WBB ESSAYS
We Cannot Escape Biology
- by Amy
Society today does not accept that we are human beings, we are mammals, we are animals, we are living and breathing creatures and we cannot escape biology.
This realization has hit me as intensely as Winter has hit the town in which I live. I've been well aware for a long time that, no matter how much we struggle against it, our bodies will try to keep us alive. I know that, when you starve, your heart rate slows down to try to store energy. I know that you grow fur (lanugo), which is your body's attempt to stay warm. I know that your metabolism slows down in your body's stubborn attempt not to lose too much weight, because your body fights change, and because your body does not see starvation as a good thing. In fact, your body knows it is scary and unhealthy.
We are told that adults need 7-8 hours of sleep per night. (People under the age of 18 tend to need closer to 9 or 10 hours.) But sleep shouldn't BE an exact science. Nor, for that matter, should food be an exact science either. Why do you think humans have been around for so many thousands of years without becoming extinct? Because we have the most incredible self-protection mechanisms built in to us.
Living in New Zealand (far south in the southern hemisphere!) recently has reminded me not only that I am human, but that I am a living creature. I crave baked beans, potatoes, bread, scones, hot chocolates, soups, cheese and so on. Since Winter hit, I have been sleeping for approximately 12 hours each night. I have been reluctant to leave the house as my ears hurt from the cold. I have not had much energy. My initial reaction was, "I'm lazy."
I'm not lazy. Sure, I could be pushing myself to go do exercise, to stop eating potatoes and hot chocolates, to follow some plan devised by someone who probably lives in an entirely different climate to me. In fact, I might feel more energized, I might lose weight (or at least prevent weight gain) and so on, but I think it's worth addressing what my body is telling me, too.
My body says, "It's Winter. You're a living creature. You respond to the seasons like all other living creatures." I found an interesting article about the way in which the colder, darker weather affects our abilities to burn fat and to regulate our appetites. http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/news/cold.htm
The point I am trying to make here goes much further than "Winter makes you fat." In fact, that's not my point at all.
We don't factor the realities of our world into our day-to-day lives. We expect ourselves to sleep eight hours a night, wake up, have the same number of calories for breakfast today as we did yesterday, a week ago, a month ago, six months ago. We then expect ourselves to go to work or to school and work the same number of hours as we would any other day. Sure, we may have to bring an umbrella or wear a few more layers, but it's too easy to consider the changes to be purely external. Too many of us don't even contemplate that we may experience an internal change. We are still expected to socialize after work/school - go out for a few drinks, come home well past midnight. Never mind that it's currently -1 degrees Celsius and pissing down with icy rain at that time.
I know that for the majority of people on this forum, the seasons are the other way around and you're just heading into Summer. This post isn't intended to be limited to the seasons, although this may explain why 'the South Beach diet' wasn't such a hit in Scotland (or wherever - that was just the first cold place which came to mind). IT'S NOT REALISTIC for Aussies to follow the same work timetable as Americans. IT'S NOT REALISTIC for people in Boston to follow the same diet and exercise regime as those in Los Angeles.
Because our bodies rebel. Because we should trust our bodies when they are telling us something. Because our bodies are not 'the enemy' - in fact, they are us. Try as we might, we'll never in this lifetime manage to separate 'ourselves' from 'them'. Nor will we ever manage to finally convince them to stop behaving like 'bodies', to 'shut up and listen to the brain'. You can trick yourself with as many appetite suppressants as you want, you'll still actually be hungry because YOU HAVEN'T EATEN. Load yourself up with as much caffeine and speed as you can find - inevitably, you will still have to sleep sometime. Live off steamed vegetables - you'll still develop malnutrition due to the complete lack of protein and fats in your diet.
The human body is so clever, so complex, so astounding in its capabilities. It saddens me deeply to think of those people who fail to recognize this breathtaking gift we have been given.
- Amy
