A Healthy Disease

I walked at Garst Mill Park this morning, 3 miles. It's supposed to get very hot over the next few days and I felt like I needed the scenery. I didn't do very well yesterday with drinking my water and eating my fruits and veggies. I didn't do the treadmill either. Colin was sick and the weather was pretty dreary and honestly, the dogs just really weren't up to it.

I did manage to spend some time on the Wii Fit and got about 30 minutes of pseudo-yoga and strength training in. So, it wasn't a complete wash.

I got to thinking while I was jamming around the greenway this morning about why I haven't told anyone (other than my husband) about my efforts to get fit (e.g. walk to London/this blog) or about joining WW. I came up with a couple of hypotheses.

First, maybe I just don't want to tell anyone in case I fail. Maybe I've just been through this so many times before I don't want to have to see them fight off an eye-roll or choke back a sigh or worse, a chuckle.

Or, more likely, it's because when you tell people you are trying to improve yourself, in this case by losing weight/living healthier, it's like telling them you've come down with a disease. Oh, they know in the back of their minds that this 'healthy' disease is treatable and most likely you'll be back to your old self in no time. But, in the meantime, they don't know how to treat you once you reveal your diagnosis. They patronizingly pet you, they act as if you are breakable and they no longer know whether to include you in 'normal' activities anymore. ("Well, we didn't ask you to go out for ice-cream with us because we know you're trying to lose weight." Bullshit.)

The best way to handle the news that someone is trying to lose weight and improve their health is to act as you always did before. Say something like: "Well, good for you!" and then go on about your normal routine. Don't talk about all the things they used to eat, don't try to say you're fat too and you know you should lose weight (even tho your size 6 ass can chug a pint of KFC gravy and never show one pock of cellulite) and please save the story about how you know someone who got really really fit and then suddenly stroked out (with 2 kids, no less!). And for God's sake don't try to sabotage them. Sabotage can be so subtle and subversive that sometimes even the saboteur himself doesn't realize what he's doing.

I want healthy living to be effortless. I don't even want to call it healthy living...there is no need to qualify it...it should just be living.



PS - Skinny Cow ice cream sandwichs are delish!