When Giving Up is Good
Updated: Feb 21
I have been suffering from over-body-fat for many years, no matter how physically active I was. I actively searched for ways to lose belly fat, and, in some periods, I've been the most active person I have ever been. And yet, despite all the hours of walking, the gym, ground training, and healthy eating, I have failed to reduce my annoying, unnecessary fat. All the time I spent working out and eating healthy appears now futile, as I get even more fat, regardless of the activity I attempt to maintain on a regular basis.
I am a very hungry man. I need more food than the "average" human being, because of my size and due to the medications I take, which make me hungrier than I already am. Eating vegetables, was never truly satisfying for me; even if I ate a jungle of them, I would remain unsatisfied. Even on an average day, when I get to eat, food is one of my top subjects when thinking. On an average day, whereas an average person eats 3 meals a day, I eat 9, I believe.
All of the wasted time on physical health, which was quickly deteriorated by exhaustion and great hunger, made me realize how futile is my attempts to reduce my body fat. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is to learn to live with this annoying fat, and accept it as unseparated from my own existence, for the rest of my life.
Based on this personal example, giving up should only be made when there is totally no other options left, or when the options are far too incompetent to deal with the problem. Those who give up early are not aware of their potential, and those who give up late are unaware of their own futility. Therefore, the middle ground is to stop trying when there is no other alternative.
When I told my mother of this, she said to me, "You might live for the rest of your life with this fat, but at least you can try to preserve your physical health". I guess that, based on this, there's a difference between giving up on a core activity, and giving up on total hope.
I am a very heavy individual, both in muscle and mass, so I guess that this liability could be an advantage against those who might consider hurting me physically. It might be easy confronting a much smaller man, but when you're far taller and wider than the average person, the odds might be in your favour. I wager that, those who have been mean to me online, might be more considerate in person.
Based on the previous paragraph, a liability could be turned into a new possibility. If you are in a reality where you do not tolerate it enough, at least make the best of it, while you're in it. I myself do not know if I will ever be skinny again, but at least my extra fat will add to my presence. Bears need fat to keep themselves warm during the winter, and although I live in a middle eastern country, at least it has other uses, such as serving as an example for an article such as this.
It is strange to use the word "up" in "giving up" because "up" is supposed to be something better-spirited, like a stand-up routine, but I guess the expression can give us the following insight: When you give up, it is your choice afterwards, whether to look down in despair, or look up in hope and/or resourcefulness.
It could be therefore an expression of two activities, merged into one. Look at this article, for example. The usage of the situation has led me to create something new, AKA, look "up" for something else, as a result of giving up; "giving up" could be simply mean "stop what you're doing and look forward to something else thereafter". Even if it does not mean so in terms of terminology, at least it could be remembered that way, practically.
