Today I found a site that is called This Is Why You Are Fat… it is basically a colection of food that people have submitted that are ‘CRAZY’ fattening.. and look oh so good 😉 I suggest you look at the archive to get the full effect.
So this got me thinking… Exactly ‘why’ am I fat?.. I mean I understand the intaking more calories than what I burn.. and that my diet needs to be balanced and I need to be active… blah blah blah… that’s not what I am talking about… what I am saying is ‘why have I allowed myself to be fat?’
At the gym today I was in the middle of a normal workout and I saw a man that has been at the gym most of the times that I have been there in the last couple of months… he may have been there before that, but I have been very aware of him only the last couple of months. He is between 22 and 30, thin, dark hair and medium dar complection… I do not know his name and I have never spoken to him… but he is there working the machines everytime I go.. there are many people I see from time to time that I have seen there before.. the reason that he has stuck out to me recently is that he is confined to a motorized wheelchair.
Now I don’t have any idea what his affliction is.. (I woudl guess Cerebral Palsy, but that is only a guess)… I know he has very poor dexterity in his arms and legs and that he often looks very contorted… he seems to be able to walk a step or two if he is holding on to the chair or equipment… this man is in the gym.. working out with no assistant.. no personal helper… occationally he will get help from the gym attendant, but for the most part he get’s himself from chart to machine… does the exercise and then returns to the chair under his own power.
A couple of weeks ago he was in the locker room when I was coming back from the pool and he was in front of my locker… he was on his knees on the floor and he was carefully placing his sandals in front of him… taking care to get them place perfectly… once he had done that he worked his way back ito his chair and then started trying to put his feet in his sandals.. this effort took over 5 minutes (no exageration)… he would get his toes lined up and then try to push them in… using his other foot to try to hold the sandal in place… I was going about my routine but was amazed at the dedication and effort he had exerted just to slip on his sandals…
I may not be describing the extent of his condition here… but hopefully it is understood that his every task, things we all do without even thinking about, each task is a huge effort for him.
So that day in the locker room I thought about how blessed and lucky I have been to have never had to deal with such a disability in my life nor in my children’s lives… I really thought long and hard about how grateful I am for that… but that was not the lesson I should have come away with.
Today I was watching this man and seeing him get into and out of the machines and I realized that he works harder just getting into and out of the machines than I do in my whole workout… I am there (begrudgingly) doing the reps… hating it in my heart and just doing what I think is a good workout.. but truthfully it is just a minimal workout… Sure I am sore at times after, but am I really working with the dedication that I am seeing in this man? If I were in his shoes would I be able to get out and do what he is doing? If I would, then why am I not doing it now anyway? Why would it take something like that to push me to push myself? Would I just give up… like I have in a way?
The lesson I have now learned is that this man is doing what he is doing even though he could just be home in his chair.. but he is not.. and it doesn’t matter what drives him.. what his motivation is.. he is just there doing it. It doesn’t matter what my motivation is or what level my motivation is at that day.. I should just be doing it.. I should just be going to the gym and giving my all every workout… I should be following the diet without fail.. I should be doing it just because I should be doing it… no other reason.. just so I can do it again tomorrow.. because I am able to do it…
Yes I am privileged to be mobile and to be free of serious afflictions and diseases… But that means that I should be working that much harder… I am allowing myself to be fat… period… it really doesn’t matter why.