Fitness Hype

Some time ago (six years to be exact), I begun a journey. I went to get a health checkup and found out that I was borderline diabetic. Is there really such a thing as borderline anything? Ok, was getting very close to it. My weight was 284lbs. I blamed it on my clothing and my shoes. Of course eating a whole box of Italian cookies did not help.

For the first time I looked at myself without the rose colored glasses. I remember someone asking me once how much I weighed. After telling them they said to me that I carried my weight well. What kind of nonsense is that? And why would I believe it. Yeah I looked good I thought. Idiot! I’m talking about me. The other person didn’t know any better.

The thing was that I would commute by bike to work, twenty-miles one way, I would do this thrice a week. It became a game and a challenge. I would race against the bus. People got to know me, sort of. At every bust stop where they would either get off or be waiting for the bus, they would tell me about where they had seen me down the road. It was fun. During winter I would gain a little weight, come riding time in the spring, the weight would come off. And so it went for many years. I never saw that every winter, a little bit of that weight really stayed on.

In addition to this delusional state I was in (I carry my weight well, yeah right!), I thought I could eat anything I wanted (there are some fitness and diet books that use this line to hook you in). Yep, fries are good for you, they promote a healthy life style and the oils they are fried on, apparently don’t clog up your arteries. Two large burgers in on shot are really not that bad for you. Common sense should have prevailed but they tasted good. This was before the super size craze became the latest thing.

At the other end are the confusing and contradictory information that is spewed out in droves through many publications. Drink x amount of water. If you drink that much you may die! Carbs are good for you! No they are not, avoid them at all cost. Bacon is good for you! Not that one either, Canadian bacon maybe. Just exercise, melt it all away. Corns is good one day, the next is bad. Even whole grains have taken a hit. You need to smoke if you want to stay thin! Eat this not that, lift weights, not so much. Be careful to breathe, I bet that’s next. Workout early in the morning before breakfast! No don’t do that either. Don’t lift weights early in the morning, that’s another one. If you’re hungry, drink water, you may be thirsty. What if you are really hungry? Take your protein supplements. In fact, just take supplements, don’t eat at all. It’s a mad, mad, world.

There is one thing I guess everybody agrees on, you are an experiment of one. It works because you are you. It may or may not work on somebody else. As of this writing, I’ve lost 54 lbs. And that’s where I’m stuck at. My body has adapted and the borg principle has taken over.

l’m running from work to my house the next opportunity I get. That’s going to be on Monday May 5, 2008. Perhaps I’m running away from something deeper than just fat. The fitness hype!