Dangerous Denial

Right now I am in full-blown denial that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and a month from today is Christmas.  Never mind I'm having over 20 people at my house for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow - I am struggling to believe we're here already.  Our mild November weather has made it feel more like fall than time for the holidays (not that I'm complaining, of course!).  Denial or not, tomorrow IS Thanksgiving, of course, so I will get into high gear shortly to prepare for a house full of family.

Denial comes in all shapes and sizes, and we can choose to act on what we know is the true reality or allow denial to lull us into complacency and inaction. 

I was watching Jay Leno last night as he interviewed the latest contestant to be voted off "The Biggest Loser."  I was interested to hear that in addition to being a fire fighter, this individual also serves as a county coroner.  Jay asked him if he ever looked at the bodies of people who had died due to obesity-related causes and thought that it could be him, and he didn't hesitate as he responded "no."  He acknowledged that he was basically in denial.

I spent a lot of time in denial, weighing myself every day and watching the scale continue to go up - all the way to 268 - while I refused to acknowledge the risk to my health.  I'd see my weight reach a new high and then get off the scale, get dressed, and eat a high-fat, high-calorie breakfast.  I somehow believed that if I didn't deal with the reality of where I was, I would be able to escape the consequences.

The problem with denial is that it doesn't change reality - denial only gets in the way of enabling us to deal with reality.  If we spend long enough in denial, we can actually limit the choices available to us.  My mom didn't deal with the reality of her diabetes until she'd lost part of her vision and had kidney damage.  Her diabetes is now much better controlled thanks to losing 40 pounds on Medifast and continuing to use the products to help her manage her disease, but sadly this didn't happen in time to prevent the damage.  The family member we buried yesterday ignored troubling symptoms for months, including inexplicably losing close to 100 pounds.  When he finally agreed to see a physician a few months ago, he was diagnosed with advanced Stage 4 colon cancer.  Once diagnosed, he underwent aggressive treatment, but it was too late and he died five months after his diagnosis.

Denial about the gravity of obesity won't change the fact that it threatens our health and may well shorten our lives.  We may tell ourselves that what we do today doesn't really matter, perhaps we even promise ourselves that we'll start eating better tomorrow.  The best thing we can do for ourselves and our loved ones is to make the choice to face reality, even when it's hard.  Once we stop being in denial, we are in a position to begin making positive changes.

The choice is ours - we need to choose wisely :-)