Altameroy Blog

Everyone wants it. If we have the perfect body, it becomes a
race to keep it. “I can’t gain that weight back.” If we don’t
have it we resent it, some to inconsolable longing. This longing
can verge on an obsession to extreme measures (Al Roker). We
strive for those low body fat numbers 8-10% for men and 15-20%
for women. We count calories or eat low carb for that perfect
thin body. We want all traces of rolls, dimples and squishy,
puffy soft skin gone. All signs of gravity lifted. Our age needs
to be defied. We want tone, taught and lean skin and muscles. We
have to look like models and superstars who are paid thousands a
day to look the way they do. Lithe. long, lean, sinewy, wispy
even drawn. Pay no attention that these stars can afford the
time and trainers to exercise 4 hours a day in the pursuit of
perfection. There’s a plethora of diet books out there. We’re
all studying weight loss. Each new book brags a new solution.
But the diet industry has grown as large and swollen as the
American public’s waistlines. Diets, pills, patches,
concoctions, procedures, prescriptions and remedies to
supposedly ‘cure your condition’. Meanwhile health care costs
are spiraling out of control from high cholesterol, high blood
pressure, diabetes and other diseases exacerbated by being
overweight. We can turn away from it in anger, disgust or
frustration, to give up and get fat (1/4 of America). Or
continue from one diet to the next fad, yoyoing into obesity
(other 1/4 America). What is going on? As life gets easier with
our technological advances and our economic success we become
more sedentary. Is it the increased need for instant
gratification causing the obesity? Or is it mass produced fast
foods with no nutritional value that are just too easy to
acquire? Add to this a sedentary lifestyle. Speaking of instant
gratification, liposuction seems an easy solution. It will suck
the fat away making us look perfectly thin but our blood
chemistry doesn’t change. We’re still overweight inside, ripe
for heart disease and sure to gain the weight back. The weight
then tends to come back in all the wrong places exacerbating the
situation (look out Nicole Smith!) Self-esteem and body weight
are inextricably linked. I have to say that the recognition I
receive (as a woman) for being slim is real. Generally the
thinner I am the more positive the response. My experience
probably reflects others, in that the social recognition for
thin is insidious. Media, society, and culture reinforce these
perspectives. Self-esteem and body weight I conclude are
inextricably linked for most. It will take more than a
rebellious few such as Queen Latifa who’s refreshing attitude
expresses “Thin for who? For what? I like my meals! I’m happy
and successful! And I like being full figured!” Her message
liberates perfectionist thinking. She’s got curves and her body
fat is probably a healthy 25%. The pursuit of the perfect body
then becomes a self esteem issue. If we want recognition we
can’t eat, drink or be merry! We need to always be in control to
uphold these rigid standards. That’s the rub. For naturally fun
loving, giving and sharing folks who want to enjoy life while
being healthy and productive here’s a solution. Lose control!
Queen Latiffa does it by taking off on her motorcycle going from
here to who knows where. Lose yourself in something you love to
do and forget the rest. I call it ‘zoning’ when I lose myself in
my writing, exercising, playing with kids, music, conversation
sometimes even in housecleaning (Beware: this ‘zoning’ thing is
contagious and starts to infiltrate everything you do). Just
lose yourself in the moment, and find the zone within. It builds
self esteem, burns calories and generates bliss at the same
time. What if we all completely forgot about having a perfect
body and refocused on being healthy? We’d lose all the emotional
baggage that comes with perfection. We’d focus instead, on
health and feeling good. We would eat properly and sensibly and
exercise. Lots of vegetables, lean proteins and some whole
grains. Nutrient packed foods, which have negative calories
because they’re work for the body to break them down. It’s the
man made foods that tempt us and make us eat too much because
they just taste so