The Land of Denial

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Yesterday I caught a segment on one of the morning news programs about a southern state that is raising insurance rates for obese individuals. What interested me was one of the individuals interviewed for this segment. The man was morbidly obese and absolutely furious that his state would soon be charging him more for insurance. I'm not here to debate the pros and cons of this state's decision - as a formerly morbidly obese person myself, I know it would have been upsetting if I would have had higher insurance premiums. What caught my attention was that while this man ranted and raved against his state, he was eating a donut and smoking a fat cigar. It was amazing to watch and I couldn't help but think that while this individual was obviously engaging in "in your face" behavior, there was also a certain amount of denial going on. While he munched on his donut and smoked his cigar, he contended that he was perfectly healthy and didn't believe his obesity would ever cost his state a penny. He obviously believed he could continue his behavior indefinitely without consequence. For his sake, I hope he can, but the odds are definitely not on his side.

Denial is such a dangerous thing. I've been there, and I'm guessing that most everyone reading this has been there, too. Sometimes denial kicks in because the prospect of getting to a healthy weight seems overwhelming, perhaps even impossible. The problem is that while we may be in denial, our body is keeping track of what we're doing to it. We may be able to fool our mind, but we can't fool our body. For me, my denial came to a crashing stop when I was diagnosed with diabetes. At that point, I came face to face with over twenty years of morbid obesity and unhealthy habits. It was a pretty depressing time as reality hit me like ice water in the face. But the reality of my situation finally began the journey that brought me to this program and, ultimately, to my goal.

I hope your days of denial are over and that you're finally ready to finish your journey towards a healthy weight. It's not always easy, and the temptation is always there to stick our heads back in the sand. Dealing with the reality of our weight and, perhaps, the food issues we may have, is hard work. But when we address those issues honestly, it's amazing how much progress we make!

*****

My husband and I are leaving for Chicago in a little while. We're spending the night at a hotel near the airport because we have a 6:40 AM flight tomorrow morning to Salt Lake City. We're going to be attending a Take Shape for Life leadership retreat at Sundance Thursday-Sunday, then we'll spend a couple of days in Park City, Utah with some friends of ours. My husband will fly home on Tuesday and I'll fly to Los Angeles to spend a couple of days with my aunt. I'm meeting up with a friend and fellow health coach next Thursday (she lives about an hour from my aunt) and then going with her to a weekend conference in L.A. October 23-24. I'm flying home October 25, and I think I'll be ready to be home for a while :-).

While I'm gone, my access to the internet will be intermittent. As a result, I will not be posting a daily commitment blog. I'll write and post as I can, but in the meantime, you all know the drill: stay on plan :-).

Blessings!