Weight.
Definition: an addictive, arbitrary number displayed on a 2" square screen that has little relevance to who or what you are.
"I want to lose weight". Fine. Go to the moon. You'll be lighter there. The looks I get with that answer. What they're actually saying to me is this: I want to be a number that I've plucked out of the air because it sounds good.
42 has always been my favourite number but they don't like that answer either.
My level of tolerance and sarcasm are at opposite ends of the scale to one another by this point in the conversation.
What I really want to hear: I'd like to carry less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff.
Excellent!! Let's work on getting rid of some unnecessary fat and maintain some of that beneficial mass.
My scientist friends out there will appreciate the difference between 'weight' and 'mass' and my particular use of either word.
It infuriates me, yes infuriates, that people are still so hung up on something that means nothing. In this day and age of information overload and access to every possible answer at our finger tips, we as a group are still either unaware or unwilling to embrace the fact that weight is not important; it quite literally is, what's inside that counts.
Your weight is not a measure of how much fat you have in your arteries. (Yes, heart attack, stroke etc) Your weight is not a measure of whether you are susceptible to osteoporosis. (Think hip replacement when you're old) Your weight is not a measure of your heart health (to a degree). Your weight IS a measure of how much stuff you have, not a measure of whether that is the right stuff.
Load up a back pack with lard, carry it all day and tell me how useful it is during your day. Load up a back up of your daily food and water then tell me how much use that was.
Yes fat is necessary but a body fat percentage of 35 is just greedy and an NHS issue waiting to happen.
It's not very often I have a rant on here, but this is something I strive to educate not just my clients on but my friends and family.
If I can show, if I can educate, if I can change the views of just a handful of people, who then go on to educate others then I'll be happy.
Come and see me for more answers and help on that 'mass' issue.
