Opus 2017-011: I Have Met the Enemies

As I look at the coming year I am determined to make progress in my physical well being.  I can’t do much about the threat of nuclear war and I am not worried about global warming or cooling but I can work on my health.  My major enemies are calories, appetite and sloth.

About five or six years ago I got serious about my diabetes and lost a lot of weight.  Since I was too heavy to weigh on any normal scale it is hard to tell how much I lost.  It could have been as high as 150 pounds.  That really doesn’t matter.  What matters is as my weight went down I moved from diabetic to pre-diabetic to “If I had to evaluate you now, I would say you are not diabetic.”  I lost enough to dodge a bullet.  It worked for me but everyone is different.

The problem is that the bullet is still out there and will always need to be dodged.  So I have not given up.  I am still fighting the battle but the bullet keeps getting closer and closer.  My weight keeps creeping up.  Why?  I feel like I am still watching what I eat yet the numbers refuse to stay down.  One reason is I am getting older.  The sad part of the issue is that my metabolism is not burning energy as well as it did.  There is nothing I can do about that.  The alternative is to not get older.

Enter the enemies.

Calories have a way of not getting counted.  You know the old lie, “One bite won’t hurt.”  No, it won’t hurt, but it will still count.  One extra Life Saver a day adds up to a pound a year.  Then there was the clerk at the See’s Candy store that said, “Our candy doesn’t have any calories”.  We both knew she was joking but too many times we act like it is true.  As I move along I also start counting calories by eye rather than honest measure.  Is the apple, small, medium or large?  How much is one bite of ice cream?  I fool myself into thinking I am consuming less calories than I really did.  Calories are like physics:  They do not lie.  Gravity will not go away.  Neither will the 3,500 calories that make up a pound.

Appetite tends to rule.  Honestly, was I really hungry?  I am not sure I know what real hunger is.  I am good at fooling myself but again the proof is in the pudding when the pudding is in the belly.  I think I consume almost half my calories in the evening.  Is it because I am in need of sustenance or seeking solace? 

Finally there is sloth.  I need to get out and exercise.  As a middle school teacher who does not sit in class and read the paper, I am pretty active during the day.  I got one of those gizmos that keep track of your steps and quickly realized I was meeting my quota.  That is not the same as getting out and walking for a half hour straight.  And what am I going to do when I retire? 

The battle continues.  I have lost ground.  That is the bad news.  The good news is I have not given up the fight.  You all know those times when you go on a diet and lose some weight and reach the nadir.  You can almost feel when you set the discipline aside and pick up the excuses.  I have not reached that point and with God’s help will never reach it.

I need a donut.  Just kidding.

homo unius libri