For those that follow my twitter feed, it will be no surprise that I have been on a fitness kick. This has extended to 6am group personal training. Do you know how cold it is at 6am in Melbourne at the moment? And how warm it is in bed curled up with one year old, three year old or handsome man?
Without becoming a crying, fat person, I wanted to explain my motivation. It is all related to my work. Operating on someone is one of the more intimate interactions you can have. You get to know what they look like on the inside, and not in some vague, philosophical way. You get to touch their fat. Ewwwhgh.
I work in an affluent western area, so our patients are mostly overweight, especially by the time they get bowel cancer in their sixties or seventies. And operating on a fat person can be really, really difficult. It is physical tiring to manipulate that extra flesh. And the fat is ubiquitous – everywhere and always in the way. The anatomy is harder to see, so the “figuring out where you are” phase of an operation lasts a lot longer.
I have been able to ignore the similarities between my physique and that of my difficult patients. I am young enough that being a surgical patient is unlikely. Then I had an emergency caesarean section, and realised I am at risk of needing surgery.
So I am trying to lose weight so I won’t be the fat anaesthetised person. I want to be the one where the surgeons are amazed at the beautiful anatomy. I know it’s a little wierd, but that is what counts for me.
Congratulations on your motivation! I could never get out of bed that early – if I don’t need to wash my hair, I get up as late at 8:10am, just enough time to dress and walk to work. Sweet… But hey, I also eliminated grain and refined sugars from my diet, so I’m no exactly weak-willed! 😉
Don’t forget that 80% of your body composition will be determined by your diet. I know you’re med-guru extraordinaire, but I wanted to put that out there in case one of the people I know (who go for a run every night and then decide that their activity entitles them to dessert) happen to find this. And then I’d hope they would follow this link to Mark’s Daily Apple where they can learn a thing or two about nutrition (and discover the flaws in ‘conventional wisdom’).
It’ll be lovely when/if I ever need surgery, I can be secure in the knowledge that there won’t be someone whose entire task is to hold back my fat flaps 😛 (Even if it means I’ll die a little earlier than over-weight me, or so recent studies suggest!)
@Jess: Thanks for your perspective, Jess. You have done a heap more research into diet than I have. I must admit my plan is to do enough exercise that I don’t have to focus as much on what I eat.
But it has unexpected benefits – I feel better and healthier and even happier to climb stairs. And that is all unrelated to weight-loss, so it seems there is something to what I have been telling my patients….
Congratulations on the health kick (and linking it to breast cancer fundraising). I’m not in training for anything other than not wanting to be on lots of pills when I am older, but surgery or dissection really shows how fat is everywhere, even on relatively slim people. I’ve been the counter weight to a massive retractor doing abdominal surgery on very large people before as well….it made me think as well, or even seeing people my age whose BMIs are just starting to slip over into the 25-30 range.
i guess enjoying life makes us happier regardless how they think of us. Whether we are fat or thin, it doesn’t matter. My aunt loves to travel and leaves her insecurities at home. She’s fond of her boat tops</a and thought of more positive things whenever she visits different place. Being beautiful inside is better than any surgery.