It ain’t embarrassing for me if someone walks in on me in the bathroom. It’s more embarrassing for the person who walked in to see all of this. I scarred my seven-year-old nephew. One time, he ran out of there and just peed all over himself. I guess he had never seen that many folds and wrinkles and lines on anybody. He’s autistic now.
-- Madea on accidental nudity, from “Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life”

When we were in high school, no one could have made us believe that one day our bodies would look the way they do now. No one could have convinced us that our chins would double and sag; our stomachs would expand and fold like accordions; our tiny stretch marks would mature into replicas of old west road maps; our onion-shaped butts of the past would turn into county fair bell peppers; our formally muscular thighs would become plump and dimpled ham bones; and our knees, ankles, and arches would buckle under the weight of it all.

We’ve spent fortunes on Weight Watchers, South Beach, Atkins, Bob Greene, Oprah’s liquid diet, Slimfast, and “I’m go’n just fast” diets, often to no avail. We’ve invested in Bowflex machines, Thigh Masters, Nordic Track, rowing machines, exercise bikes, and stair climbers which, in some cases, eventually became clothing racks, dust holders, and extra, obsolete, and expensive pieces of equipment pushed into the corner. We’ve tried walking, running, aerobics, yoga, Pilates, and our video cabinets are full of Billy Blanks, Denise Austin, Donna Richardson Joyner, and even a couple of Richard Simmons videocassettes if you get honest.

We’ve got good intentions – we want to be body healthy. But it’s hard. And, geez, those last 5 pounds! They keep turning into more pounds. So, what do we do? Just give up?

Well, we could. But then we’d die sooner from cardiovascular disease, strokes, diabetes, some cancers, depression, and sexual dysfunction. Yes, you can die from sexual dysfunction.

Now, of course, we know we’re more than all this flesh and padding we carry. We know we’re more than the wrinkles and dimples, the excess weight that slows us down, and the several sizes of clothing we keep in our closets just in case. We’re also more than the worry we have about it all. So, again, what do we do?

First we stop agonizing over it and being embarrassed by it. So we’re heavier than we want to be. Really, who isn’t? Next, and only if we’re serious about losing it, we stop making excuses for it. You’re not big-boned, your daddy’s people have little to do with the weight you carry, and while your metabolism may be biologically and chemically slow, lying on the couch after seconds of a 5-course meal to just rest does not speed it up. Let’s get honest.

But, most importantly, we have to get in our heads that we’re God’s babies, no matter the shape or size, and He welcomes whosoever into His fold. And, it is with that knowledge and understanding that we can make proper choices about how we want to represent Daddy to the people and the kind of stewards we want to be of the temples He’s given us. To honor and bless God, it is our responsibility to sensibly, gently, and thoughtfully tend and protect that which He has assigned us and that which we only get one of – our bodies.

Whatever you decide to do to get and stay in good body health, just do it – no worrying, excuses, falling short, or scaring the little kids. Don’t stress it; just do it.

Sadiqqa © 2007