OK, so we know that if we moderate our food and actually do exercise, we are on the right path to weight loss and a healthy lifestyle but is the paranoia of your weight still weighing you down.
An example of this, I joined a TRX class back in January having no notion of what it really was and off I went to the class.
I arrived to something that looked like it flew out of an urban version of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Rope like instruments hanging from the ceiling with the intention of us putting all of our weight into the rope like instruments. Now, there were bars across the ceilings and the ropes (I'm sure there is a technical name for them) were attached to one bar, that meant that there were 5 of us pulling out of the one bar. In my head I start doing the calculations, me, with 4 men, whom weren't overweight but were big enough lads. I started to think that instead of putting all of my weight into it, I would pretend. Imagine the bar broke when I went and put my weight on to it, I would have been mortified.
This did not go unnoticed and the lovely trainer, whom I will now call Mr. Grey, said "Claire, don't worry, look" he then proceeded to turn monkey like and jump up to the bar and swing as if he was born in the jungle "if it can handle me, it can handle you".
What Mr. Grey did not know, was that I had 9 Stone 1 pound of paranoia on top of my body weight. It hit me really hard. What other people now saw was not how I was experiencing things.
2 years at goal, a WeightWatchers leader and I was still obese in my head. Sure, the shopping for clothes is brilliant, but I still clung to that mentality, that nervousness of weight.
For that class I actually think that I probably worked harder than I ever have because I was so trying to maintain my body weight without putting the weight onto the bar and constantly monitoring that we all weren't putting pressure on the bar at the same time "safety first" and all of that. Still, Mr. Grey was none the wiser and continued to swing and jump request that we follow his lead.
To make the matter worse, my awkwardness and lack of coordination skills meant that I hit the person beside me at least twice. I was so tired afterwards firstly from the fifty shades of grey like activity but mentally from trying to gauge weight distribution, but I soon forgot about it and moved on.
A little while after that I was in class and I was saying to people that they should throw away there old big clothes, or for those at the beginning of their journey, the safe clothes, you know the clothes that we always feel comfy in, they stretch, they hide and they probably cost us a fortune because big clothes ain't cheap.
People were so reluctant, firstly because they clung to the comfy, myself included and because they told me, that those clothes give them hope because they can change and they can see a distance of how far they have come and secondly, they were embarrassed to bring the big clothes to charity shops because of the size of them. The number on the tag gave away far too much information about them.
This I understood, when I used to bring my clothes to the charity shop, I would drop them off at 5 to 10, right before they opened, so that I wouldn't have to show my face so they couldn't match me with the clothes size. This was not a planned thinking, it was just that I preferred not to give to much away.
Then one member said that they would give them away if it was for a good cause and if there were no tags on clothes.
This got me thinking, it was pretty good idea and the classes seemed to agree.
What if we made a patch work quilt of our old big clothes. We could then donate, our Blanket of Hope to Pieta House, along with a donation to them. There were no tags involved and our hope clothes could be turned into something decorative, while recognizing that for some of us, our weight directly affects our mental health. I wasn't sure if it would fly, but this has been the response so far.
From my Goatstown class alone, so far, the weight loss in these clothes amounts to 679 pounds of weight. That's nearly 50 stone. Some of the most reluctant members donated their clothes.
It was so strange because people really opened up to the class about their weight loss and how much of it was in the meeting room. I felt that people actually started to release themselves from the paranoia of weight, myself included. I used the big trousers not just as a trophy but also as a guilt stick. I fat shamed myself with my clothes and I was also a little afraid that I might return to them.
It's all about choices, if your losing weight to become healthy, one must make the mind healthy aswel as the body.
Thankfully now we have 4 classes contributing to the Blanket of Hope, one in Cork, Clare, Northern Ireland and Goatstown.
If your attending any of these classes, your leaders will be asking you to donate your big clothes.
Release yourself from the paranoia og your own weight, don't body shame yourself, use it to create your hope.
Mind your health, body and soul.
Weight Watchers Blanket of Hope
Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!
No comments:
Post a Comment