One of most famous lines from a Presidential inaugural speech was in January, 1961 when newly elected President John F. Kennedy said: “Ask not what your country can do for you…Ask what you can do for your country.”
I am going to work off of this theme and bring this to the weight control arena. Here goes:
Our bodies are comprised of countless cells, organs, chemicals, biochemical reactions, etc, etc. We rely on organs such as the heart to pump well oxygenated blood to the entire body. We require our joints and muscles to be in good working order so we can ambulate and accomplish tasks. We are dependent on the cells/proteins/antibodies of our immune systems to ward off destruction by bacteria, viruses and parasites.
We sort of “ask” our bodies to do LOTS of stuff for us to be healthy and happy.
Let’s go to the other side of this: What can we “do” for our bodies? Do we ensure adequate rest to allow our bodies to conserve and recover? Do we put toxic things into our bodies like too much alcohol or nicotine? Are we taking medications for preventable diseases that are causing other problems in our bodies? And finally: Are we allowing our weight to be so high that we are placing many of our organs at risk from the dreaded co-morbidities of poor weight control?
So, I guess my point here is this: Ask not what your body can do for you (which is LOTS)…Ask what you can do for your bodies. The answer starts with being steadfast in your weight control efforts.