Friday, June 09, 2006

A little housekeeping

A couple weeks ago I changed the tag line beneath this blog's title. The first sentence used to read:

Regaining the fit, healthy body I used to have.

I changed the awkward 'used to have' to 'once had' to make it read more smoothly. But substituting the word 'reclaiming' for 'regaining' was a conscious decision to use a more positive term to describe the mission here.

According to dictionary.com, regain means:

  • To manage to reach again.
While reclaim means:
  • To bring into or return to a suitable condition for use.
  • To bring back, as from error, to a right or proper course; reform.
The difference is subtle, to be sure, but I like the intention inherent in the use of the word 'reclaim,' especially in the second definition.

I sometimes think about this when I'm walking. I've been off-course the past three years, heading into an abyss I thought I'd never dive into again. I wanted my weight problem to be an easy-to-fix hormone problem; just pop a thyroid pill every day and look good again. I blamed the aging process, mostly, although not everyone who gets old also gets fat. And 55 isn't old, it's just on the way to old.

What I've learned so far is that I didn't need a hormone adjustment. I needed an attitude adjustment.

I started really learning about insulin resistance, which had always been a confusing theory that sounded hard to fix. Turns out it is a bit confusing, but it hasn't been hard learning to eat properly. And I started moving more, slowly at first and then with more assurance.

I was watching a baseball game last night, and one of the commentators said, "In baseball, success breeds confidence." And I thought, that's what's happening with me. More than the number of pounds lost, I'm measuring my success in the ability to move easily, to walk farther and faster, to lift longer and heavier. The result is the confidence in knowing that if the grandchildren want to play soccer or catch, I'm not going to run out of steam.

It's good to be 'suitable for use.' Certainly better than being useless.

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