When a Life is at Stake

Recently I was misdiagnosed with a serious disease. Further testing revealed that I am fine and healthy. But between the first test and the second were two serious weeks when I thought I might die early.

I want to say that I'll never look at myself in the mirror without thinking of what I could improve, but I have a feeling that years and years of living may diminish the shock that this moment brought me.

But for now, I'm just happy to be able to eat a wide variety of foods, foods that due to the original diagnosis I could not eat: cheese, wine, chocolate, espresso, bread, butter, ice cream. These are foods that make me happy. They give my life more dimension. They aren't a necessity of course, but they're nice to have.

I am thankful for all parts of me. For having the curves I have. That the body I have is strong. It can lift weights, can lift me, can dance, can make love.

When your life is at stake, the body you have has to be strong. It has be healthy. It doesn't have to be a certain size or number or shape. It just has to be vigorous. That's what we should be striving for. A vigorous mind and a vigorous body. Nothing more, nothing less.

Go Operation Beautiful

I read this article about the strides body diversity is making in the minds of women. It's a start. Now where's my post-its. I'm ready to post a million on the door of every gym!

Passage from A New Earth by Ekhart Tolle

"In the West, it is the physical appearance of the body that contributes greatly to the sense of who you think you are: its strength or weakness, its perceived beauty or ugliness relative to others. For many people, their sense of self-worth is intimately bound up with their physical strength, good looks, fitness, and external appearance. Many feel a diminished sense of self-worth because they perceive their body as ugly or imperfect.

"In some cases, the mental image or concept of 'my body' is a complete distortion of reality. A young woman may think of herself as overweight and therefore starve herself when in fact she is quite thin. She cannot see her body anymore. All she 'sees' is the mental concept of her body, which says 'I am fat' or 'I will become fat'."

p. 49-50

Personal Training the Trainer

My roommate and I are both interested in being personal trainers so we're going to train each other for the next couple of months. As we were talking about trying to eat healthier to correspond with our healthy exercise routine, she said something that stuck with me. She said, "You have a contract with your body. When you take care of your body, your body takes care of you." It's true. When you give your body good food, your body functions really well--it protects you from illness, you're regular, you're full of energy, you can do the things you want to do, it carries you through life. When you break that contract, it breaks that contract with you, too. When you consistently choose food high in fats, you break that contract. When you don't give your body the veggies and fruits it needs to function at a high level, it doesn't uphold the contract either. You feel tired all the time. You want to sleep instead of run. You want to watch TV. You get more exhausted. Interesting. Just a little thought for today...