Tough Love and dying......

Love the analogy

I really liked this post, Grim.  Thank you for the reminder that our weight is like a ticking time bomb.  

This was me for so many years: "I am overweight, but healthy!"  My test results were always excellent.  I was active.  Not that I liked being overweight...I hated it.  I did try many things and even adopted some good habits, like regular aerobic exercise and strength training.  But carrying around all that weight for so many years took a toll on me to where when exercising, I eventually got injured again and again, finally developing chronic injuries at the age of just 40, and losing my ability to be very active, then gaining more and more.  I finally had to face it: the weight was like a growing cancer, and I had not taken the steps to get rid of it.  By then, it seemed my own efforts, which were increasingly desperate, could do nothing to stop my decline (decline in health, increase on weight).  It was time to do something drastic.  

My surgeon spoke to this in our pre surgery seminars.  He said, for example, that a heavy college football linebacker may be very healthy at one snapshot in time, but that BMI is one of the best predictors...OVER TIME...of problems down the road, for whatever reasons.

Anyway, your comment really resonated with me.  And it is a reminder I am happy to hear often.  Thanks.

Well said. My cousin is a critical care nurse and sees the horror stories, too. Sadly she sees all the negative weight loss surgery stories first hand and therefore will never consider weight loss surgery (I try to explain that there are many many more of us doing well than not, she just sees the worst cases). 

It took me until my 40's to really realize my health not only affects me, but everyone who loves me. I never want to be a burden to anyone as I get older (due to my bad choices) so I will continue to fight tooth and nail for my good health. 

I came on here tonight looking for help on how to get back off the carb wagon. I haven't made it a secret that I am a carb addict - I have a horrible sweet tooth. Chocolate has been my go to for as long as I can remember. Typically I can take one hershey kiss (dark chocolate of course) and other days - like today - I eat 7. This isn't a typical occurrence. Normally I eat well and watch my carbs, I alway**** my protein goal, and I always get my vitamins, but somedays the chocolate craving takes over. 

Anyway, Your post is a great reminder why we need to resist our temptations otherwise there could be grave consequences. 

I've found myself in the same boat recently, someone mailed me a bag of Valentine chocolate and it completely kicked my ass. I chucked the rest of the candy in the trash and stocked up on other snacks instead. 

Maybe it would help to just not have any chocolate around? You can't eat what you don't have handy, which is why I don't allow cookies into the house.

You've got this!! :)

Thanks for posting. I am afraid of screwing this whole thing up, that is why I am on here everyday. The years catch up with you and you realize you are not invincible. I love the crazy banter on this website. It has personality. I've gone on other forums and they are boring....

i have experience as a first call driver, have seen death same as you OP, at point of impact. we all die very soon. i say live as you want to live and be happy. so long as you do not hurt others and don't blame others for your own shortcomings i've got no problem with folks

we all die. some of us faster, some slower, some by our own means, and some quite by accident. i see people who live well, and have lived a good life, and die early regardless. "live and let live" while we are here, mind your own business, and get on with our own lives, i say. i haven't much more to offer but your post was thought provoking, so thanks

also instead of prolonging life, tubes hanging out, making death a long, sad, drawn out expereince, the medical profession needs to let people die imo. no more artificial life support, no more long, expensive treatments, no more families "torn apart" by what is an eventual certainty for all of us. life is for the living imo, not the dying. let dead be dead, and the dying die. acceptance is the key. the living will carry on until our time comes. which will be very soon even if you were literally born yesterday and live the best life you can. the world has several billion more of us to take up the slack. no need to drain the sick and dying dry on the way to their final resting place while dragging their loved ones down for good measure

care for the sick and dying, love the dying, and be compassionate. but never blame them for their own death or sickness. it is after all the same death we will all know soon enough whoever we are, whatever we do. and people who "play with their bodies" love life just as much as those who don't, and are just as valuable. maybe they will die sooner, and maybe suffer more? or maybe not. we just can't say, can we?

but death is coming just the same. in the end we can just take care of ourselves the best we can. if some do it better than others, good for them. i do it pretty well but i always assume others are doing the best they can, too. if they could do better, they would. if they have any regrets at the end, its their own. i am only grateful for what i can do for myself. we are all falling apart, decaying and fading away. even as i type, i am. i am wearing my body out daily. we are all part of the same compost heap and headed in the same direction. and once we are gone, we are gone. our memories don't go with us, our lives and how we lived ceases to matter to us, who we were will be remembered by some, but not by us. away we go....hopefully we were happy. even if we died of being morbidly obese none of us are far behind. so, enjoy those twinkies while you can. and remember to hug a leper and the sinners, too 

live, and let live. and let die, as well. it'll be ok 

Gee, Raze... Aren't you just a great, big, ball of sunshine.  I'll skip the Twinkies, eat healthy, and take my chances for a long, happy life.

If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life... 
Always look on the light side of life...