My Thinning Struggles

One early foggy morning, I was out jogging as part of my effort to thin down. Slowly, I had become more fit and was not returning home as sweaty, and was having to jog for longer times. I had seen joggers carrying those hand barbells and decided it would help me attain more exercise in a shorter time. Being short on cash, I looked around and found two wood splitting tools, both sharp looking. This worked a charm, and that foggy morning, I was nearing home, properly worn out, jogging down the sidewalk. Looking over the top of the line of parked cars, I perceived a car coming toward me out of the gloom, with a petrified cat on top. I made a split second decision to rescue the cat, so I jumped out to wave down the car. The lady took one look at me and sped up, screeching around the corner, with the cat desperately scrabbling to stay on. As the car disappeared, I decided to make myself scarce by quickly returning home in case the police showed up looking for a crazy man. I realized that morning, that women driving alone don’t stop for large men who jump out from between parked cars on dark foggy mornings, waving sharp instruments.

Losing weight was dangerous in other ways also. On a previous diet, I had tried the Dr. Atkins no carb diet. Soon, all food, and even life felt washed out and gray. I quickly realized that I needed to consume a moderate amount of carbs. As soon as I modified the diet, the joy came back. I was lucky that I modified it quickly. My wife, long before I met her, stuck to it so long that once she got onto an elevator and couldn’t remember what to do. The Doc said that there were faster ways to die, but get off the diet or she would.

This diet started because I needed to get insurance, but was rejected for my weight. I asked a dietitian friend for help, and she put me on an exchange list diet (sometimes called the diabetics diet – it works great and you eat healthy.) Unfortunately, she set up the calories for my ideal weight. Thus, at first, I was losing weight at a rate of four pounds a week, way too fast. Now, I have watched other people eat. They decide to skip a meal, and are clear-headed all the way until the next meal, eight hours later. I, though, get muzzy headed quickly. At first, I just make the occasional mild mistake, but if I don’t eat a meal within four hours, it quickly spirals down. I have gotten to the point that I could not converse. I quickly learned to adjust the diet to have snacks every two hours. As I got closer to my goal, My weight loss slowed and finally stopped at my goal. I also benefited because I was more resistant to the problem of the muzzy head, though I still could not go eight hours without eating.

More recently, I was driving a forklift at work. I was again trying to lose weight and tried skipping breakfast. Occasionally, I would have an accident, but nothing major, until the third time. That time, I managed to mash a finger between the forklift and a beam. At the hospital, the Doctor told me that I didn’t break my finger … so much as smash the bone to smithereens. Since all the pieces were still in place, they just sewed me up and immobilized it. It is mostly functional now, but I have developed a different strategy about health and weight. I still want to lose weight, but I try to walk 5+ miles a day. I am following the MIND diet. There are ten things to eat; berries, tree nuts, chicken, fish, olive oil, 1 glass of wine (I eat grapes instead), beans, green leafy veggies, other veggies, whole grains. These have been proven to keep older brains sharp and reduce the chance of Alzheimer’s. Am I thinner? Not much, but instead of skinniness, my focus has been on being healthy and strong.

Though the Bible says there is benefit to exercise and eating right, it emphasizes the need for spiritual exercise. Do you question what you were taught? I do. I believe that each and every word of scripture, in the original, is inspired. Man’s interpretations are not inspired. As I question, I agree with much of what I was taught, but not all. Studying is like the eating part of the diet. Then there is the exercise component. A person who diets but never exercises loses muscle mass and fat. They become a skinny fat person. Similarly, it does nothing to be one who studies all the time. One must use what has been learned. As you go out into the world, you use your new spiritual insights. Soon, you are spiritually “buff,” able to stand victorious in most all circumstances, to say nothing about the other people that you have lead into this spiritual “diet” that makes us “thin and fit.”