From: amy young <alyoung@silver.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Women more modest?
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 20:46:36 -0500

In article <35114@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> mack@jasmin.zko.dec.com (Ralph Mack) writes:

Ralph, I love you too.  *hug*  Your philosophy is WONDERFUL.

>Is this what you mean by letting oneself go:
>
>1) I like my job and it pays the mortgage
>2) I like to eat - big breakfast and two dinners
>3) I like to bask in the sun
>4) I like to walk and swim because they feel good, can do both
>   for hours without much discomfort, even if I've been inactive 
>   for months - not unusual - but don't do either very fast.
>5) The only time I have ever done any exercise was because it
>   was a means to an end (mowing the lawn, fixing something, 
>   moving) or because somebody forced me to (school gym, 
>   yecccch!). 
>6) I can't get too excited about objectives beyond the next 12 
>   months; they assume you know something about the future.
>7) I am accustomed to doing what I like.
>8) I'm 32, and weigh 280.
 >
>I seldom meet anyone that this attitude seems to particularly
>bother, and I'm enjoying myself. Deliberate exercise and diet control "for my health" carries an element of asceticism about it, and I can't see that there is any virtue in self-denial.

There is, I've found, a wide gap between what is "socially desired"
and what is "healthy."  My senior year of high school, I had just
dropped over 70 pounds.... I weighed 138, and I had read in a book, an
a reputable one, that I was "supposed" to weight 115 (and that was
assuming a large frame).  My mother and some friends tricked me into
going to the doctor because I had no menstrual period, I could not
keep food down it had been so long since I had eaten anything solid,
and I had bruises on my stomach because I couldn't lay on my stomach
IN BED without my hipbones causing bruises.  That's what I call
letting myself "go."  I was sitting there babbling that I *had* to
lose 15 more pounds, I HAD to, I'd "come this far" and wasn't about to
"fail."  God, that's downright SICK.  I resolved, after fixing the
underlying issues, to NEVER get that way again.

I gained a lot of the weight back (that's what you do when you STOP
EATING to lose weight instead of making healthy changes a part of
everyday life), but things are different this time.  I listen* to my body.  
I need to lose some weight now not because I don't fit society's
picture of a woman, but because I would feel better if I did.  And
I'll lose weight until a level where *I* feel good again, reguardless
of what others think.  
  
>My Dad spent his whole life worrying about everything and working 
>hard for the future. He died of cancer at 60 still working hard 
>for the future. I don't see that the future promises much that 
>isn't just as good in the present. The best thing I can set aside
>for the future are memories.

I think the "future" outlook is upheld a lot by the materialistic
society we have.  The "future" is a new car, the "future" is a bigger
house, the "future" is....  Forget the future, and live for TODAY and
tomorrow... do so wisely and the "future" will take care of itself.  

>Most people suffer at least one catastrophe in life; no matter 
>how well you've planned, most of the serious catastrophes take 
>everything you've got and you start over. Memories you get to 
>keep because nobody's figured out how make you liquidate them 
>to pay your bills. <g> 

And if all you do is work for that "future" you'll pass up a lot of
opportunities to make valuable memories. 

>Everybody gets senile if they don't die first. The sooner you
>experience life, the likelier you will be able to remember it
>when you are senile.

Hey, I like this... =)

ObNude:  Too bad I can't go out and ride my motorcycle nude.  Even if
I *could* (meaning I wouldn't get arrested) I don't think I'd have the
guts to do it... I just cringe at the thought of having a wreck while
covered in leather, I can't even begin to think of it with no skin
protectant... ugh. =)

amy
-- 
******************************************************************************
"Quick to judge, quick to anger.... slow to understand. 
	       		Ignorance and prejudice, and fear, walk hand in hand."
              						--Neil Peart
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