Everyone gains weight undesirably. The access unsought body load bulks up mostly due to submissions to uncontrollable food cravings. It begins to feel heavy as we put on weight yet we trade it off with yearning desires of taste. Momentarily the pleasure of satiating taste buds overpowers every other problem that may have seemed to exist. These momentary pleasures, for some, convert into unsurmountable bodily puzzle. So much so that they can’t even lift their own body, literally.
I have seen heavy weights; some incredibly out of shape in bulk. During swimming sessions, I’ve seen bulky men plodding into water uncontrollably. I am never a heavy weight though I’ve put on weight on and off. Weight gain is marginal for me mostly; never a life disturbing plight I see many inevitably engaged in. With that said, I must accept I did gain enough weight to relate it with hardships brought to one’s physical comfort.
How awful it is to know that our body weight almost co-exists with our life weight! If we are gaining some weight remember we are also putting on some weight in life somewhere.
I used to believe I wasn’t heavyweight until I realized that an obsession of shopping and acquiring unnecessary things was a life weight I carried for many years, unknowingly.
Imagine our life becoming so heavy that plodding life waters becomes most gauche, helpless, and graceless effort. We submit to unnecessary desires and we begin to lose accuracy in balanced living. A friend has bought a luxury car? How come I haven’t bought such one yet? Member of a peer’s team has successfully completed a project overnight? How come my team is not pulling off late-nights well? A fresher has been promoted just under a year? How come I’m still at the same position even after 3 years? Rise of vicious circle takes horrendous shape! Baseless comparisons, without perspectives, are so heavy that our life unknowingly submits to its yearning! Making life extremely heavy weight.
Many years drift before we realize that value of things we acquire equals its usage. If we don’t use it, it’s value remains zero. Most things we buy aren’t actually used as much as it should have been. Some things aren’t even used for once! Only over a time do we acknowledge those useless things we might have acquired unnecessarily.
It takes considerable time from our life to shed weight. To get rid of unnecessary burden professionally, personally, physically and spiritually. Many aren’t fortunate to even understand matters that make heavy load, leave aside shedding it all.
All of us talk about ‘weight’ and some enlightened ones also talk about ‘fat’. Knowledge of science makes us evolve. Knowledge of fitness that results from converting fat into muscles gives a great hope. New knowledge means new look. New fitness equipment, new setup, new gym, new sports clothing. Everything as per demands of newly acquired knowledge of converting fat into muscle. We begin to exercise assuming our weight is our fat and if we lose weight we’ll lose fat.
As a matter of fact, our weight isn’t our fat. However, both are enveloped in such a way that fat remains almost imperceptible until major weight is shed.
It’s like this. When we are busy dealing with big things, we barely pay attention to small things, right? Small little things that get ignored but might be important. Small little problems that remain unresolved forever.
I remember I used to swim (and train under a coach) for 3 hrs daily a few years ago to stay competitive in National Masters Championships. Waking up early in the morning and doing workouts until it was time to leave for office. I somehow failed to notice that despite 3 hrs of training, my stroke was hardly improving. I couldn’t sprint more than a length of a pool. I couldn’t imagine taking extra leap if I had to beat any competitor timings. Swimming great strokes and sprinting looked obviously herculean, a long long way to go. However, my belief changed overnight the day I met another qualified coach. Things changed drastically as soon as I started training under him. With just about 1.5 hrs a day and with an approach to pay attention to minutest of detail now, I noticed major change in my strokes, speed, tempo, endurance…everything!
‘3 hrs daily workout without any remarkable improvement’ was the silent fat in me for years. I took non-improvement for granted may be because I wasn’t a childhood swimmer. I never questioned it because I thought my physical limits, that come with growing age, might be causing it all. Once I began to pay attention to things I ignored over years, I can’t explain how miraculous it’s to tell fats from weights.
Afterwords:
Weight gain feels heavy. It gives an uncomfortable itch. Our body gives signals of discomfort physically and mentally both. It’s the noticeable bulk and we are usually aware about it.
Fat is very tricky. It remains greasy and sticky; mostly in things that we ignore. Fat remains silent and feels part of us as if it’s our nature. It’s impossible to spot it unless we pay attention to small little things we often tend to ignore.
Epilogue:
Whenever we feel heavy we need to shed the load. PHYSICAL as well as MENTAL. Load that makes us feel heavy need to be told ‘good bye’. Learn to say good bye to unnecessary weight.
Whenever we ‘ignore’ things that feels needful, start paying attention. That’s the fat ready to be converted into muscles during our workouts. That’s the problem that can be addressed if we want it to be addressed.
Dealing with fat (to be continued…)
