The Recitation of the Fox (Part 12) — Get the Body You’ve Always Wanted
The fox continued….
I like digging holes. What if I told you you had to, right now, at this very minute, leave whatever building you’re in and go dig a hole in the nearest ground, with your bare hands, at least a foot deep?
If you’re at your own home, or maybe someplace near some woods or something, you’d probably scratch your head, but at least consider it, right? It’d be weird, but not really a big deal.
Chances are, though, that you’re in an office, or a school, or a library, and the nearest ground is like a parking strip, or maybe a yard of some kind. Or maybe you’re in one of those really tall buildings, and you’d need to walk a while to even find some ground. Kinda makes you hesitate if you’re in the second situation, doesn’t it? I mean, you’d get in trouble with somebody, right? Right?
I’m not saying you should (unless maybe there’s GOLD DOWN THERE?), just that it’s a good idea to think about why you wouldn’t, and what it tells you about your culture, and property ownership, and why you do some things and why you don’t do others. Like, when it’s time to order a pizza or do your taxes, do you start to get that same feeling you get when you think about digging a hole in a parking strip? What about when you’re trying to decide what to eat, or to buy at the grocery store, or planning your meals?
Now I’m going to talk about something related to the question above that’s really interesting to people in your culture right now– something that’s super responsible for a lot of unhappiness, and that is… deciding how to eat.
First of all, if you’re concerned about how you’re eating and whether you’re eating right, congratulations! You can afford to eat! You’re doing better than a lot of the people in the rest of the world, who can’t always afford food and don’t get to pick what they eat. You’re lucky, or are doing something right.
Listen, the food you eat is probably more responsible for the way you feel than anything else. And, a lot of people feel bad because they have this idea that the food they like to eat is making them look bad, that they’re somehow “overweight.” But hey, you know what? The only reason anybody without a medical problem wants to lose weight is because they think they have to.
Most humans have always known this. Dieting wasn’t even a thing until pretty recently, in your time-frame. Most people know that you can be “fat” and still be perfectly healthy. Most people know that you can exercise and eat less and follow diets, and still be “fat.” Fact is, only you modern, rich humans even have to make this into a thing. This talk’ll probably, hopefully, be totally meaningless sometime in the future. But, since you’re talking about what’s happening right now, I thought a few words could help.
So. How do you know if you are “overweight”? How do you know if digging a hole someplace will get you in trouble? It’s the same damn question! Think about it: who’s asking? Where you digging? What difference would it make?
There are a whole lot of critter-driven people who are making a lot of money by telling people they don’t look right. Don’t need to tell you there are whole industries out there designed to trick people into thinking there’s a ‘standard’ human look. Here’s a thing, though: “proper weight” doesn’t have nothing to do with how people actually look, and has everything to do with how happy they are.
It’s not just a weight issue, though; there are other reasons people worry about what they eat, some of which are pretty significant. Some folks have high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, which have been linked to this or that thing. And yeah, if a doctor tells you that you need to lower one of these things, you probably should. I mean, I’m just a fox, not a doctor. I’m just trying to make a point. And here it is (bum dum bum DUMMMM!):
Everybody’s Different!
Well, duh, you say, but I don’t think maybe you know what I mean. I mean, you and your friend could follow the exact same diet, to the letter, and get completely different results. You can be a vegan and have high cholesterol. You can switch from an all-fat to an all-juice diet and gain some weight. You can have a personalized weight-loss plan drafted for you by a licensed professional, and do everything it tells you to, and not lose an ounce of weight. Some people’s blood pressure problems are resolved completely once they stop worrying about how their food affects their blood pressure.
So what to do, what to do? If this is all true, which it is, doesn’t that give you license to eat whatever you want, when you want to? No, of course not. That would be stupid. There are benefits to eating good food, and not eating too much. That’s my whole point, really, because you already know that.
If you wanna try some interesting way of eating because it seems like it might help you feel better, go for it. Maybe it is that cute “Paleo” diet thingie! Maybe it’s high-fat, high-protein and fermented food! Maybe it’s candy candy candy! But do it because it’s going to make you feel better, not because it’s going to make you “healthier,” because it might not, and then you’ll just be frustrated and irritable.
See, it comes back to what I’ve been saying about sufficiency. You gotta figure out, what is the least work you’re willing to do that’ll make you the happiest? What’s important to you? Is it looking how some critters are telling you how you should look? Or is it rockin’ who you already are since you’re perfectly healthy and don’t really need to lose weight?
It’s your body, of course. Maybe you do want to be thinner, or more muscular or whatever, which is perfectly fine! Maybe you like exercise, which is also fine, if it makes you feel better!
All I’m saying is that the only way to change how your body looks by changing your diet is to figure out what works best for you, and do it. The other option?
Start being okay with the way you look.
It’s really difficult to do that, but you can do it!
And, until then, chill, and surround yourself with good people and family members who don’t give a shit what you look like. Eat what’s good for you, and what you enjoy, and figure out what makes you feel the best. Like exercising? Walk around, or run, or dig a big hole in your yard and plant some vegetables. That is all you need to do.
