Sometimes people are actually not aware of it. They often think they are doing things to improve their health, or are just doing what they should do. Until people experience something, there is no way they truly know what happens.
Do you really think that's true though?
I mean, when I was big, I knew I was big. The problem I had is that I gave it meaning. What I mean by that is - I started to adopt thoughts like "It shouldn't matter - and if it does to someone - that's their problem and shows what kind of person they are". In a sense, it became kind of a litmus test for other people. It ended up taking on a lot of things other than "I'm just too damn big". When I stopped giving it meaning - and just treated it like just another thing with a cause and an effect - is when I got rid of the problem.
I mean - part of the reason why I say that I make no friends when I talk about the weight issue - is because I take the stance that it's the meaning people attribute to it that I believe is the biggest problem people face in making any change. When I was younger and I got big - there was a very specific reason for that. When I stopped those behaviors - it went away. When I had kids and got wrapped up in that/my behaviors changed - some of it came back. There's no rocket science to it.
For example, when I was younger I was dating this girl. When she introduced me to her mom (this is when I was 28 and I'd just done the weight loss thing) - her mom at the end of the evening brought it up. I've always been awkward about talking about it...and this type of dialogue is an example of why.
"I hear you've successfully lost a lot of weight."
"Yep."
"I've been trying for a long time, but haven't been successful, and I'm not sure why."
"Are you asking why I was successful but you haven't been?"
"Yes."
"Well, I can take a potshot at that. In the past 45 minutes we've been together, you had a huge piece of lasagna, a few breadsticks, the salad with all of the dressing, and now you're chasing that all down with a piece of tiramisu. This one meal far exceeds what you need for the whole day, and I doubt this is the only meal you've had today. I also doubt you're going to go do any cardio after this. I also doubt this happens infrequently.
I don't do that - ever. I haven't for the past 8 months straight. That's likely why I'm successful and you haven't been."
Well - as you can imagine that didn't fly very well with the girl I was dating...lol She called me the next day to say we were through.
"I can't believe you said that to my mom."
"Well, she asked. I assumed she wanted an answer."
"You can be such a jerk sometimes. There are lots of reason why people eat."
"She didn't ask why she had eating problems. If she told me she had issues to iron out that caused her overeating I'd have told her to see a therapist. That wasn't the question though."
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It sounds jerky...but ya know...that is kinda the right answer. I do firmly believe it's the meaning people give things that causes them the most difficulty in any endeavor in life.
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So back to my original question...I think everyone knows where they actually stand. They just get wrapped up in their inner monologues about it. What does this or that mean to them? But I have a hard time believing that someone that's starving themself doesn't know they're doing something unhealthy - or as someone is shoving their finger down their throat to vomit out their meal that they don't know that's kinda bad...lol Or when someone is really big compared to everyone else - that they don't notice.
Ya know?