Personal Training: Obesity epidemic: How do socitey percieves you versus how you perceive yourself -

Obesity epidemic: How do socitey percieves you versus how you perceive yourself

Personal Training:

How Society Perceives You Versus How You Perceive Yourself
We all look at ourselves in the mirror (naked) from time to time to notice imperfections. We complain about it, yet don't have the necessary motivation to make a change. If you look at the plastic surgery industry, however, some people actually do something about it. They go to extremes with liposuction or tummy tucks. How does society perceive overweight people? When people are obese, walking down the street can be humiliating for them. Others point them out and say to their young kids, and I quote: "You see this person, if you eat too much, you'll look like him or her." This shows how judgmental society can be.
We live in an era in which being thin is the only way to be. If you are predisposed to being overweight because of medical problems, you are well aware that those who judge have no understanding whatsoever of our situation. Surely, you've heard the phrase "The first impression is the only good impression." That applies to many scenarios from job interviews to meeting the parents of your future spouse for the first time. Employers are fanatic about hiring sales people who are tall, muscular, and well mannered. Although the overweight candidate may have a better understanding of the job and what has to be done, the more muscular or thinner candidates will often have an advantage of being selected for the job. Since salespeople do represent the company as well as their reputation, employers can't afford losing potential clients by having an overweight sales rep. Some readers will agree that society has come to a point at which whatever we do, it's never enough. If we lose weight, we need to lose more. If we look good, we need to look better. Look at all the models whose career depends upon their bodies, the amount of pressure they have is unrelenting. They have to look a certain way upon demand. They can't really enjoy food the way the rest of the world does. Many of them suffer from eating disorders. Some of them eat and vomit the food right before digestion can take place (bulimia), and others eat nothing (anorexia); all this to have the required figure. Now, is all that really healthy? Suffering from an eating disorder and restraining themselves from one of the pleasures of life (eating good food) will allow them to appear on the cover of popular magazines and make them impossible ideals for young and impressionable people to emulate. Will this cycle ever end? Society's image is KILLING US. Let's face it.
We are taking our bodies beyond the limit. We are starving to look our best or at least what society tells us is best. We are using drugs to accelerate our metabolism and burn more calories while resting. We are destroying our internal mechanisms to be thin. We're pointing our fingers at those who have attained our ideal of the perfect body, saying how crazy they have to be to get their figures and especially dwell on all that they must have suffered along the way, but inside we all want to look like them. We try all the diets on the market hoping to lose weight and keep it off. You must have tried at least one of them; this is why you are reading this book. Probably nothing else has worked for long. You are trying to find the miracle diet, which will change your life forever and make you look the way you want. Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to reality. Each body is different. If you are genetically predisposed to be overweight or obese, it will be quite impossible to look like them. Your body is structured to be this way. You will lose weight, don't get me wrong, but erase the possibility of being that "THIN". It could be an unhealthy weight for your body type. I speak based on experience. I was overweight during my teenage years. My classmates saw me as an obese young boy with no friends. Young kids can be so cruel. Being teased all through grade school into high school can destroy your confidence. My only vice was my love for food. It became my best friend. It took over my world. Instead of doing something to change my eating habits and maybe my social life, I was becoming fatter. I didn't find any alternatives; it seemed there was no way out. High school was the toughest years of my life. I am not the only one that suffered the same cruel treatment. Millions of overweight kids everywhere in the world are being teased at school. Pressure on these kids is everywhere. They are being teased and at the end of the day go back home and turn to food for consolation and comfort. They are then getting heavier and their parents usually don't know how to help. It becomes a vicious cycle, like in my case. I had no one to turn to. I was alone, like many others suffering from obesity. Society perceives you as being a weak individual with no control. We look at food and jump on it as if it might be the last time we see it or taste it. I was like that. My parents used to cook great Mediterranean food and I made sure to empty my plate and ask for seconds and thirds. I did have a control problem. My weight had difficulty of controlling itself as well. I was getting bigger and fatter. So the cycle goes on and on. I continued eating, thinking that it was impossible for me to lose weight since I was suffering from a medical problem (I have a thyroid deficiency). Adding both situations together made me gain an enormous amount of weight and it was difficult to lose it. Solution: I set myself realistic goals, reevaluated my food addictions, and learnt more about thyroid deficiency and how the human body works. I analyzed the situation and took control. I would not let food take control of my life. What did I need to do next to make a change? I went for a visit to my endocrinologist. He checked my thyroid, explaining in more detail the problems I faced and how to work around them. Then the question became how was I going to play with Mother Nature and beat the odds. Suffering from a thyroid deficiency makes you prone to gain weight since the thyroid, the gland that control your metabolism, slows down and doesn't function like a normal one. Since your metabolism is slowed down, you have the tendency to store fat from the food you eat. So calories are not burnt as fast and instead, are stored for later use. In return, you gain more weight, although you eat a small quantity of food. You can be on a very strict diet, but still gain weight. Been there, done that.
I will be covering this area in detail in a later chapter.
It did become frustrating, as many other out there suffering from the same disease. I decided to learn more about it. Understanding how the body functions gave me the tools to tackle the problem more efficiently. The questions: How can I lose the weight, if my thyroid is screwed up? How can I beat the odds? How can I look better and reach my goals, my realistic goals, that is? All these questions had been haunting me for years. I've talked to many doctors about that specific subject (losing weight, being hypothyroid). The verdict: Eat more of the right food all throughout the day and you will naturally accelerate your metabolism and lose weight. You will burn more calories while resting and even while sitting on your butt in front of the computer. By eating six to eight meals a day, you will get your digestive system working while accelerating your metabolism and burn fat.
Exercising, ladies and gentlemen, made as well, a world of difference. Anyone who claims that you don't really need to exercise to lose weight is full of hot air. I admit it can be difficult to wake up every morning at 5:00 a.m. and drive to the gym while half-asleep. Once you are there, you need to actually work out. However, you will get used to it. You will start seeing drastic changes in your body and feel healthier. Exercise saved my life.
I took it to the extreme though: Bodybuilding.
You are getting frustrated with your lack of control and determination to eradicate this problem. You are getting tougher on yourself. You want to change. Well, this is what it's all about. This is not just a New Year's Resolution but a "Life Resolution". You want to make a change and STICK TO IT. You are not cheating others by sneaking to the kitchen in the middle of the night and eating half a cheesecake. You are cheating yourself. I realized that myself.
This is your mission: Your mission to a better life: Your mission to a healthy life. We are bright enough to send astronauts to the moon, but stupid enough to eat that poison in fast food restaurants. You will read the next chapters in the book and eventually realize what you are putting in your body every day, while they, the "Fast Food Giants" put money in their pockets. You've seen the TV ads about how buying drugs helps finance terrorist organizations and we hear these people say: "I killed an innocent young kid today" or "I helped bomb a restaurant downtown and killed 15 people. All of this because I use drugs." These examples are similar. However, the context is slightly different and they go this way: "I just helped clog the major arteries in my heart". Any questions?
I hope that this introduction revealed some truth about society's perception versus our own perception of obesity. I hope to have been straightforward in my comments and have inspired you to make a change. The only person to help you is you, yourself. You are the master of your own domain (no sexual connotation, as per Seinfeld episodes). You need to make a change as soon as possible. It is never too late.
You are ready to embark on a very interesting and fulfilling journey. Get ready to fasten your seatbelt. The ride will be long, somewhat bumpy along the way, but your only destination will be the one of a NEW LIFE. A healthy life.