Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

Sandy Rettschlag

3 years ago

When I was in high school and when I got married I weighed 98 pounds. I was always a skinny kid and the word diet never came flowing off of my lips. Who could ever restrict their eating habits? This was a foreign subject to me. Actually, when I was in middle school I had my mom take me to the doctor to see why I was so thin. He prescribed some pills but assured me that someday I would wish I was this thin. I think the pills were a placebo and didn’t do a thing. So, I continued to be skinny.

The day I got married was actually one of the hottest days of the year. I actually wore an up-to-the-neck, long-sleeved, long to the floor, wedding dress in order to cover bones that I felt protruded from my chest area. As I look over pictures today it really wasn’t that bad, but to me back then it was.

As I have gotten older I have gained some weight. I feel good most of the time and have no desire to diet. I feel that if you eat in moderation and move your body this should be what is the best diet of all. If I was told I couldn’t eat a certain food because I would gain weight I just know I would crave that item and eventually it would pass through my drooling lips. It would be an obsession and I would feel cheated if I couldn’t have it. Total lack of discipline.

I feel we definitely overthink our body image, and the media certainly contributes to this. It seems that this is doing a slight turn and this is a good thing. Too much effort and energy is focused on how our body image should be. As you get older all that is important is that you are at a healthy weight for your body structure, try to eat healthily, and are somewhat active.

I find when I am bored I eat. I also feel that when you focus so much on your body image you tend to enjoy life less and obsess over trivial things more. Talk is not the cure, but action is. I found being active as I did Jazzercise for many years. This kept me at a good weight, gave me energy, kept me flexible, and just plain made me feel good and accomplished. This was enough for me.

There is a joke that if you live in Wisconsin you are automatically fat. I resent this but do notice the ads in warmer climates don’t show overweight people in swimsuits. I suppose they can be more active because of the climate whereas Wisconsinites put on their snuggies, drink hot chocolate before the fire and whala, ten pounds gained. Yikes.

I am sitting at a restaurant as I write this and out of the ten people that I am observing, at least six of them need to lose weight.

So, on that note, I need to get my butt going!!!!