It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings

Here we are again with a new year stretching out in front of us. Resolutions being made, and many with the very best of intentions. Of course, the top resolution on many lists is losing weight. And the advertising and media vultures are only too happy to guilt you into keeping that one. I read a magazine last night, and there were seven straight pages of ads for weight loss programs, pills and gimmicks. The daily newspaper (small as it is these days) carries ads for every type of exercise equipment known to man. TV programs are interrupted every 5 minutes with another ad for Jenny or Nutrisystem or Weight Watchers. Isn’t anybody happy with the way they are? Sure, it would be nice to lose half your body weight, and can anybody really ever get enough pre-packaged yummy meals, and whose day is so full that they can’t squeeze in two hours of vigorous exercise at the gym? Really? It exhausts me just thinking about it. Sure, I’m fluffy and soft and curvaceous. And if I’m at the gym twice a week I consider myself successful. And I consider a day without chocolate to be like a day without breathing. There truly is no life after chocolate, am I right? The good news…no, the miracle…is that I’m finally at a place in my life where I refuse to be guilted into buying more pills or joining another weight loss program or spending time at the gym every day (for a week or so, only to give up because it’s not realistic). I’m okay with who I am, because I no longer think of myself as only my appearance. The person I am is so much more…and pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I try to get a vegetable into my body every day (well, most days), and fruit is no longer just a topping for cheesecake, and I do go to the little gym up the street from my house to do yoga and play on the circuit machines and walk on the treadmill while reading my Nook. But I don’t look enviously at the hard bodies who have sweat pouring off their bodies while they run on the treadmill like they’re punishing it for some serious crime. It’s good to be self-righteous.