Fat and Happy

Fat and happy. I've heard the term before. Dr. Phil says if you haven't done something about your weight, there's some kind of pay off you're getting that you want more than getting the pounds off and everything that goes along with that. I can't remember the exact way he said it, it's been years since I read his book. But it has stuck with me. It's true. If you choose to eat that candy bar, it's because you're getting something when you eat it. Happiness? Satisfaction? Stress relief? I don't know, whatever.

People say "fat and happy" like it's something great. I first started hearing that term when we entered the world of the military. Guys from one branch of the military would say that other branches let their soldiers get fat and happy--less physical stuff, more lenient weight requirements, etc. I'm sure it was all (mostly?) just talk, all the branch rivalry talk that military people like to do.

But I've heard the term in lots of other places and from lots of other people, too.

Fat and happy.

Fat and happy.

Happy why? Because you get to eat what you want and not have to do all the work it takes to manage a more healthy weight? Because you get to sleep in an hour later than you would be able to if you got up to exercise? Because fast food is quick and easy and tastes good, and if you adopt the "fat and happy" lifestyle you get to have it without feeling "guilty?" Happy because you like the holidays to be about the food? Because getting out of breath doing every day things is fun? Because there's satisfaction in loosening your belt after an artery hardening meal? Because you like that clothes shopping is much more of a chore you put off than a something fun you look forward to?

I get it. I do. Believe me. If anyone knows about eating, I do. And if anyone knows about counting every calorie, waking up super early to exercise, using a food scale, cutting certain "good and yummy" things out of my life, I do.

But I also know that "fat and happy" just doesn't work. Anybody who thinks they're fat and happy--I think it's really safe to say that they are wrong! They probably really think they are, though. I respect each person's right to be who they are, to choose what they want, and to be in charge of their own health. I respect each person's right to be in whatever mindset they're in. If it's a fit, active, healthy thing, then great. If it's a sit around all day, do nothing, and eat like a pig, then great. And if it's somewhere in the middle, that's great. It's okay!

But I'm not buying the fat and happy thing.

I've had a taste of the happiness that comes with being active and eating healthy. I'm still a long way from my goal weight, and life is getting really hard for me right now. I have a lot of great ideas, I know exactly what I need to do, and I just don't have it in me to win right now! (More on that later). So I can't claim to know how great it would feel for me to be at my correct weight, or how it would feel to buy amazing clothes and have fun putting complete outfits together that will make me just want to go out into the world just so I can go out wearing those clothes. I can't claim to know how great it would feel for me to do something like run a marathon. Not that it would feel like a party for the whole 26.2 miles, but for the feeling I'd get going through that finish line knowing that I did something like that. You just can't put a price on that kind of thing, and I have no idea how that would feel.

But I can claim, now, to know how it feels to achieve physical things in life that I never thought I could. Years ago I participated in a "lazy-man's triathlon" through the YMCA. We had to do the same things as a regular triathlon, but not all at once. We had to keep a log of our biking, swimming, and running. And a one hour step aerobics class (or other cardio class) counted as 2 miles. Stuff like that. You could run on the track, the treadmill, or the elliptical. Whatever. If you finished it all in 3 months, you got bronze. Two months was silver. One month was gold. Two weeks was Ironman. I decided to just go for it and work for the Ironman. And I did it! I actually finished in 10 days. Within that ten days, there were many 4 hour workouts. It was hard. But you know what, I did it. Yes, it was lazymans. I'm sure it wasn't anywhere close to what a real triathlon is like. But for the first time in my life, I achieved something amazing that was physical.

But for some reason, climbinb Koko Head in Hawaii a couple of months ago was not only a great feeling, it was life altering. It was a true defining moment. Standing on the top of that mountain, looking down on Hawaii Kai, knowing that nothing but my own work got me there--there's not a feeling like that in all the world! Nothing, nothing, nothing can compare to that. That's a kind of happy you can never in a million years get from the "fat and happy" mentality. Ever.

And guess what? Conquering Koko Head is a happiness that I will have for the rest of my life. Eating a candybar is a happiness that only lasts until it's gone. Then all you're left with is calories. Fat. Sugar. Wreaking havoc in your body. You get nothing lasting from a candybar--nothing that will make you happy, anyway.
And I know that the more I fight the fat, and the "fat and happy" lifestyle, the more experiences like that I'll be able to do.

It's always been a dream of mine to travel and see the world. (Ha, and I have yet to leave the United States). But I have recently added to that dream the desire to not only see, but to do. I don't think I'll ever want to climb Mount Everest. But something like that bridge in Sydney that you can climb to the top of--lots and lots of stairs--I would love to do that! The old me would love to go to Sydney, to see all that. And maybe even see amazing views, if there's an elevator or a shuttle or something. But to get to the top of something like that by my own steam--that would be the best! A friend of mine went to Mexico/South America and got to see a lot of ruins and other church history things, some of which she had to repel down into because there was no other way to go. She's a senior citizen, and she did it. Why can't I?


All this coming from me, who has never, ever ever, been "outdoorsy" or "athletic"--I'm not someone who likes to do stuff like that in my free time. But that kind of stuff has come to me as I become more able to do it. 6 months ago I would have said I could be happy my whole life if I never ran a mile. But then when you do it, and you learn what it feels like to get better and better and to achieve things that are challenging, you get a kind of happiness you never imagined existed.

Fat and happy just absolutely doesn't cut it. And I firmly believe that anybody who believes that they are fat and happy, though they believe they really are, has no clue what kind of happiness they're missing out on.