Is being overweight and being a Jedi a good thing?

I come from a family where food=love , me ,my daughter and my brother are the only ones that are not overweight and we are more physicaly active , i mean going to the gym and doing sports , we have to defend oursefles when we dont finish our plates , we constantly have to hear about our families health problems , we get ridiculed when we even utter that they could be ill from stuffing their faces and that they are not fat because they are ill.

Its disfunctional at best , they eat because they are miserable , and they are miserable because they eat , they keep the horror intact and dont tolerate anyone worrying about it , they see any remarks about their mobility and weight as a personal attack on their being, They are fat and maybe in their heart they want it different , but after dragging them to the gym a few times they give up , and we are to blame... Because we are pushy and meddling.

Me and my daughter are reminded all the time that we are sooo lucky that we can wear what we want , mind you , we both have immuun disease which messes with our health and we have to be carefull with food.

I dont even have time to overthink whether its Jedi or not , i have to workout because otherwise my health declines rapidly, i have to eat healthy because if i dont i feel sick and tired all the time.

In your case Sven , i would take up Hannigans advise , and find a gymbuddy...i dont get to tell people that if they are fat that they are not Jedi , i can only tell you how helpless i feel when i see my family getting more ill from obesity and more dependend on their surroundings , there is nothing i can do about it , and i dont feel very Jedi when i have to confront them with it...

I have a really hard time following someone else's standards for what I should be. Jedi should be able to run a 7 minute mile, or Jedi should be able to do martial arts Etc. These are things that really sort of depressed me when I was younger. I knew through no fault of my own that I would never be able to do some of those things.

We may all call ourselves Jedi but our paths are all different, our needs are all different, and how we learn and how we grow is all different. Its why I hesitate to make blanket statements such as "the Jedi should never be overweight." Looking at your life, consider the things that cause you the most struggle or the most difficulty or the most ill effects. Or you can work from the space of what gives you the biggest benefit as a Jedi. You personally, not anyone else. Do what's necessary for you. It's really hard to divorce ourselves from the constant barrage of societal messages, but meditation is a good tool for that. Consider your motives for doing anything. If it comes from the desire to meet some standard set by others or even by yourself, it's been my experience that any gain will be short-lived.

Take stock of where you are right now and do what needs doing in this moment. Try not to look too far off into the future. You don't have a mountain to climb you have a step to take. Now and now and now

I feel like a lot of being a Jedi is about intent (and attempt).. being overweight is not an un-Jedi state.. we all have those things in our lives with we struggle with.

It's about how you deal with it and how you approach it that makes you a Jedi. I believe that the Jedi accepts their limitations and their weaknesses and works on them to improve.

I'm in agreement with Hannigan, Jedi or not- it's not good to be over weight. Though I use the term a bit more loosely than what I grew up understanding.

Your weight is unhealthy when your body tells you it is. From your description, your body is telling you that it's unsustainable and in need of a change. If diets haven't worked in the past- because lets be real: they are hard to maintain- then working with a dietitian or a college educated physical fitness trainer is a very good recommendation. I know at least one person in this thread has benefited from his visit to a doctor for recommendations.

The Jedi were modelled after the Samurai. Samurai literally means "To Serve". So, to answer the question in my own way, no. Being overweight should never stop you from being able to serve. If it does, either tackle the issue or find another way to serve.

I know a man who is easily the fittest person I've ever met in person. He slept in the bunk next to me in basic. One of his arms alone was bigger than one of my legs. He was huge. BUT... despite being a walking behemoth of muscle, he will never see overseas duties because he is "unfit". He busted his ankle and it never healed right. In fact they even tried to medically discharge him for being unfit when this guy had custom combat shirts made because he couldn't lift his arms without ripping the standard ones. But he fought it, he wanted to serve. So now he serves outside of combat. I cannot reveal what he actually does for security reasons, but I know he saves lives every day.

In the same way the Jedi can serve, regardless of weight. Yes, I do believe healthy eating and exercise is important. But we all come here broken. And broken people don't take care of themselves that well. So yeah, when I joined I was a bit chubby. I still am, but less than I was. As long as you take care of yourself and can serve, weight shouldn't be an issue.

IN MY OWN OPINION

Jedi is about The betterment and improvement of yourself so that you can better service others.

If you can barely walk and it hurts to be in your own body. Than aiming towards fixing these problems is a Jedi thing.. But if your just accepting the pain and defeat and not doing anything.....than that is very un-Jedi.

This is not to say you should be slim, fit god/goddess......But your body will let you know when you are where you should be.

And as others pointed out. Weight control is not just a Jedi thing. It is a health risk for ANY human being.

Just my thoughts

My personal take on "Jedi" is that it is the hero's quest, overcoming of obstacles to rise above the Machine that tries to control you as an asset.

From this perspective, any question about "should a Jedi...?" is answered by:

Is it a solution or a distraction/hinderance on your quest?

Being slightly overweight is associated with LOWER rates of mortality and disease. But obesity is a killer, as Hannigan and Ally point out.

So, don't let obesity stop you, kill it! But don't fall into the error of getting caught in the sidequest of JUST working out, and miss the main quest of your life, in the process.

Sven One wrote: I hope this post doesn't offend anyone please I don't want that. But, I have often thought to myself... I am 312 lbs, my joints hurt, I get easily tired by work, gym and extra curricular activities like pushing my wife in her chair on walks, ect.

Our practices teach that a Jedi should have self control and that means in all manners of our lives. Eating, sleeping, drinking certain beverages, medication that is considered addictive (drugs) you plug it in right? I used to be in great shape, workout 2 times a day 2 hours a day when I was younger and wrestled I loved it dreamed of being the next WWF (WWE lol) champion. Unfortunately, I went out for wrestling school and found out it's alot of work, pain and peer pressure. It wasn't willing to give my whole heart to the sport being that I got ripped off by promoters, and just couldn't deal with being hurt all the time so I quit.

Well, I grew depressed my dreams lost and behind me. I begun to eat out of comfort. Drinking lots of energy drinks, soda, candy...sugar...sugar...sugar...Eating fast food close to every night on the way home from work. Buying foods from the deli after work to eat throughout the night...more soda, video games, I don't sometimes understand how I don't have diabetes yet. I went from being 169 lbs. muscles, great shape, ect. to 312 lbs. now overweight, depressed and frustrated.

I may have just answered my question but, I don't think a Jedi should be overweight but, then you could easily cycle in genes, thyroid issues, ect. I know as Jedi we all come in all shapes and Sizes and don't misunderstand me that I am somehow being "shallow" just because I think a jedi should be in shape. I know some of us simply just cannot workout, be active I know my wife wishes she could because she is in a wheel chair and a lot of exercises are out of the question. But, she isn't a Jedi.

I have been going and workout the last week or so and it's been hard and tiring but, I feel better physically in my mind and body when I do. I think working out is good for everyone, getting up and going places like the park, to the beach getting out in Nature is terrific thing and beautiful. I am not sure why I shared all this with you however and answering my own question.

There was something I was told once regarding discipline, especially physical discipline. "Does it hurt? Do it more. Does it still hurt? Do it again! Endure the pain until you like it!"

I've asked myself the same question.
I've learned the weight it's self doesn't matter, it is just a symptom of the emotional turmoil underneath.
I used to loath myself for being overweight. I felt it was wrong and that I was failing myself. So I would try really hard to lose the weight... and then crash and gain more back. It can be a self destructive path.
After I started doing the IP program and talking to people here in the Temple, I learned something. Everyone is who they are and we each have our own struggles. Not all of them are their fault, but they struggle in dealing with them. Not everyone is related to weight, for some it's smoking, drinking, addiction, financial, mental disability, physical disability, or virtually anything else. A key part in dealing with the issues, is dealing with the emotions around them. If you have negative emotions they will just feed themselves and you will get lost dealing with the issue every time.
When I came to terms with being over weight and addressed the shame, anger, and self loathing the cycle broke. I work on getting healthy out of self respect now. it is much easier and my view is much clearer of my issue.

So the answer is, it is natural. If you accept yourself the way you are and don't let the one factor define you, that is what is good or not. I firmly believe that once you do that, the weight will slowly drop on it's own. So yeah the weight it's self doesn't matter, it is just a symptom of an unbalanced cycle of emotions, and that is the problem.

Just to make one point clear. I know a number of us used the work obeasity. I know there is someone dieing to scream body shaming so let me add in a quick link.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/35793-difference-between-obesity-morbid-obesity/

Being a few pounds over weight in truth is not as big of a deal as what some people may think. But when we are talking obeasity then we are talking about things in a much different way.

Roz
In truth the people, myself included who support physical standards and martial arts training important for a person who strives to be a Jedi Knight we are talking about the able bodied people. Yes their are always exceptions to any rule doe to limitations.