Conference moira::naturism

268.0. "Body acceptance and diet" by DDIF::MACK (Embrace No Contradictions) Mon Aug 27 1990 17:51

I've just recently realized that at least a part of me (the healty part) has
been a nudist for most of my life, and the rest of me is catching up fast. The
past couple of weeks have been filled with realizing that my body is really 
_me_, not just some undergarment of the soul to be discarded at the last trump 
like a worn and unwashed pair of socks.  No, this is me, as I am!  And I love 
me!

What started as a journey of exploration in personal comfort has turned 
unexpectedly into a new way of life.  This way of life has had an interesting
and unexpected side-effect:

  I'm eating less.  I'm exercising more.

I no longer want the great glutinous mounds of stuff that I had been eating
before.  In fact, an attitude toward excessive eating is forming that is
remarkably like my attitude toward clothes: superfluous baggage I can do 
without.  When I look in the mirror I see a man carrying a bag hanging over
his tum and lumpy stuffing in his thighs.  It just doesn't belong there.

As I rejoice in my body, I want to exercise it, to feel the blood flowing
through it as the air moves over it, glad to be alive.  Even chores like
repairing something in the basement or going upstairs to bed carry a fluidity 
of motion when I am nude.

This is entirely different from the kind of an atmosphere produced by most
diets, where fat becomes the enemy and our bodies the soul-destroying "fifth 
column" which must be punished into submission with vigorous exercise.  A 
mirror becomes a reminder of the battles yet to win and a scale becomes the 
measure of valor in the fight against the body.  What a perfectly horrid 
(and soul-destroying) way to envision oneself.  I'm glad I'm free!

The most wonderful part of it all is that I don't really care if I lose any
weight or not or if I get really fit or not, although it would be nice if
both happened.  Just as I am now perpetually aware of my nude self whether 
nude or clothed, I am aware of and approve of myself whether wearing a 
superfluous layer of subcutaneous fat or not.  I just want to do the things 
which just happen to lead toward a slimmer, stronger me.  I gotta be 
convinced God invented this plan - when everything works together 
"independently" for good, His hand is in it somewhere! Say, maybe it was when
He formed our (nude) bodies.

A couple of other things that are working out:

I generally go nude around the house unless we're going out soon.  The kitchen
is the only room in the house where the curtains aren't arranged to be drawn.
Hence, I have to slip into a pair of shorts to spend any time in the kitchen.
I thought of getting new curtains for the kitchen, but then decided not to.

On our way home from Cedar Waters yesterday (our first time ever) Lorraine and 
I figured out that if we set aside the money that would have gone into excess 
food, we should have enough for a membership and a decent vacation next summer.
Thinking about this excites me so much I can't express it. Two or three weeks 
of swimming, sunning, and hiking with nothing between me and the warm sunshine?  
Evening socials and Scrabble on rainy days, new friends, open people with warm
hearts?  Yaaaah-HOO!  Goodbye Twinkie, hello me, and hello everybody!  (Bubble,
bubble, bubble...)

Has anybody else found that nuding is having an incidental but profound effect 
on their diet or other parts of their life?

RE:< Note 268.0 by DDIF::MACK "Embrace No Contradictions" >
                         -< Body acceptance and diet >-


>Has anybody else found that nuding is having an incidental but profound effect 
>on their diet or other parts of their life?


I first started nuding (other than around my apartment) last summer, and I 
resolved to get rid of the extra weight I was carrying around. I managed to
drop some, put put it back on over the winter.  I quit smoking in November, and
wound up putting on a few more pounds after that.  This summer has been a blur
of lots of activities, most of which have kept me from doing much in the way
of nude sunbathing..hopefully this weekend.


I do nude around the house a lot and an occasional walk by a mirror reminds
me that I need to drop a few pounds, which I say I'll start working on 
tomorrow :^)


But I have found that my attitudes about a lot of things have changed since
I went "public", but there are other events that have occured that may have
contributed.   I do have a much different attitude toward the environment,
government intervention in our lives and other similar issues.  I think becoming
a naturist and reading this conference have definitely helped in those changes.


Welcome to you both and good luck.



Jim

    
    
    	I have started getting into shape for the comming summer season. It
    isn't necessarily to be 'lean and mean' but after losing abot 7 pounds
    so far, I can feel the difference and I want to keep feeling this way.
    
    
    ed

    Enlightening note indeed. This has set me thinking about my body profile. I
    should lose weight in some parts of my body. Seeing in a mirror often is the
    best thing to evaluate myself. As my wife (Raji) points out I have to
    cut on my tummy. I will also start evaluating my food pattern. I am on
    a vegetarian food since a year. It feels fine. Till today I was worried
    how to maintain or increase my weight. This will change from now.