Obesity is the second leading preventable cause of death in America, next to cigarettes. Where is the line drawn to what is considered healthy eating habits? Dieting and weight loss is one of the hardest and most dedicated forms of body modification and construction, and to some are can be torture, even painful to an extent. Is starving one's self any less respectable of a way too loss weight and sculpt your body to perfection than dieting and exercising? How is anorexia and bulimia different from pumping iron and pushing your body to fatigue, intentionally tearing your muscles to tone your body?
At A Glance Author Scott Sherick Contact [email protected] IAM Fixedbeadring When Two years ago Artist myself With any form of body modification there is some technique and skill required, as does it take the right determination to not eat excessively without causing major harm ton yourself. Doesn't it take that same determination to exercise regularly, and to push your limits? And the psychological determination that is involved when you must refuse temptation to subject yourself to food and hunger.
To me, weight loss has been one of the hardest forms of modification I still struggle with. Even the BodyMod Community's eyes aren't always open to how much is considered modification; braces, plastic surgery, hair and organ transplants, body building, and yes, dieting, along with much, much more. I've never been really obese, never reaching a weight of about one hundred fifty five pounds, but in my eyes, a scale cannot tell me how to feel about my body. I wanted to look different. I wanted to feel different.
About two and a half years ago, I became temporarily ill with a stomach flu. The days, weeks, and even months preceding it, I ate as minimally as possible. Partially due to my initial lack of hunger while sick, but after I recovered and realized the benefits of not eating I began to eat only about one meal a day. I cut my calories from about 2000-2500 to 500-1000. I saw change fast. I lost about twenty five pounds in the first month, and over the duration I was able to keep it off. People noticed I was skinny, and I felt good about myself. I never considered myself to have a mental illness. I was only doing what I felt my mind and body could handle.
Eventually, however, I got back into the habit of eating, gradually, but ultimately, I ended up gaining most of the weight back. As summers cam and went, and I began to work, I found little time to go out and perform and sort of exercise. For a while I started to look at myself in disgust, no longer feeling happy about my body. My piercings made me happy about the way my face looked, but since I am still too young to get my nipples pierced, I was very unhappy with the way my torso appeared. My girlfriend comforted me, telling me she loves me for who I am, and she loves my body the way it is, and by all means I believe her every word, but to me I still needed to change.
At work I became familiar with a regular, a customer who often ordered food from my store, and after a while my manager offered him a job. In the beginning I wasn't sure if I trusted him, but I soon discovered how interesting a person he is. It was because of this person that I would start feeling better about me. His passion was dance, hip hop, but he was well rounded in jazz, tap, ballet, and more. He is also an actor, singer, and a performer. He showed me some stuff, but what I was most interested in was break dancing.
It's not so much the rhythm and the music that I like about it, as I myself do not listen to music, but rather the conditioning it takes to perform such talent from positioning one's body so technically. Not just this, but you must be in shape! Every day since then I've been stretching, doing crunches and push ups (mostly diamonds) and although I haven't been seeing much results, I'm starting to feel much better about myself mentally. I see what I can create with my body and it makes me proud.
I have only been at it for about 3 weeks, and it is hard to learn when my lessons are limited, but the point is that there are always alternative means to accomplish your goals. Don't let any one tell you you're sick in the head for not eating or for working out to much. Don't let anyone ridicule you for being so obsessed about your physical appearance. That's what body modification is. Body adornment! Is body is your church, your house of worship, and you should treat it as nothing less. Cherish it, praise it, challenge it, change it, respect it, understand it, but never take it for granted.