“Forgetting What Lies Behind”


This last week has been one of some retrospection, which I suppose I should have expected following my last entry about the power of words and their occasional “constipating” effects. Remembering my own list of harmful comments for an ediets exercise took me back in time to a place I’ve concluded I don’t need to revisit, although on more than one occasion there’s been an odd kind of satisfaction in doing so – like picking at a scab, I suppose.

I also concluded that there was something more I wanted to say on last week’s subject: That no matter what your weight, you are not a number! You are a human being, marvelously, almost unimaginably complex. Why, then, do you and I allow our perception of ourselves to be reduced to mere phrases uttered by someone else?

Can we agree that we’ll work towards not allowing ourselves to do it again?

This past weekend I bought a new book called The Shaolin Workout. The book’s author likes to say that “Everyone is handsome. Everyone is beautiful.” My immediate reaction to this kind of statement is normally to dismiss it as gooey hooey, yet after a moment or two I realized he wasn’t talking about popular culture’s version of beauty, but the fact that people possess beauty simply because God made them. As the old saying goes, “God don’t make junk.” And if He doesn’t – well, I guess that means we’re all diamonds, even if we need a little polishing!

My homily is almost over, but I want to add that part of a saying of St. Paul has been repeating itself in my head these last several days – “forgetting that which lies behind.” I don’t think the apostle really meant we should forget the past entirely – after all, it’s made us what we are, and sometimes we need to look back – but rather that we shouldn’t carry it with us like a heavy parcel on our back as we move into the future. So I know what I’m going to tape to the bottom of my walking shoes this week – just two words, on two pieces of tape. On my left shoe will be one word: “The.” On my right shoe will be another word: “Past.” And my feet will know exactly which parts of it I’m talking about.

* * * * *

Last week I promised to “get down to the nitty-gritty.” What that means is admitting that when it comes to weight loss – one of the key factors that inspired this blog – my progress in the past six weeks could be likened to a tortoise on Ambien. Part of this is due to the fact that my desire to lose weight fluctuates like a seesaw, notwithstanding health concerns, and part of it is due to the fact that I’ve been busy blogging about other things and got sidetracked.

But the fact is that of today I’m about 61 pounds away from my doctor’s goal weight and 76 pounds from my own…when I actually care about reducing. I don’t know if I’ll make it to that higher number – some say it’s unrealistic at my age. I don’t know if I’ll really be happier if I make it there. One thing I’m finally learning is that peace with my body involves more than a scale number.

“Getting down to the nitty gritty” also means that from now on I’ll be open about how steady my steps have been – from whether I’ve drunk my minimum 64 ounces of water each day, or exercised, or voiced my affirmations, or eaten sensibly, or done any of the other things that are part of my walk, to whether I’m even motivated to do those things. I’ll do this not to brag or give anyone else a chance to feel superior, but to remind myself that I set out to be an example, and leaders of any kind, no matter how small, have to be accountable. Besides, I said at the beginning of this journey that I would share my progress with you – so I’d better start making some!

* * * * *

Time now for this week’s Tool of the Trade. The spotlight today is on another AmeriSciences product called “Carb Right.” This supplement was also recommended by my doctor when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic late last year, and is something he uses when he wants to be “adventurous” at mealtime. Carb Right, according to AmeriSciences, “Aids your body’s ability to regulate carbohydrate, sugar and starch absorption to help you lose weight and stimulates the cell’s sugar-burning capabilities and reduces food cravings with a unique blend of Banaba Extract, Chromium and Gymnema Sylvestre Extract.” A 30-day supply – that’s one pill 30 minutes before each meal – costs $65. For further information, click on over to www.amerisciences.com.

* * * * *

Seems like there’s always more to say than space to say it, but I don’t want to lose my readers by talking them to death. Next week I’ll introduce you to a couple of people I’ve come across recently in my Internet ramblings who also have something to say about “this fitness gig,” and whom I’ll hope you’ll visit at their respective homes on the Web when you have a minute or two.

Who are they? Tune in next week for “Nifty by Fifty” to find out.

-Treader Lucie-