National Obesity Awareness Week
This week it's National Obesity Awareness Week - this is the first of a couple of important blogs I'd like to share with you over the course of the week, as this subject is as important as covering other health issues and directly affects such a huge proportion of our population that it's not something I feel should be ignored.
Now, when I talk about this with some people nowadays I find the reception uneasy, in that I guess now that I've lost a lot of weight and am no longer new to any sport people seem to look at me and judge "what would you know about weight problems" - that statement might come across as unnecessarily egotistical and while it's not meant to at all it's also completely true. In fact, frequently people even say this to me.
So why would I be interested in this subject? How could I, clad in lycra riding a bike upward of 12 hours a week, possibly know anything about the problems associated with anxiety induced eating problems? Or weight issues? Those of you who read and follow my blog and twitter will know, it's not always been this way. Up until very recently I was the living embodiment of unfit and miserable.
Now, it's important to understand that obesity is not necessarily best described by a quick BMI calculation. There is a huge difference between "weight" and "fat". It's important to understand that popular media is quick to undermine this fact and attempt to brainwash you all into believing that skinny is healthy, or even that curvy is best or muscular is fantabulous.
Some of the greatest athletes of our time would be classed as obese if using the simple BMI charts you see hung up on the walls of GP's surgeries....but then this isn't to say these charts are to be discredited immediately. Let me point out a couple of important notes to consider when it comes to weight;
1. BMI is a guideline - but this is not a "get out of jail free" card.
2. You will know in yourself, if you're concerned that you're at the top end of the BMI chart and you know you're unfit - this means you need to do something about it.
3. The media is our biggest enemy, if you're athletic, you eat well and you know yourself that your weight is healthy for you - muscle weighs more than fat, you aren't feeling wobbly, you get up every morning feeling great - don't let other people's opinion of "healthy" deter you from what you're doing.
SO let's get back to it, why on earth would I be talking about this? Well, to catch you up I'll start from the beginning.
Throughout my teens and early 20's I was blessed with a high metabolism. This allowed me to live how I liked, off junk food, booze, cigarettes - you name something bad, unhealthy, I probably ingested it. All of a sudden, as I began to approach my mid 20's I realised a change, I was in an extremely unhappy place socially and began to comfort eat without realising. I became lazy, and instead of drunkenly dancing off the calories every weekend in nightclubs I simply sat in, played computer games or, in line with the economic climate at the time, got drunk at a friends house.
Queue a rude awakening. It took years before I realised I had a problem, while sometimes I would feel happier thus be somewhat slimmer, my weight fluctuated sometimes to the point that I really had difficulty with certain tasks - walking up stairs etc. Now, smoking will have contributed to this, and while supermodels make it sound great - smoking really does not keep you skinny, or dampen your appetite. I tried gyms, classes, diets, but I simply had no self control. Anyone who knows me knows I perform everything to excess. This has not always been a positive trait.
Eventually I was handed an olive branch, the offer of a cycling trip. The awakening then dawned on me clear as day, when I volunteered I was met with doubt. That. That I was not expecting. This clearly meant something, not just to me, but the outside world and how I was viewed. Was I really that much of a mess that people thought I couldn't even ride a bike?!
So here I am now. Around the date of that "awakening" I weighed 87kg and am 171cm tall. At my level of sedentary existence that put me right into being classed as obese. It took me a total of 12 months to get to 63kg, start cooking for myself, permanently quit smoking and most importantly - start to enjoy being alive.
It's really, really, REALLY easy to fall into a trap of denial. You almost don't notice yourself beginning to fester, but it happens. It can happen to anyone and it's common. However it's not something that YOU can't fix. You don't have to spend a fortune on equipment, you don't have to join in with groups if you don't want to, hell you don't even have to do it in public... but you do have to do something.
If you feel unhappy, if you feel unfit, don't let it turn into depression, don't let it ruin your life and your wellbeing, don't let it become a negative role model for the future. Make one small change and, if you like it, make another, and another. It takes nothing to be exactly what you want to be, whether that big or small, just make sure it's healthy.
It doesn't matter what age you are, it doesn't matter how quick or slow you are, it doesn't matter what you wear or how you do it - there are no excuses bar the ones your own irrational mind will try to make up in order to keep you wallowing around in a sugary swamp of self pity - get out and use the body you were gifted - not everyone has that chance.
 |
| Me during my more...hazy..days. |
 |
| Meeting one of my favourite DJ's "back in the day" ..actually during my unhappiest times |
Now, it's important to understand that obesity is not necessarily best described by a quick BMI calculation. There is a huge difference between "weight" and "fat". It's important to understand that popular media is quick to undermine this fact and attempt to brainwash you all into believing that skinny is healthy, or even that curvy is best or muscular is fantabulous.
Some of the greatest athletes of our time would be classed as obese if using the simple BMI charts you see hung up on the walls of GP's surgeries....but then this isn't to say these charts are to be discredited immediately. Let me point out a couple of important notes to consider when it comes to weight;
1. BMI is a guideline - but this is not a "get out of jail free" card.
2. You will know in yourself, if you're concerned that you're at the top end of the BMI chart and you know you're unfit - this means you need to do something about it.
3. The media is our biggest enemy, if you're athletic, you eat well and you know yourself that your weight is healthy for you - muscle weighs more than fat, you aren't feeling wobbly, you get up every morning feeling great - don't let other people's opinion of "healthy" deter you from what you're doing.
SO let's get back to it, why on earth would I be talking about this? Well, to catch you up I'll start from the beginning.
 |
| I was given a choice in 2012, and I made the right one. |
Queue a rude awakening. It took years before I realised I had a problem, while sometimes I would feel happier thus be somewhat slimmer, my weight fluctuated sometimes to the point that I really had difficulty with certain tasks - walking up stairs etc. Now, smoking will have contributed to this, and while supermodels make it sound great - smoking really does not keep you skinny, or dampen your appetite. I tried gyms, classes, diets, but I simply had no self control. Anyone who knows me knows I perform everything to excess. This has not always been a positive trait.
Eventually I was handed an olive branch, the offer of a cycling trip. The awakening then dawned on me clear as day, when I volunteered I was met with doubt. That. That I was not expecting. This clearly meant something, not just to me, but the outside world and how I was viewed. Was I really that much of a mess that people thought I couldn't even ride a bike?!
 |
| My first race 2013 - competition has given me a new level of focus and control. |
 |
| This shrank! |
If you feel unhappy, if you feel unfit, don't let it turn into depression, don't let it ruin your life and your wellbeing, don't let it become a negative role model for the future. Make one small change and, if you like it, make another, and another. It takes nothing to be exactly what you want to be, whether that big or small, just make sure it's healthy.
It doesn't matter what age you are, it doesn't matter how quick or slow you are, it doesn't matter what you wear or how you do it - there are no excuses bar the ones your own irrational mind will try to make up in order to keep you wallowing around in a sugary swamp of self pity - get out and use the body you were gifted - not everyone has that chance.
Comments
Post a Comment