Once a Fat Man, Always a Fat Man

My friend Colleen pointed out to me yesterday that I refer to myself as a fat guy even though I’ve lost a significant amount of weight. She wonders why I choose to do that, and I think my love handles are the best answer. Kidding aside, there are a couple of reasons that I do it.

First of all, I still have weight to lose, a fact to which aforementioned love handles can attest. More than that, though, I think that there’s a point to be made here about mental attitude. I think it’s dangerous, not to mention lazy, to ever think of yourself as “finished.”

On Track and Off Track

I think that we, if we are people who desire change for ourselves, must first change our mental pictures. Whether I want to quit smoking, lose weight, get more fit, or whatever, I think that it is most productive to think in terms of “on track” and “off track.” Can anyone really say that they set out on a path of self improvement and finished?

I don’t think so. I mean, obviously, even with a separated shoulder and a bruised/battered body I am pretty awesome, but “finished”? Never.

“On track” is something that you can be even if you haven’t lost a pound yet, and I think it also helps when things aren’t going your way. Sometimes you’ll have a week where you did everything right but the scale doesn’t show a big loss.

But that’s okay because you’re on track. Feel me? On track is a state of mind.

Separating Emotion from Hunger

I have to remind myself that I have lived for a lot of years with a fat man’s screwed up perspective that mistakenly equates the feeling of being full of food to being spiritually full and vice versa. I have labored long and hard to change my mental perception of hunger such that it is detached from sadness or depression.

See what I’m saying? Yes, I realize that low blood sugar can cause a person to feel down, but that’s not an excuse to stuff myself at every meal. Also, having a growling stomach is not the end of the world. It just means I need to eat something.

Actually these days I kind of prefer to not eat until my stomach is making growling noises. Feels good, man.

A Fat Conclusion

So I guess what I’m saying is that I just want to stay on my toes. Oh, and I want to be able to see my toes.

Fat man out!