The Disconnect

Watching the documentary "From Fat to Finish Line" yesterday, there was one line in one of the runner's story that really hit home to me. All of the runners in the group of people who had lost 100 pounds or more in the cross country relay race told their weight loss stories from how they began to how they got to where they were. The one man said that one day, the disconnect between the person he was on the inside and the life he was living and person he was on the outside was so obvious, and he finally felt it.

That really sums up what a lot of heavy people experience, but maybe can't put into a thought process. I know for me, it was always, I felt like I could do anything--in my head, in my mind. But, of course, when I'd try to do those things, I couldn't. In some cases, even though I could, I knew my weight was making it harder than it had to be, or should be. That should be enough to make people like I was then and still am now, stop and do better about getting healthy, but it's not. There has to be something that turns the switch on. That's what it feels like, like someone turned on the light in my head and showed me that I WAS that person I felt on the inside, I just had to bring her out. I had to make it happen, and I COULD make it happen.



I think, sometimes, that is why thin people who have never had a weight problem tend to be so hard, or even mean to people who are very overweight. They just don't understand that it is a disconnect. A physical, mental and emotional problem that needs to be overcome, and nasty remarks are only that much more hurtful.