Like most of you, I’m quite familiar with all of the claims about obesity and why being fat is supposed to be so bad for your health. But I’ve also read sites like Junk Food Science and others whose goal is to debunk a lot of these so-called myths about obesity. In my opinion, the bulk of these discussions are never really about health but about the politics of fat, and as a result forces the fat activists and weight loss Nazis to take a position, leaving the rest of us floundering some place in the middle. But I had two wake up calls the past couple of weeks about why being healthy is not just about weight loss.
Wake up call #1: My mother is a breast cancer survivor and went for a colonoscopy and they found a polyp. Even though I understand polyps are very common, especially in people my mom’s age, it made me very nervous and it was a loud reminder of why being healthy and taking care of your body is so important.
Wake up call #2: Let me just state for the record that I hate insurance and wish that the United States had universal healthcare. The health insurance industry takes advantage of people in their most vulnerable state, ill health, and most insurance does not cover preventative care. Anyway, I went to the doctor several months ago and recently received a bill because my insurance only covers one well woman visit (which includes blood work and pap smears) per year. So if for some reason you need to get two pap smears per year, it won’t be covered. It’s absolutely maddening.
I don’t believe that a healthy diet and exercise alone can prevent cancer necessarily, but I would rather eat well and be as healthy as possible to avoid being sickly. When I get to the heart of the matter of weight loss and health for me, it comes down to wanting to be as healthy as I can be for as long as I can. When I walk the streets of New York, especially in poorer neighborhoods, I see what sickness does to people and all I know is I don’t want to be in that situation if I can help it.
What was your wake up call?
My wakeup call was when I learned I had gestational diabetes, while pregnant with my daughter. I was 38 and about 50 lbs overweight before I got pregnant. The gestational diabetes diagnosis hit me like a ton of bricks because my father has Type II diabetes. So it was pretty likely that I would have it too, at some point down the road. I lost a little weight after giving birth, but after I stopped nursing I gained 20lbs. When my daughter was just about a year old I said that’s it, I have to do this, or I’ll never be able to keep up with her, play with her, etc. I started eating healthier and exercising more. After a few years I lost about 65 lbs and have kept it off for the last 4 years. I’d love to lose another 15 and am working on that now.
Congratulations on keeping the weight off, Gina because that’s probably the hardest part. Diabetes is a disease that has horrible effects on the body. My maternal grandmother died of diabetes complications after suffering two strokes and having both of her legs amputated, but I think it’s important to separate lifestyle behaviors that cause diabetes and complications from weight loss. Eating whole, real food and kicking the sugar habit is the remedy and weight loss is the by-product of that remedy. But chances are if you’ve decided to lose weight, you’ve likely changed what you’re eating.