Slow
and Steady
“Eventually
one has to find a way to eat and be kind to one's body. I am not a
metaphysician, but this is the body you're going to have the entire
time you are here. The only nourishment that can give a body and soul
the feelings we crave is profound self-love and the union with that
sacred part of ourselves.”
Anne
Lamott (Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, p.154)
In Almost Everything,
Anne Lamott includes a chapter about dieting—about how much energy
we put into losing weight only to regain it. Besides being hilarious,
(“The good part is you don't have to start blending your coffee
with Tibetan yak butter.”) she reminds us that the roots of
self-loathing begin in childhood and keep growing deeper if we don't
make them conscious and find ways to dig them out. Never in a million
years did I imagine I would ever concern myself with weight. I was a
skinny kid who was made fun of as a child and young adult. But, alas,
with decades adding up, I've put on pounds I find distressing. I
figure a bit of karmic debt is being exacted for having had an
“attitude” about people who carried extra weight.
As I've increased my time
at the gym, I've noticed an uptick in numbers of other folks there
pounding away on treadmills and stationary bikes. Like me, most of
them are trying to drop that extra ten that seems to have claimed
squatting rights on belly and thighs. One of the hallmarks of the
hamster wheel of gaining-losing-gaining is shame and self-rejection.
I know that being slimmer is healthier in most cases, but we don't
help ourselves toward health by feeling embarrassed by our miraculous
bodies. Just the opposite, in fact. I believe, and science backs this
up, that the more we hate ourselves, and reject our bodies, the less
healthy we become—body, mind and spirit.
Another mistake we make
is believing that rapid weight loss is desirable. Most diets,
regardless of the particulars, will produce precipitous weight loss,
followed by slower loss, followed by steady gain. When we
starve ourselves and punish our bodies, we increase our carvings. We
not only put the weight we've lost back on, but we invite a few more
squatters in as well. The trick is pairing better eating habits,
which we all know about—more fruits, vegetables, less fat and
starches—with moderate exercise, and deep love and appreciation—of
ourselves, our bodies, and our beautiful spirits. And then, slow and
steady as she goes. As Anne Lamott states, “Well, this brings us
full circle, to just trying to do a little better, today. That is the
secret of life.” This is your
body, given to you by grace. It
is sacred. Just try to
do a little better by it today, and I will too.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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