Loss of Assets.

What do you gain from this one? What do you gain from the loss of the most valuable thing in your life? What do we gain but a shorter rope to death, a day nearer to the end of this human condition. Yes, the treatments are many, for we can eat these foods, increase workouts, decrease stress, have more sex, take these pills, however the end result is still the same, a failed attempt to extend both guanitity and quality of time. What one does with their time here is indiciative of the value they find in life. That thing that you never get back, there is no receipt, no court case that can demand large amounts of it in return for malpractice. There is no guarantee that you will get any more from the doing the aforementioned things. The things that you might not even want to do, but were instructed to. 

For me, consuming, “heatlhy” foods does nothing more than assist in control of my eating, reducing impulsive and craving driven behaviors. I cannot eat the highly processed, nutrient-devoid, craving-inducing foods because my resposnse to them is too intense. Instead of experiencing pleasure, I am gone, high as a kite, only to spend the remaining time searching for more, continuing the cycle, for this high is very short. 

Sugar and I, a tumultuous relationship.

Yes, there are many benefits of healthy living, the hope is that increases quality of life, one where you can feel, physically and mentally lighter, better. However, just like in alcoholics who become sober, stopping the eating of the poor food choices is not the conclusion. Rather, a mere passing by on the road to an improved life. Sure, you can get the coveted weight loss you so desired, but then what, what are you going to do with it? Are you going to get more active, socialize more, start doing other things you were previously scared of because of your mismanaged weight? If so, then great, the weight-loss induced by an alteration in food choices and most-likely increase in activity were all worth while. Now, if the weight loss is where you wanted to stop, then what? What do we do when we get to a manageable point of contentment, if there is such a place? What do we do next when the superficial, because looks are superficial, goals are met and you are still left, inside our own head, craving, living in fear of putting back the weight on like it’s as magical as a mosquito bite and the bump that ensues. 

The concern here is the quality component of the life we desire when we sacrifice this precious time in our life for this other thing. I will sacrifice the pleasure felt by a McGriddle for breakfast to allow my mind and body to continue to work as efficiently as I know it doesn’t when I eat those sorts of things. I have invested this time in gaining a better understanding of how things affect me, why, and how sometimes a sacrifice for a goal you thought would add to your life, actually ends up taking a lot more than it gives.

Being “lean,” is a great example of a standard we hold and yet fail to acknowledge the fact that some people are able to obtain and live on a lower amount of body fat where others just can’t do it with that level of comfort. Anyone who says different is selling, but I think deep down, you know the truth. Some people’s level of stability for the body is less or more than someone else, so the body likes to stay in that state, despite a poor diet, or on the other end, an extremely “clean” diet. The sacrifices I have seen and heard from people who want to obtain a “leanness” they've seen in someone else, are immense, requiring two cardio sessions per day, a skimpy diet of bland foods, and a sort of constant fatigue ad hunger, something I guarantee is not as satisfying as gaining control of the body, finding balance, and having a little more body fat than that, “lean” person. 

This evidence is not, nor was it meant to be damning, however, just is. The wishful thinking one has about abdominal muscle showing, or veins in their chest may cost them more than they realize and it isn’t just a minor change that is required, but an entire lifestyle. Now, if you are willing to give up things in life that make you happy, truly happy, like time with friends and family, to look different to many people that quite honestly will never notice, then you have to ask yourself, "Who is really in the wrong state of mind here?" 

Pay attention to what you really want. For most, I found that control, understanding, and accepting were the three biggest things. Though we tend to hold ideal images of looks in our minds, or we think that a number will make us happy, I challenge this and how that equates to happyiness, especially if you aren’t planning on doing anything with the freshly harvested and apparently more worthy, time. 

I have my own history of imbalanced and compulsive thinking related to body image disorders and the male version, "Bigorexia." For my story, the Book is sold HERE. For everyone else,

God Bless.