Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Limitations of Fat Rolls

There is something that I have been unable to move past as of yet. That is that being fat limits you, and your body, when it comes to working out. This is an inevitable fact. There is more to move around, more to balance, more to scrunch and pull and lift. Being overweight makes fitness really difficult.

The secret here is to not let it stop you. There are modifications you may have to make to accommodate the extra fleshy parts, but that doesn't require you to stop moving altogether.

This is where I was on Day 1 of P90X:


I have more rolls than the local bakery, especially on my back. But I'm not letting that stop me.

My entire life I have spent making excuses because I'm fat. I can't do that because I'm fat. I can't wear that because I'm fat. I can't go that fast, jump that high, or put myself out there to draw attention... because I'm fat. But the more I thought about it, it wasn't the fat that was the problem. It was my mentality.

I had gotten to a point where I was using my obesity as a handicap. Excuses not to go places or do things. No one would like me because I'm fat. No one would love me because I'm fat. And no one would ever choose to stay with me if someone thinner came along.

The truth of the matter is, I became my weight. I was no longer a woman, or mother, or wife. I was just FAT. No more than a giant lump of jiggly slimy blubber that anyone in their right mind would avoid. I never took into account anything else about myself. I'm intelligent, creative, loving, and funny. Fat trumped it all.

It wasn't until I changed my mind that things started to get easier. It wasn't until I decided that being fat wasn't going to stop me from doing things that I truly and deeply wanted to do. I wanted to work out and be active. I wanted to lose weight and get healthy. So I started. I changed my thinking, and my body began to follow.

Can I do all the moves that the thin and fit can? Not even close! But I go as far as I can with the solid belief that the more I do now, the more I will be able to do when the fat goes away. I am discovering, in this process, that there are so many things that I have never done simply due to my weight. And the possibility of being able to do those things excites and motivates me.

Is there anything you have always wanted to do, that being obese has kept you from? When I ask myself that question a laundry list of activities pop into my head. Inline skating, biking, kickboxing, running, going out dancing, hiking..... and the list goes on. All of these things were impossible to me prior to my journey to get fit. And now they are possible because I believe that they are within me reach. 

Being fat may limit one's range of motion. But the more you move now, the more you can move next week, and next month... and next year. The only true limitations of being fat live in your brain. Change them there, and once you start moving, being fat will slowly become no limitation at all.

2 comments: