Momma_U on Healthkicker

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Friday, 09 January 2009

To Say It or Not to Say It?

This is my first blog entry on healthkicker. I hope it will be one of many and that I will get to know a lot of new people. My name is Sara and I'm 56 years old. I've been married 30 years and have two grown children. For the most part, my life is very mundane. I pretty much keep to the same routine each day. I have a job that I enjoy tremendously.

My post today revolves around a health issue that is also wrapped up in emotions. For starters, I'm overweight ... as you can tell from my profile picture. But one of my goals for this new year (I prefer not to use the word "resolution") is to begin a healthier lifestyle. That will include eating healthy ... notice I didn't say diet ... and getting more exercise ... notice I didn't say join a gym.

I've battled the weight issue all my life. Obesity runs in my family. Whether I use that excuse as a cop out, I don't really know. But I do know this ... only recently have I come to an understanding with my body ... I'm content for the most part. I'm way past wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle for the purposes of vanity. I'm more concerned about quality of life at my age. But the emotional pull of anybody saying or insinuating that I am fat still tugs at my self esteem. Like today, for instance ...

My mother in law, who is 84, has dementia, and lives with us, made a comment earlier today. She has a new "friend" and by that I mean romantic interest. She met this gentleman through a senior citizens group. She brought him home and introduced us to him. Then she said to him: "See? I told you they're not little people at all." It appeared that he was embarassed by her comment and said something like: "Well, none of us is really little ..."

Now you have to understand that my MIL is not the most attractive woman on the face of the earth. Actually the neighborhood kids are scared of her. They think she looks like a witch. Anyway, she is a recovering alcoholic of 50+ years and that in itself has done a lot of damage to her physical looks. Not to mention that she has to work extremely hard to keep her mustashe and beard under control.

So when she made the comment earlier, I held my tongue. But what I REALLY wanted to say is: "Well, I might be fat, but you're ugly ... at least I can do something about my problem ..."

What do you think? Should I have said it, or not?
Hi everyone! I'm just getting started on Healthkicker... Drop me a comment if you've got some ideas on what to do first - or just to say, "Hi!"