“Don’t look back with anger, i heard you say…”
Today’s post ties in (is partially duplicated) with a follow up comment I posted on another bloggers site. I’ve mentioned Lisa in the past because she is truly amazing (literally the poster child for healthy eating and exercise to change your body shape) but she’s got a new site so here’s the link (with my question to her).
So I know I’m posting the question to you all (none!) here – I’m interested to know how you feel when you look back on pictures of yourself at your overweight/unhealthier self?
Personally I really struggle with looking at the significantly bloated version of myself, almost to the point of really disliking/hating that guy and everything he represents (mainly a complete lack of respect for my body and personal health).
I know this kind of thing (looking back at scary pictures of yourself) is good motivational fuel but at the same time I’m somewhat embarrassed for people to see those pics and I know I’ll regret it even more in the future when I have kids (if I am so blessed that is) as they’ll really wonder what their dad was doing to himself.
I guess it’s a sad reflection of our body image perceptions in society these days but I don’t really respect that guy (the fatter version of myself) so can’t imagine how anyone else did either.
While I don’t know if it was just me and my self confidence but when working in sales in the past I definitely found that being leaner/fitter seemed to make me much more successful in my job. I was selling enterprise level software packages to large companies (and not anything health and fitness related) so you wouldn’t seriously think it would make a difference but my honest opinion is that it did for some reason.
Now the really hard question, (which I quite honestly considered avoiding blogging about) – ‘Do I personally have less respect for fat people?’
Well sadly I think the answer is partially a yes. I don’t believe it has any impact on my work/business relationships or decisions I make in regards to purchases etc. However I do often look at overweight people (friends and family included) and wonder why they don’t do something about their weight (with close friends and family I have often tried to encourage change but it is a very difficult topic) and in that way I think I respect them less for not looking after their health as a priority.
Typing this now makes me quite emotional in a way that is difficult to describe – I think I’m going to leave this for the time being and try and understand my thoughts and emotions a bit better so I can describe them more clearly.
The one very strong thought that always pushes it’s way to the top when thinking about my personal respect and body situation is the reminder to me that I am exceptionally lucky, specifically as I have an amazing wife who seems to love me no matter what, and I can’t imagine where I’d be without her (and I wish everyone was so lucky to have someone to love them no matter what).
‘Is it love to accept people for who they are or being willing to stand up and push them down the hard road?’
Nomorebigfella
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