In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein

I know I promised part 3 of my food and fat thread, but I had another episode of bleeding related to my fibroids and I wound up in the emergency room at 5AM on Sunday morning. Just as in the past, this eventually resolved itself, but it was a bit scary at the time, and the lack of sleep has made it more difficult to get my thoughts down in a reasonable manner. April 20th (when I have my UAE), cannot come soon enough!

So it may be another day or two before I get part 3 out. In the meantime, here’s something that ties into what I’m thinking about food and fat, and in particular, whether working to achieve weight loss is worthwhile, tilting at windmills, or even harmful.

Dictionary.com defines adversity as a “state of hardship or affliction.” That certainly describes my fibroid woes, yet I also think it describes my life as a fat woman.

At this point in time, losing weight and keeping it off can be categorized, IMO, as a state of hardship. Whether or not the 95% statistic is exactly right, I think that the current state of weight loss “science” — of dieting — hurts more than it helps.

So, what does that mean? For me, it is a state of hardship…I want to change my personal experience with food and fat, yet for now, most roads lead to failure. After all, would you get on a plane if there was only a 5% chance of getting to your destination?

That said, I’m not prepared to stop trying to find something that works for me. I’m trying to find the opportunity in the midst of my difficulty. So far, I’m happy with my “choosing health” approach. I’m not sure how to reconcile that my continuing to work on this may imply some kind of moral positioning, as it certainly isn’t intended that way.

Stay tuned for more.

Speaking of adversity, I thought there was one seriously positive message inherent in this slightly fuzzy picture I took, probably 20 years ago, of a tomato plant that had grown out of a small crack in the sidewalk in Davis Square (in Somerville, MA).

Now that’s overcoming adversity!

BTW, the Steve’s pictured was the original Steve’s Ice Cream (founder Steve Herrell apparently came up with the mix-ins concept). Although you can’t really see it, the building to the left is the original Bertucci’s, complete with a bocce ball court in the basement. We used to have work lunches there regularly. What I hadn’t realized is that this original Bertucci’s was “opened as a defensive move; owner Joey Crugnale (who had bought Steve’s in the late 70s) wanted to make sure any neighbor didn’t hurt Steve’s business. It was after he sold Steve’s that Crugnale turned his focus on making Bertucci’s a success. And fortunately for me, he did succeed…I’m thrilled there are Bertucci’s here in the DC area. Big yay!