"To Save Our Lives"
Yesterday, Exercise Technique class was all about the pull-up. For some reason, I was so pumped up during the class session. Maybe because I like to see folks get gritty and limits being pushed. Pulling your own body weight certainly fits the bill.
After watching demonstration after demonstration of all the variations of the pull-up and there were many. I asked my instructor why we do pull-ups. She simply answered, “To Save Our Lives.” That’s HUGE. Think about it…If you were drowning and a rescue crew threw you a rope…In your current physical condition, could you pull your body up? Hmm…most folks probably couldn’t. I know, I couldn’t. Gotta go, it’s pull-up time.
Chrisetta Mosley
I am a product – and now a survivor – of childhood obesity. As a child, my family always told me that my extra weight was merely baby fat and I’d eventually grow out of it. I never did. Instead, my childhood is filled with memories of not being able to ride a bike, flattening its training wheels from being over the recommended weight, and avoiding P.E. classes by any means necessary. For years, I wore my fatness like a wounded soldier wears a Purple Heart - with pride. I owned the look. I dressed it up. I worked the room. There wasn't a skinny girl who intimidated me. I made sure my hair was laid just right. Nails polished. Outfits coordinated to the tee. Accessories to compliment every outfit. But everyone has a breaking point, and mine came in the spring of 2004 when I tipped the scale at nearly 400 pounds 388 to be exact. I was MISERABLE trapped inside of that body. I no longer wore my Purple Heart with pride. Rather, I was ashamed and frightened. Ashamed that I had allowed food to become my everything – frightened I would die because of it. Drastic times called for drastic measures... Today, I’m bound and determined to live a better, healthier, active lifestyle. I realize I’m no longer a passenger in my life, I’m the driver. I’m overcoming my inhibitions and I’m slowly but surely saying farewell to my old childhood nemesis, obesity. For once and for all, Farewell Fatso!