Monday, September 22, 2008

A personal "jihad" on food


One of my patients has declared that her fight with weight is her own personal "jihad" and has started her own blog to detail her experiences while striving to change her lifestyle.

Of course in this day and age the word "jihad" is loaded with religious connotation - a point not lost on her and she eloquently describes on her blog her choice of nomenclature,

"According to information retrieved from Wikipedia today, the word jihad means "strive" or "struggle". Anyone who has weight issues, especially weight issues that they have had from childhood, knows that a "struggle" is just what it is.

Additionally, one of the four categories of jihad in Muslim teaching is the Jihad al-Nafs, or the jihad against oneself. It is believed in some of the more moderate circles that the prophet Muhammed taught that this form of jihad is greater than actual warfare. While it refers to the inner struggle by believers to keep the Muslim faith, I think almost every human being, regardless of the belief system to which they ascribe, has a daily internal struggle of some kind - for me, it is my weight. I struggle with temptations to over indulge and frustration when I face obstacles or criticism. I strive to stay motivated. I strive to stick to my plans for exercise and portion control.
"
Her blog is one part food diary, one part real diary.

She's an excellent writer and has been doing a remarkable job in chronicling her journey into learning to live a thoughtfully reduced (rather than blindly restricted) lifestyle.

For those of you who are interested, you can follow along on her "jihad" by heading over to her blog Why Weight?

Thanks to HvnSntRN for allowing us a peek into her life.