I'm swimming in the premenopause pool and if I could go back and rip the fork from my 30something hand I would.
Oh, yeah. If only at 20-something and 30-something we could get a visit from out older selves and not only hear what we need to hear but SEE what we become.
The last time I was "normal weight"--ie, a weight inside that medical chart for my height, I was getting married. I would crawl on the floor to beg my younger self, that new bride, to be vigilant, disciplined, and know that health issues would derail her life at age 30, so do something NOW to keep the immune system and health as good as possible. And should it all go kaplooie anyhow, to not gain the 10 pounds a year as a stay-at-home chronic sickie, or I'd do more damage.
I'd crawl on my face to ger her/me to avoid the future of morbid obesity.
But we can only rip the fork out the hand of the self that is the exact age we are today. That's all we have.
And our next-decade-of-years self will thank us if we do it now. We can only change the future for HER, the me-yet to-be, the you-yet-to-be. The me that was, well, she went along obliviously and, here I am. Stuck with her lousy choices.
Here WE are.
If you are still a woman well before "the change," CHANGE NOW. Learn by my mistake, Diana's mistake, the mistake of every woman who only tries her hardest to change when she's facing the big 40 or big 50 or big 60.
Do it while your body is at its peak. Learn new habits of healthy eating and movement when your metabolism is revving along. If you're 20 and obese, do it now. Look at older obese women and BE VERY AFRAID. Do it noww, while you have healthy joints and can exercise harder and longer. Do it while your hormones are on your side. Do it now that so many books and blogs offer wisdom and help. Don't spend the money on frivolous things like cute clothes or shoes or a beach vacation, that will not change your health: pay for that gym membership, that training, that nutritionist.
Do it when you have all those years stretching before you...full of potential for vitality.
It only gets harder. It only gets worse if you wait. Your joints start to wear, and exercise becomes tricky. Habits become ingrained even deeper the longer you have them--lose the overeating, non-exercising habits NOW.
You don't wanna be in our shoes--middle-aged and struggling.
Can't fight the past. Can't bring back our youth.
Can only change the now and hope that makes for a better future.
A healthy week of future-creation to us all!
~~
4 comments:
Your comment on my blog about photographing yourself with every piece of furniture & musical instrument really did make me laugh out loud!! :)
That's a great post!! Thanks for putting it in words so nicely.
So true, and yet, I think even seeing what would become of me weight-wise, I'd still make the same mistakes.
I thought I was fat at 135 pounds (back in my youth) and had trouble losing and went up on the scale regardless. I think I actually HAD to get to this point to realize how importantr my health was to me.
I agree that this was a GREAT posting!
And I totally agree that no matter what the age - NOW is always easier than later.
I could have written this posting a year ago.
And then I had an eye opening experience.
I had the blood work down to see if I WAS premenopause. And I was NOT. All the things (sluggish scale mostly) that I was blaming on hormones - was mostly in my mind. I totally realize this is just me and my body (I am 47 1/2) and someone else at 45 might be totally on the other side of the change. But I was NOT.
The first thing that I did was to have an ablation. My over bleeding was really disrupting my life and my exercise and how I felt about my body. I barely have any period at all now - and many women with this surgery have none at all - ever again.
This made a huge difference in my life. I can swim any day of the summer now - instead of not being able to be in the pool 2 weeks out of every month. I am not walking around with double protection half the month and dreading it the other half of the month.
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