24 May 2021
Fat Context
When I was younger, I vowed not to get fat. Now that I’m older, well, I’m overweight – aka fat. Sometimes you ask yourself how you got there. The good natural nutrition gene wasn’t part of our household. We used to say we were hiding behind the door when God handed out the good nutrition gene and the discipline gene! The latter, when it came to diets, dieting and fat removal.
Looking back, I realise that I also didn’t give my body the right opportunities to stay thin. Primarily, I relied on my natural metabolism, my sporting and active natures. What you don’t know is hormones play such an essential role in your metabolism. The other thing that plays a part is triggering bad muscle memory for your body by constantly going on “starvation” diets or eating less while working out (Fitbodz) or, at the very least extreme dieting.
Your Body Remembers Fat
Your body remembers because you remember, or a small part of you does at least. You should teach yourself to say “no” to junk food from loved ones when you’re sad. It’s like you should only ever drink when you’re feeling good within yourself, not when you’re trying to mask something. It’s easy to say, how do you know when that is, but you know. If you were to stop and listen, you’d know.
I get it; you don’t think you’re doing a yo-yo diet because it’s just to get you back down to the ideal weight, and you’ll maintain from there. Right now, The Dream card would appear; for most of us, that’s a pipedream. In my head, I trick myself into believing I don’t need to calorie or kilojoule count anymore. Then I do the “It’s only one more” or the “I’ll be good tomorrow” thing. And before I know it, I’ve consumed more naughty food – after all, it’s so tiny – than is healthy.
If you extrapolate that to the rest of the week/ month/ year unchecked, and I wind up beating myself up for letting myself down, over and over and over again. Then you eat because you get a “what the hey” mindset or a “what’s one more?” moment.
Fat and Getting Older
However, if you were young and disciplined to eat good foods (aka not junk foods loaded with sugar, as is my want 🍫), as you got older, your weight would be easier to manage. The word “diet” in terms of losing weight would simply apply to other people.
Alternatively, there’s a part of me that as the hormones begin to disappear and “bits” begin to droop and drop, that is holding onto whatever plumpness I have, even if it is fat. Muscle tone is good, but that requires – you got it – discipline. If I do happen to discover the “box” discipline came in and it’s not empty, I give dieting a whirl.
Don’t get me wrong; you feel fantastic! Being on a diet gives you energy, clothes fit well, and providing you’re wearing the right bra and underpants, everything looks good. But naked, that’s another story. Muscle tone might be there, but skin simply sags, even for fit people– just a little less saggy.
When you gain a little fat and sit at the heavier end of the ideal range or the bottom end of overweight, aka just past the saggy state, everything just looks fuller. Providing it’s just a little weight, you still look good in photographs. 📸
Today's Cards
The Cards - Analysis
Carryover Cards
Two cards carried over from yesterday; Mind moved from the Distant Past to the Now, and Intensity moved from Others’ Views to the Goal position.
Cross
Mind is in the Now position influenced by New Vision. The Intensity card in the Goal position reflects the passion I want to have when I set about a healthy mindset for weight management.
In the Distant Past, I’ve always felt like The Outsider regarding weight management. It’s challenging to maintain momentum probably because I find it challenging, and when a distraction comes along, I usually jump onto the bandwagon. 😃🥁
More recently, in the Recent Past, Possibilities have opened up, and I’m speaking from my Mind’s perspective. Over the years, I believed many things other people have told me in this space, and I now have so much information that some of it is either irrelevant to me or conflicting. Trying to resolve some of those conflicts will open up more options.
The process of resolving will need me to trust and let go in Totality, which is the card sitting in the Future Energy position.
Base
Confusion (Mind card in the Now position) is always a good indication that something new is trying to find a home in your head. Amid the chaos, you can find a “light at the end of the tunnel”, and the light is what Awareness is in this situation. Awareness of the Feelings or Immediate Future spot echoes the Possibilities card, indicating the shift is still in progress.
The Flowering card is in the Others’ Views position, possibly reflecting others believe me to be entirely comfortable with my body and who I am – valid for the most part. It’s the only body I’ve got; I might as well make the most of it.
Hopes & Fears position has The Source or getting back to basics. Darn. I feared as much. Fat management is about getting back to basics; remove junk food, increase nutritious food and now that the ankle is better, move a little more. The hope is that the confusion is evident, and my path will give me discipline and consistency.
To make weight or fat management successful, I need to know myself and make myself disciplined; no one else can do it for me. Hence, the Turning In card sits in the Outcome position. Grumble, grumble, grumble….
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
Fitbodz Fitness Centre, 2017, Why Starving Yourself is Bad for Weight Loss, last viewed 28 May 2021
Trifecta Nutrition, 2019, How to Not Be Hungry on a Diet: 12 Tips Backed by Science, Last viewed 28 May 2021
Lawler, Moira 2019, 5 Reasons It’s Harder to Lose Weight with Age, Everyday Health , Last viewed 28 May 2021
