I knew I was in trouble when I got down on the floor to do push ups and my arms started trembling when I got to 7. I could remember times when I could breeze through straight sets of 50 at a time and still jump up with energy. My 30-something body combined with my ‘executive’ lifestyle had started to show up in places that I wasn’t ready to concede to the game. I don't have to have a ripped 6-pack, but I’m not ready to be that guy with ROLLS of fat hanging on his stomach either. Whenever you start doing jumping jacks butt nekkid and you can feel layers of fat slapping against the rest of your body…its definitely time to do SOME-thin! Cuz if you ignore it and let it go unchecked, its not going to magically disappear..in fact, its going to continue to grow!
Human body weight isn’t a magical science, it’s a simple exercise of looking at the numbers. Whenever what you put IN to your body, is more than what you take OUT of your body ( through the digestive tract and calories burned through physical/mental/sexual exertion)..you gain weight. As a young man in my 20’s, my metabolism and activity level was so high, I didn’t have to worry about what I ate because my body was an efficient machine that burned off those cheeseburgers and chicken baskets like it wasn’t NOTHIN’. But once I adapted to a sedentary lifestyle full of computer screens, project meetings full of ample doughnuts, Kolaches and fluorescent lights,…I started losing balance.
It started with my clothes…my pants started feeling a bit ‘snug’ in the crotch and thighs…then my buttons started popping from the stress exerted by my gut once I exhaled from sucking my stomach in to fasten them. I had to gone and concede a bit and move up from the 32’s cuz the 34’s just ‘felt so good’. Then I had to take another step to the 36’s cuz them 34’s are cut for ‘Them whiteboys with flat az’s and skinny thighs.’ It wasn’t until I started looking at my weight chart that I started tripping for REAL…17, graduating from high school – 147 lbs, 21, leaving college – 170 lbs, 25, good job with an expense account 185 lbs, 30, married, kids & a whole bunch of bills, 200 LBS, 32 and caught up in the “Ignorance is BLISS!!” battle cry –215 lbs. At this rate I'll be 297 by the time I'm 50!!
The average Black person in America has a life expectancy of 70.3 years (76.0 for whites). Looking at the NUMBAS..that means our ‘halftime’ of 35 years is fast approaching. The leading causes of death among Black folks in America according to statistics released by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in 1995 were as follows: 1. Heart Disease, 2. Malignant Neoplasms (Cancer), 3. Cerebrovascular (Stroke), 4.HIV, 5. Unintentional Injuries (Accidents).
So 4 out of the top 5 are directly related to the LIFESTYLE that we CHOOSE to live. Controlling our diet, getting regular exercise and limiting smoking and alchohol consumption are all direct factors in determining the quality of our lifestyle. Like most, I prefer for my ‘time’ to come quickly and painlessly. I don't want to be that guy that needs someone to come change my soiled bedclothes every morning cuz I done got too fat to even get up and go to the bathroom for myself. Or that patient that has to get his chest cracked open so that they can unclog all that built up grease and fat that’s blocking the arteries and valves in my heart.
We only get one time around in this world ..treat your body with respect and love. Life doesn’t come with any guarantees..cuz they’re some people who’ve never smoked a day in their life and still got cancer. There’s some people that exercise, eat healthy, don’t smoke or drink and end up getting hit by a bus! All we can do is look at the NUMBAS and do the best we can to give our body’s the best chance to WIN! We all need to be able to ‘move weight’ and get into prime fighting condition…the time for war is near. Only when you consider the long term effects of what you put into your body, will you be able to redivert your taste buds rule over your diet and recommit what you eat to your heart.
Copyright © 2003 www.servinemup.com All Rights Reserved
