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| By Klemente Cisneros |
You gained weight
these past days. Some of you, who ate a little, might not even notice it.
Though, those of us who ate a lot might’ve registered a new record on the
scale, or even in the ER. Now, you're not only left with many presents in your
stocking. You're also left with a post Christmas challenge that might threaten
your forever altered manscape. That's why new year's resolutions were created;
to try to fix all those mistakes made over 365 days, including Christmas'
muffin top. Each and every thing on the list promising to
ditch the bad habits for a newly committed year. In spite of this, most of us will "fudge-that-sheet"
one week in our new diet and exercise programs. Yes, that's totally
normal for most healthy folks that have the chance to dump the
challenge. However, what about those who are left with no choice at all but
only a do-or-die option?
I am talking about a
life-threatening disease here; diabetes, cholesterol, pancreatic disease,
high blood pressure, you name it. How much of a choice do you have if
after all the bad eating behaviors finally reached their limit? You get an
illness from malnutrition and the doctor asks you to avoid everything you enjoy
eating because it will literally kill you. Are you left with nothing but
healthy food on the table? That’s what I thought. Now, you know that most of
the food that makes you happy will also kill you. But how about the food that
doesn't kill you, will make you stronger? For most, it will just make them grumpier.
For few, however, it’ll make them brighter, if they’re smart and love life like
fashion designer Marc Jacobs.
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| Image: refinery29 |
In 2007, a painful case
of ulcerative colitis inspired the designer of famous brand Marc
Jacobs to dump sugar, caffeine, dairy, and white flour from his daily diet.
Added to that, a little sparkle of two-and-a-half-hour daily workout sessions
gave the far-from-sexy designer a redesigned anatomy of bulk and definition.
This did not only transform the designer's life and body, but his entire brand,
and the fashion world completely. Now, the designer, besides being a
paparazzi’s favorite, is also the model for his very own brand. "When
I went from 21 percent body fat to 5 percent body fat and I had muscle, I was
like, 'This is great!'" said Jacobs, who confidently posed nude,
displaying his new body for the BANG fragrance campaign last year. The designer
did not only focus on the seriousness of his condition, but gave it a whole new
insight for today’s looks-obsessed world.
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| Image: Men's Health |
Reading about this story made me
think about the role disease plays on today’s glorified male image. Are we
doing something really wrong that our body has to tell us it needs some
trimming? I think so. Even with America’s new male body obsession, the way you
look at the mirror isn’t changing the way you look at the plate. You know
you’re obese. You know you’re unhealthy. But still, you keep stuffing your
mouth with deliciously lethal food in a way the Greeks never intended. Is it
ever going to be too late when you realize you’re doing it wrong? It might, and
there’s an app for that in your medical record called chronic degenerative
disease.
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| Image: Scientific American |
Physique is something really
important we should take care of for our good personal image. Thus, we diet and
make sure our BMIs are far from the overweight numbers. Obesity, though, is not
the only thing we should be worried about when taking care of our bodies. There
are numerous illnesses on record that are caused by bad eating habits. One of
the most lethal diseases from obesity is high blood pressure. It is sometimes
called the silent killer, because your blood pressure might be reaching the
edge of heaven and you might never even notice until it’s too late. Secondly,
the bitchy sister, diabetes, is the other side of the challenge. It is a
malfunction of the liver to process glucose in the body to such degree that the
organ can’t keep up with all the tasks it realizes, like healing. Most of us
know these sisters are the ones we should be most scared about, because there’s
no point back after you get them. It’s like a car’s engine that happens to
malfunction until it no longer runs. However, there are the other evil cousins,
like gastritis, colitis, high cholesterol, appendicitis, among others, that
might get in the way of you and your double cheeseburger. That’s why you should
be very careful with what you put in your mouth (STI’s are a different topic).
Even though I'd like to give you more reasons to stop your evil muchies, I’ve listed enough for you to know it's wrong. I will not fully cover the entire
list of illnesses and caused by bad eating habits. My
intent here is to motivate you accomplish your new year’s resolution for a
better life. You don’t need those illnesses to come up to you and say you’re
nourishing wrong. Food tastes great, but the main purpose of it is to nourish
our bodies, not our tongues. Our taste buds are just a tool to differentiate
food and liquids. Although our brains play a big part, too, in our eating
disorders, there’s always someone out there that might help you out. The
weight-loss craze is always trending. There are millions of diets and exercise
programs that are designed for a certain type of people. Look for the right one
for you and make it work. Don’t wait for an illness to come chew your butt,
literally, and tell you to change your Snickers bar for a weighted barbell.
-Klemente Cisneros
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