I don’t think on H-town blogs asked about overweight bloggers. Why, she asked, are so many bloggers overweight? I actually thought she answered her own question.
If two-thirds of Americans are overweight, then most bloggers are going to be overweight.
I personally am thrilled that bloggers are trying to lose weight. That seems like a plan to me.
I don’t want to be overweight for two reasons. One, I want to look good. Two, I want to be healthy. (Read old blog entries for health stuff.)
I’ve gotten a LOT better because I have changed my diet. When I was a vegetarian it was taking all my energy for an entire day to do a load of laundry. I do literally mean putting it in the washer, moving it to the dryer, folding it, and putting it away. That was it.
And changing my diet lets me be more active. It doesn’t make me be more active, but it lets me be.
Today I went out and mowed the lawn, in the middle of the morning, because it needed mowing. I didn’t get it all done (we’ve had rain every day for a month and the ground is waterlogged), but I mowed. I remember the last time I went out and tried to mow, 15 pounds ago, when I had to come in and ask my son for water, food, and a towel because I was collapsing. I didn’t even make a quarter of the lawn that day.
So, yes, I’m on a “diet.” But it’s not a stupid diet. Have you read it? Two hefty proteins, two small starches, four reasonable veggies, three reasonable fruits, two protein supplements, and the vitamins and minerals I need. Add in some caffeine to boost my metabolism.
I obsess about it, perhaps, because it is not easy for me to make good food choices. It helps me to keep my focus and remember what my goals are to write about it. And the progress is sometimes so small ONLY writing about it makes it visible.
And really, to stay on it, this diet minimizes food choices for me. I like to eat cheese. I like to eat Italian. I adore pasta. I adore bread. But I don’t eat pasta and I don’t eat much bread either. Not because I hate myself, but because I like myself. I want to be healthy. I want to look good.
Not just because looking good is exciting, but because looking good is one of the symptoms of healthy. I don’t want to be super skinny. That’s not necessarily healthy. (See anorexia relapse in the news, if you don’t know that.) I do want to be able to buy clothes in the regular stores. Why? Because it means I’m getting healthier. I’m the “right” size if I can buy my clothes in the regular stores.
Right now, I can. I wear sizes 8-12 right now. (Although I am sure there are some stores I would wear a size 14 in.) But I know I’m not healthy. I’m not at a weight where I can walk for hours without pain.
Over my lifetime, I’ve gained weight. I lost most of my weight after both my boys were born, though I gained HUGE amounts when I was pregnant. But I remember fighting to get down from 150. That was 12 years ago. Three years ago I was fighting to get down from 195. I’m never going back there again. But I want to be HEALTHY. And one measure of health is weight.
So I blog about it. It helps me keep focused.
And, yes, if you saw me you would think I was overweight. But I’m going in the right direction and that’s the important thing right now.