I am in a quandry. I apparently can’t go window shopping without buying the window. Often I want to just go try on clothes because I like clothes. I think to myself, “Don’t buy anything today!” I can usually manage to not buy. Unless it is jeans. For some reason I have a hard time saying no to jeans. I don’t even wear them that often either! Casual Fridays at work and occassionally on the weekends. I like to dress up, so more often than not I am wearing something a bit dressier.
When I was 20lbs heavier I didn’t shop much. I didn’t want to buy larger sizes, because I was going to lose the weight gosh darnit! I did. I knew I would eventually. It wasn’t the first time in my life that I gained weight and then lost it with some effort. It was easy after the kids. I did some exercise, ate healthy and nursed them. The weight pretty much fell off. In college my boyfriend died in a car accident. I went into a depression and gained probably 20lbs (we didn’t have a scale). It took a picture of me standing with my friends to finally get me to stop eating the chocolate and get off my arse.
Now my weight isn’t my ideal, but it is getting there. I’m keeping it below 130 lbs, though I need to lose my tummy. It’s a genetic defect of my mother’s side of the family that we gain weight there pretty easy. It is very hard to lose it there, too. Hello, heart disease! Nothing like a lot of fat around your organs to lessen your life span!
I know there is a lot of people out there that say we should be content with weight gain and accept it. I guess if you have a condition where losing weight is next to impossible, then I understand that. Otherwise your are cutting your life and activity level short. I enjoy myself more when I am fit and can wear cute clothes. I have bad knees, too. If I let myself gain too much weight, then I am in constant pain. Not fun. I can forgo the cheesecake just so I can walk without excruciating pain. I had it when I was pregnant with my kids. The proof is in the pudding. If I let myself gain too much weight I will need new knees. No thanks.
I imagine if you have never been that fit and thin person, you don’t understand how much better you feel. Life circumstances can make it so children grow up overweight and become obese adults. They don’t get healthy food at home or at school. They lack exercise, fresh air and spend their youth in front of a tv, computer or gaming system of some variety. They have never felt that bone drenching fatigue of true work…and the adrenaline you get from it. They don’t understand how well your body responds to healthy food that doesn’t give it the sugar highs and lows.
My kids don’t necessarily embrace the healthy food I make, but that is okay. Eventually they will learn. They love to play games and run around, too. We aren’t worried about the life habits they are developing right now. We are trying to teach them a healthy way of life, that allows for those occassional indulgences.
Hopefully we are teaching them to enjoy life to the best of their ability, which is what we aim to do ourselves. As my husband says, “Life is too short to drink bad wine.” We aim to do the best we can with what we have. Invariably, what we have is what we have worked hard for, thus the reason enjoyment of it is so darn satisfying.
