Found on my friends page:
Aug. 16th, 2006 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dennyhttp://adjectivemarcus.livejournal.com/389299.html - some wise words on the subject of size/weight.
I've been thinking about this subject quite a bit lately, because unlike Marcus, my weight and shape have changed dramatically over the last three years. The initial immobility and then reduced mobility from the accident started the process, and changing my diet at the start of this year has accelerated it considerably.
Also unlike Marcus, I'm not entirely happy about my current shape - I imagine that's a function of change. A stable body is clearly one that's happy where it is and messing with it seems foolish... a body that's shifting around seems a bit more arbitrary, especially if it's been pretty much the same size and weight for the ten years preceding the changes. I've put on around 2 stone* in the last couple of years, and I've lost a lot of muscle tone. The latter I'm slowly rebuilding by going to the gym (hence the change in diet this year, to fuel this rebuilding), but the muscle seems to be rebuilding under the layer of flabbiness that the immobility engendered. From reading around, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to shift the flab with the amount of effort that I'm willing to put in to my exercise/diet/etc, and that does bother me - I'm used to being scrawny but toned. However, I'm aware that I'm probably healthier at the new weight, flabby or not, so I try not to let it bug me too much.
Anyway, I've lost my thread, but I think that was most of what I started out wanting to say. Um, discuss amongst yourselves :)
Ah yes, Kaz has reminded me of another train of thought that was tied in with this one, which is the way people (particularly online, but also in real life) will hasten to point out that your body (or art/work/dancing/whatever) is 'fine' when you talk about your problems with it, rather than actually addressing your point - which often has little to do with reality, and much more to do with your own perceptions of yourself. I don't think that just pointing out ones own perception of reality is going to achieve much to resolve someone else's false perception. Even less so when the perception isn't necessarily false - in this case, I'm talking about (a) having gained a signficant amount of weight in a fairly short period, and (b) how that makes me feel - that's not false, because (a) it has happened, and (b) it's about how I feel, not about whether I'm right or not. Finally, I'm aware there are worse shapes to be than the one I've currently got, but this is the worst one I've ever been, so to me it's quite a big (sorry) issue.
* or to look at it another way, my weight has increased by more than a fifth.
I've been thinking about this subject quite a bit lately, because unlike Marcus, my weight and shape have changed dramatically over the last three years. The initial immobility and then reduced mobility from the accident started the process, and changing my diet at the start of this year has accelerated it considerably.
Also unlike Marcus, I'm not entirely happy about my current shape - I imagine that's a function of change. A stable body is clearly one that's happy where it is and messing with it seems foolish... a body that's shifting around seems a bit more arbitrary, especially if it's been pretty much the same size and weight for the ten years preceding the changes. I've put on around 2 stone* in the last couple of years, and I've lost a lot of muscle tone. The latter I'm slowly rebuilding by going to the gym (hence the change in diet this year, to fuel this rebuilding), but the muscle seems to be rebuilding under the layer of flabbiness that the immobility engendered. From reading around, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to shift the flab with the amount of effort that I'm willing to put in to my exercise/diet/etc, and that does bother me - I'm used to being scrawny but toned. However, I'm aware that I'm probably healthier at the new weight, flabby or not, so I try not to let it bug me too much.
Anyway, I've lost my thread, but I think that was most of what I started out wanting to say. Um, discuss amongst yourselves :)
Ah yes, Kaz has reminded me of another train of thought that was tied in with this one, which is the way people (particularly online, but also in real life) will hasten to point out that your body (or art/work/dancing/whatever) is 'fine' when you talk about your problems with it, rather than actually addressing your point - which often has little to do with reality, and much more to do with your own perceptions of yourself. I don't think that just pointing out ones own perception of reality is going to achieve much to resolve someone else's false perception. Even less so when the perception isn't necessarily false - in this case, I'm talking about (a) having gained a signficant amount of weight in a fairly short period, and (b) how that makes me feel - that's not false, because (a) it has happened, and (b) it's about how I feel, not about whether I'm right or not. Finally, I'm aware there are worse shapes to be than the one I've currently got, but this is the worst one I've ever been, so to me it's quite a big (sorry) issue.
* or to look at it another way, my weight has increased by more than a fifth.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-16 02:08 pm (UTC)Unsurprisingly really, I basically agree with what Helen's said - having made a choice about how much effort you're prepared to put in to having the shape you want, you should make sure you're confident that it was the right decision for your overall happiness, and then just start working on accepting the results.
I guess I'm a bit further on than you, having been stable at about 2 stone heavier than I'd ideally like for a couple of years now, and I have found it getting easier.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-16 02:14 pm (UTC)Well summarised :)
It does seem like something I'll come to terms with fairly easily - I'm good at not worrying about things that I've decided are inevitable - but it's really odd to find myself thinking about my physique at all - it was so static for so long.