Diet Update

By: Dennis Bates

It’s been a while since I reported back on my battle with the bulge. There’s a reason for that. The bulge is winning the battle. The good news is that I’ve lost about ten pounds. The bad news is that isn’t close to enough for someone of my size. In fact, it’s barely a beginning. I am also having trouble moving any further. Plateau is the diet friendly word for that I believe. I’ve been through this process before and I know these things happen. I just wish they would happen a little higher up than the number 10, if you know what I mean.

Quite a few years ago there was a minority college fund ad campaign that used a slogan “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”  I don’t mean to disrespect that slogan because I always found it to be powerful and compelling, but if I might add a slightly less serious spin on that slogan for a moment, I would add that “A waist is a difficult thing to mind.”

I’ve never been a small person Short, but not small. I’m not ever expecting to get skinny. My mother used to use words like husky, big-boned, heavy framed. Aren’t mothers great! I would settle for plump, healthy, or even slightly overweight, so in the interest of holding myself accountable, I’m reporting in as I said I would. And I have a long way to go.

Losing weight is important to me for so many different reasons, health being a big one. I have a knee replacement date with a surgeon in the not too distant future and recovery will be a lot easier if I am a lot lighter than I am now. I also want to take walks and do simple things like go to the grocery store and not skip items that are in the other end of the store.

When what you do in life revolves around how many steps there are to get there, it is time to take some action. I have always been an active person, and I want to get back to being more that way, no matter how many steps are involved.

I think there is a spiritual issue involved here too. Being overweight tends to make me focus on self more than others. Can I participate in family activities? Can I sleep with my knee hurting? Can I eat that and still lose weight. Can I…You see what I mean?

A certain amount of that is understandable. I have to take personal accountability for doing what I need to do to correct my behavior, but when that’s all I think about, I don’t have time or the energy to help others the way I should. So, I’m going to try a new, bold approach. I can’t, but He can. That should sound familiar. It’s the method I learned from my blogging partner for a lot of things. I can’t, but He can.

Once again, I’ll keep you posted from time to time about what He is doing.