This writing is inspired by how often I see obese people in a day and also a reflection of my mind to be mindful, and cautious and encourage myself on the path of staying fit. This could be possibly an inspiration for readers to be mindful about what they are eating every day.
I’ve done multiple research throughout the years, of course, I’m not reading scientific papers but I do go through many YouTube videos and blog posts regarding losing weight and bodybuilding. There are two primary goals of staying fit: to be healthier and to look prettier. It’s a matter of fact that the food industry encourages people to eat more and they do not care much about your health because it’s your body and your decision. So I’m not saying any fast-food chains, restaurants, packaging food industries, and farmers are sources of evil, they are just functioning in a free market that they serve people with demands. You know what, fatty food and high sugar content foods and drinks are addictive and they can slowly kill you. In fact, from CDC reports that around 695K people die from heart disease and 162K die from stroke every year, and besides tobacco usage, obesity is a primary cause of any cardiovascular disease. Not to mention, being obese can impair cognition since all the fat in your blood vessels blocks your blood from delivering oxygen and nutrition to your brain and the rest of your body. Being obese can also lower your insulin sensitivity and raise the chance of diabetes type 2, it also increases inflammation and you’re more likely to get cancer. Obesity is also making you more prone to depression and mental illness, you’re looking worse and so is your confidence. Being unhealthy and looking bad is really a way to treat you badly and once you treat yourself bad it’s likely making you being avoided by people. From Statista reports, there are 34% of people are overweight and 30% of Canadians are obese, the sum is 64% of people are in the unhealthy weight range, I’m worrying with this number that society is having bad shape. So is Vietnamese, I haven’t looked up the number yet but going out of the streets, most Vietnamese look smaller than Canadians and Americans but in fact a majority of people, just by observing through bare eyes we all see a huge proportion of weight is belly, people are packing up with visceral fat and it looks like people are in skinny fat body shape: small muscle and bones and pack with fat in the belly, and as a rule of thumb, whoever has a large portion of visceral fat will also link to heart diseases, diabetes and cancer, etc.
I’m not going to lie to you, I’m dropping 3 KG every month and lifting the weight 4 times a week, bicycling and tennis at least once a week, I do 24 hours of fasting every day and I weigh myself every day, review my body in front of the mirror every morning and touch my belly hour, I’m obsessing with a fit body, not just for the looks and confidence of myself, it’s about health and avoiding to convert my existing diabetes type 1 to type 2. Yes, I was diagnosed with Diabetes type I back when I was in Vietnam I did a full health test, blood tests along an MRI scan, and I paid like almost 2000 USD for a yearly health examination to find out if I have any health issues or cancer probability. Why am I obsessed with the prevention of disease so much? two reasons, first, I used to be 103KG and I felt really bad about myself: sleepy all day, tired all day, I always felt like a zombie and my brain was froggy all day, I felt depressed and tempered, I hate everybody and fight with my ex-gf all the time. I lost weight once, dropping roughly 30 kg for 6 months back in 2020 and I was able to control my mood much better. Second reason: I see my friend’s parents die early because of tobacco, alcohol use, and most importantly, a stroke. I see my family members, like my dad were in pain multiple times when I was younger and he also had a stroke several times, his health condition was stressful for my life early on when I was living with him, and I feel like I never one to become like him, become a burden mentally for my kids and my wife and be an unreliable person because of bad health. If I can choose a reason to die (Stoicism says we always have to think about it, it makes yourself be mindful of the present and live the best version of ourselves), I would always choose anything other than bad health or get sick, why? because our health is within control, it’s unlike a car accident where it can come from bad luck (another drunk driver hit you for example) or being stabbed or assassinated by a random crazy person on the street, these are external factors that you cannot or have less control of. But health is completely in your control (unless you are infected by some kind of virus or bacteria). But in most scenarios, you can always avoid being sick by staying in good shape, and hygienic and avoiding taking risks from drinking or eating weird stuff from a random food vendor on a street that looks dirty. Stoicism says that you must focus on things that you can control and whatever that matters to you and make you become a better person. So, staying fit, with a healthy BMI and low body fat percentage, means good health, which is one of the primary goals that matter to us and that we should focus on.
FYI: at the end of this writing, the advice I take from myself every time and I would give it to anyone who would listen and be serious about their health, it’s all about your healthy weight range and dropping the weight or staying within health weight range, you must avoiding fast-food, sugary drinks and foods at all cost, for me fasting every day and take less than 3 meals a day, like only eat twice or even once a day is already good for your survival. You can look up the Internet (google it up) for dietitians, nutritionists, doctors, and personal trainers online, there are a lot of posts from them about avoiding obesity or a healthy diet. But in the end, it’s all about staying in a calorie deficit and avoiding unhealthy foods. But for me, the key takeaway is fasting, it’s the easiest method of weight loss without restricting your diet: you can still it carbs and processed food though but if you can select fresh organic foods it’s even greater. My diet still consists of processed meat like hams and sausages, but frankly, the amount I eat is tiny. What about weight lifting and cardio exercises? Yes, it’s important but not required as long as you eat less then you’re good to go, but with resistant training (notably weight lifting) and some form of cardio exercise like walking it really makes your body feel better, and more motivated, it does not directly contribute to your calorie deficit (I count the number using my Apple Watch every time I bike, or play tennis or go to the gym), it only equal to a bagel that I eat in the morning. So you know what, skipping a bagel is much easier than spending an hour of lifting at the gym.
Another keynote I want to add here, food is addictive for sure, the diversity of foods and how tasty it is (for me I love fried chicken, fries, and anything with cinnamon like Cinnamon Toast Crunch for example) so a way to avoid it is simple not to have it in your kitchen cabinet or fridge. So be mindful when you’re doing grocery. The best way to avoid addiction is not to stay in an environment that promotes addictions: like if you want to be less horny and obsessed with banging a girl, stop looking at them on the internet, stop watching porn. I mean horny is good sometimes because it encourages men to marry and get their girl pregnant and be a dad and raise the next generation of the workforce, paid back your parents by having kids and raising them are important because you’re already being raised, I cannot tell how much important it is to have kids these days because we need people to run the equipment, the machine and do the work to build home, roads and running the facilities and economy as a whole. You know, we must have kids, and even a lot of kids if possible, as long as you can afford to provide them with nutrition education and healthcare. So being horny is not bad at all, I think the Japanese are going in the right direction since they are open to pornography, but still, I’m not sure why there are still many people who are avoiding building a family and having babies, and being a responsible person of society. Such losers. Anyway, that’s all the advice and thought process I’m given for myself right now. Stay healthy and stay safe. Bye.