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Not bad for a fat girl

Tag Archives: health


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But What Is My Body Saying?

This eat the right thing and get enough sleep and make sure to move my body thing just hasn’t been working out recently. I could give you all the reasons, but honestly, it will just sound like a list of excuses, so I’ll spare you the details and just skip it.

This, of course, has been an ongoing battle for me. Sometimes things click and I do well, and other times I slip into my old bad habits and any progress toward improving my health habits quickly disappears. It’s frustrating, especially since it’s purely my choices that derail me.

I had a conversation the other night with a yoga instructor about some of these struggles (as we were enjoying our cocktails and hors d’oevres). She has worked with all sorts of people over the years, with all sorts of body types and issues. She is also human, as has had her own struggles over the years. She has changed her diet more than once, and her advice to me was, “listen to your body.”

It sounded like good advice. Our bodies, after all, are incredible. They do so much for us, and they constantly make tiny adjustments without us even thinking about it. The whole keeping the heart beating and keeping the lungs breathing routine is awe-inspiring. The body is no dummy, so it makes sense to try to listen to it. I’m okay with this idea. In fact, I kind of like the thought.

The problem, however, is that my body and I don’t seem to speak the same language. I have no idea what it’s saying much of the time. I confuse fatigue with hunger, and I often allow myself to get to the point where I’m completely parched, or the opposite, my bladder feels as though it might explode. How come I don’t take care of these things earlier? I just don’t really seem to notice or understand the signals that my body gives. Either that, or my body gives me the wrong signals.

That was certainly the case during my pregnancy. I didn’t even know I was pregnant for five months. Yes, you read that correctly. And no, I’m not a hillbilly, I took Human Growth and Development in school. It’s just that my body didn’t react the way that most bodies do. As in, I didn’t know I was pregnant because I was bleeding every month. TMI? Sorry, but it’s true. By the time I knew I was pregnant at all it was late December, and by the time I found out my real due date (at my first appointment with an actual MD), it was the last day of February! My boy was born, full term, on April 1. Fitting, don’t you think?

So that’s a brief history of the lack of communication between my body and me. Yes, I will try to listen a little bit closer, but jeez, it doesn’t always work!


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Why Being Fat Sucks

(Originally published July 1, 2013)

Here are a few random and not so random thoughts of why being fat is a sucky thing. A lot of them are totally obvious, but there might be a few on here that you’ve never heard anyone say or maybe you haven’t even thought about them. In no particular order, I give you lots of reasons why being fat sucks.

1. Huffing and puffing with no intent to blow anyone’s house down.

2. The look you get at the doctor’s office when you head for the scale, even if, as in my case, all the staff are amazing and kind. Even if you don’t get the look from them, you imagine it in your head.

3. Getting in and out of your boyfriend’s Mustang is a chore.

4. Overheating and then feeling like a sweaty pig.

5. Having trouble keeping all your nooks and crannies clean and fresh.

6. Actually worrying about whether wall mounted commodes are fastened securely enough.

7. Never being able to use the tray table on the airplane because it forms a downward angle as it rests against your belly.

8. Speaking of airplane, living in fear of the seatbelt extender. I haven’t had to use one yet, but the last flight I took gave me a good scare.

9. Sitting very carefully or choosing to stand if furniture doesn’t seem to be sturdy enough.

10. People stare at you and are mean sometimes. They are.

11. Stuff is too small for you. All kinds of stuff that you might not expect, like boots that don’t fit over your calves or watches that have straps that are too short.

12. Trimming your toenails is like an Olympic event. Even tying shoes can be a real challenge.

13. People who care about you give you all sorts of well meaning advice and even give you newspaper clippings just to remind you about how dangerous and awful it is to be fat.

14. You take medications for things that you wouldn’t need to deal with if you weren’t hauling around all the extra weight.

15. Buying clothes. ‘Nuff said.

16. Not being able to ride all the rides at the carnival or amusement park.

17. Not being able to go horseback riding (but really, did you ever see Bonanza? Hoss was bigger than I am!).

18. Not being able to reach the top of the trail when hiking.

19. Feeling overwhelmed and “less than” when in fact I’m “more than.”

20. Sometimes it’s hard to remember to be kind and good to myself.

Feel free to add your own, after all the more we can keep these in mind, the more likely we’ll be to banish them forever!

Swings

Swings (Photo credit: brettchisum)

 


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Avoid Melting – Eight Ways to Keep Cool and Avoid Premature Meltdown

Friends, it’s 138 degrees outside and I’m slowing turning into a large puddle of goo.

Okay, so the above sentence is an example of hyperbole (don’t you just love that word?), which is a literary device that ten year olds are supposed to know and use correctly, but I digress.

It’s hot out there. Yes, I live in the desert Southwest, and it’s June. Yes, I knew this was coming, and Yes, I’m more or less okay with it.

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Here are a few ways to melt less:

  1. Wear the right clothing. In my case that means a knit cotton sundress or a loose t-shirt and elastic-waist shorts. Nothing is tight, nothing chafes, and the fabric breathes. Yes! Sexy? Debatable. Practical? You bet!
  2. Baby powder is your friend. I know, I know…if you use it in parts unknown you might have bad things happen to your bits and pieces. Well, my suggestion is DON’T do that. Use it where your parts rub together. Yes, that means along the bra line, ladies. Trust me, it helps.
  3. Wet washcloths. This one is from my childhood. No matter how sticky and warm I feel at night, a rub down with a wet washcloth always seems to help. Not drying thoroughly helps too. Evaporation cools you off, at least a little, and you won’t feel so grubby either.
  4. Fans, fans, fans. We’ve been keeping our air conditioning set to a higher temperature to save a little money, so we’ve been especially enjoying the fans. Ceiling fans are great for circulating the air, but floor fans are good too. Especially if you’ve just used tip number 3.
  5. Water. Water in the body, water on the body, water surrounding the body. Drink it, bathe in it, swim in it, use it! Water is your friend.
  6. Shade. If you must go outside seek shade. If you must leave your car in a parking lot, seek shade. Shade is so important that if you don’t have it you might need to create your own. Shade tents, long-sleeved shirts, and even umbrellas can save you from the sun’s wrath.
  7. Relax. This is not the weather for marathon training, at least not outside. The less energy you expend, the cooler you’ll stay.
  8. Take a cue from the kids. Eat a popsicle. Jump in a swimming pool. Run through the sprinkler. Munch on some watermelon, if you like that sort of thing (I do not). Relax and watch a movie. In other words, have a great time without over-doing it.

And don’t forget about your pets. DO NOT leave them out in extreme heat, even with shade and water they can meet a terrible fate. That goes double for the car. No living thing should be left in a car when the temperatures are well above one hundred degrees. I know you’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating…LEAVE NOBODY IN THE CAR in this heat.

If you take my advice you should be able to survive the explosion of your outdoor thermometer with no problem. Good luck, and keep cool!