Thursday, January 22, 2009
I'm going to have a little rant, so please excuse me if you're insulted, no offense meant to any particular person, place, thing or idea.
I hate it when people use the excuse of "I don't have time!" or "I can't get away from my family!" or "I feel selfish when I go to the gym!"
Bullhockey.
What exactly are you doing with that time?
1) Watching TV. I have several (I mean, I can think of at LEAST 3-5 off the top of my head) friends who simply will not change their routine because THEIR FAVORITE SHOW IS ON THAT NIGHT. People, I believe the acronym is TiVo. Also, YouTube is your friend. So am I, and I would like you to give a blink about something other than "Gray's Anatomy" - like your pre-diabetes or high cholesterol.
If you're watching TV, you ARE NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT spending time with your family. Not.
2) Surfing the internet. Admittedly, I spend more than my fair share of time looking at lolcats and reading blogs and MSNBC. AND, sometimes I let my surfing interfere with my bedtime (bad!). But it's been a long time since I've stayed in all day and just messed around on the computer. Like 75 pounds ago long.
Again, if you're using electronics of any kind, you are NOT spending time with your family.
3) Being selfish is living in the moment without regard for either the past, present or future of your family or your health. As someone who briefly lost their health (and very nearly life), I feel a bit lucky that I had this perspective foisted upon me, no matter how awful I felt during that time.
Health is EVERYTHING. You can be as rich as Midas, but if you are not in good health, it doesn't matter a whit. Sitting at home, watching TV instead of helping your body stay strong, or eating Doritos (there is a reason that one serving is only 11 chips - some things are hazardous in large doses!), then complaining about your diabetes/bad knees/cholesterol/blood pressure/body size...
Want me to see red? That's the way to do it.
Tell me that you're too tiiiiired to work out, then stay up until 2 am reading stuff on the 'net. Tell me that you don't have tiiiiime to hit the treadmill for 30 minutes at lunchtime, then proceed to head off to Chipotle for a chicken burrito. Kvetch about all the thiiiiings you have to do, then fill me in on the last two seasons of "24". Drive through and pick up a Happy Meal for your kids, then complain about how they don't get enough exercise anymore.
Oh yes, and tell me I'm lucky that I was able to lose weight. It was easy for me, I'm not busy (with two jobs, volunteer work every weekend, an active social life, and a husband), I don't have any major problems (like diabetes or having had part of my stomach and intestines removed due to a tumor), and I don't have kids (guilty as charged, but my sister manages to get her 30 minutes a day in).
Yes, yes, it's ALL luck. I don't have to work for any of it. It just happens that way organically, without any thought or effort on my part. I didn't have to retrain myself, or make new habits and routines, I don't have to budget my money in order to be able to both eat and medicate myself, and I certainly don't have to give up or forgo anything in the short term for the long-term benefit. Success has always been easy for me, of course. I never slip up or backslide. Really, I never have to consider the hows and whys of things that are emotionally painful in the course of my quest to be as good as I can be. It's just luck.
Bullhockey.
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