to catch my breath again before I say hello to them.” That thought quickly fades as she scans the room looking for her tablemates. “I hope they didn’t get a booth again! I knew I should have gotten up earlier so I could be the first one here,” she thinks to herself, and then continues on, “Oh good, they got a table. I hope that chair is sturdier than the ones at the library last week. I don’t want to break another one.”
How easily I can forget what a daily struggle it was for me to be obese.
I know that I have to keep remembering that promise that I made to myself or my old fatty behaviors will creep back in to my life:
I don't want to forget either. Everyday was a struggle emotionally and pshycially.
ReplyDeletetotally don't want to forget.....but is that gyros?
ReplyDeleteLOL!!!
DeletePeople say it's easy to forget, but I think the things that haunt you aren't. My highest weight will always be with me. I still imagine that image of myself when I look in the mirror 4 stone (56 lbs) lighter than back then and I will never forget how easy it would be to go back.
ReplyDeleteI will never forget looking at a plastic chair at an outdoor restaurant and hoping like hell it wouldn't collapse underneath me. OR the anxiety that the whole world was staring at me. Or the struggle to get in and out of small cars....damn now I feel like going for a run! Thanks Karin for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I'll ever get into a plastic chair without at least a little hesitation. :/
ReplyDeleteGoing to read the article right now!