The Struggle to Lose Weight
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011
Obese people have a very simple solution to their problems, which is to lose weight. However, the difficult part is not how to get rid of it but rather how to effectively get rid of it. It’s not merely a physiological condition, it’s a psychological form of self-torture just trying to shave off a few pounds, it’s a struggle that most people don’t seem to see. It’s harder than just throwing away most of what you have in your fridge; it’s an addiction that must be properly addressed.
In our society today, being fat is something to be ashamed of. Our television and radio personalities are almost all thin and attractive people who gain clamor just for being so. Living with excess weight makes your life difficult, both in practical terms and in self-esteem issues. Although I may not be addressing the situation directly, I want to share with you how obesity is more a psychological condition than an outright disease.
The Embarrassment of Losing Weight
Now this is something that isn’t properly addressed in most weight loss circles. Like it or not, people will stare. You are the elephant in the room; the big blotch that stands out. Much as people like to hit the gym to lose weight, it has a visual component to it that can play games with your self-esteem. This discourages you instead of helping you move along with your weight loss; you’ll feel that you’ll never be like them. Ever.
I’ve had a couple of friend called Terry (not his real name) who was overweight. After he mustered enough courage to apply at a gym, he soon found that it was an incredibly intimidating experience. He only went through a handful of times before he called it quits. Of course, he didn’t really quit; he just quit going to a gym. And I tell you this: going to a gym might not help, but an active support from your friends will go an incredibly way to helping in losing weight.
Other Alternatives
Another problem with Terry when it comes to exercising is that it doesn’t “cooperate” with him. I don’t know if you ever had the experience of trying to get on a bike when you’re overweight. It’s a daunting experience to be sure, but good thing Terry didn’t call it quits just yet.
Here’s what we did: Me and a couple of guys got together with Terry and we would plan trips to a nearby beach. Now it wasn’t terribly crowded of course, which pleased Terry since this meant swimming without an audience. And I must say, after two months of planning Terry actually shed a few pounds on top of getting a . Although it didn’t look like he lost weight, he had fewer problems with his knees and back when he did his short jogging rounds.
We learned a lot from Terry’s workouts. Although we didn’t expect Terry to get far (and believe us, we’ve seen him try for years), we found out as long as you get him started he keeps pushing himself. Although there is the problem of controlling his food intake (don’t worry, I’ll explain this in detail on my next article), he got through it when he started getting results. A year later, Terry has substantially lost his drag fat, and boy does look like somebody who doesn’t have chip on his shoulder anymore!
