Bins of steel. Smorgasbord abs. More buffalo than buff. If these phrases describe you, fellow farmers, you are not alone.
Most folks can pinpoint the year their health began to decline. For me, it was when I turned 42. Until that point, I took little notice of my earthly shell.
Then, suddenly it rebelled against the comfortable norm I thought I would always enjoy. Pants and shirts I had worn for years no longer fit. Parts of me hurt, seemingly with little or no provocation.
A MEDICAL MALADY
During the period from the end of harvest to planting, the agricultural definition of winter, these symptoms became more pronounced. I call this medical malady winterbody, or winterbod for short.
Back when we all had livestock, and harvest and plowing lasted until Christmas, this affliction was rare. But due to livestock concentration and large machinery, the physical effort necessary in the profession of farming underwent a drastic reduction.
Suddenly, we had enormous amounts of time to devote to — what? Since we had always claimed farming was physically demanding, even exhausting, most of us never developed any exercise habits.
Don’t get me wrong, I can live with denial as well as the next farmer. But at mid-life, I know if I ever do achieve prosperity, it won’t be until late in my life, and I’m concerned about if I will be around long enough to enjoy that unknown status. Medical evidence and my own experience show I need to get serious about my personal machinery.
Part of the problem is our industrywide attitude about food and that better eating habits seem like a capitulation to the diet critics we despise. But our real weak point, like the rest of America, is exercise, or more precisely, the lack thereof.
In our subconscious is a self-image of people who work around the clock. You can believe this myth or your own belt. We work hard, but often just in intense spurts.
AS PHYSICAL AS SHAVING
One side effect of the adaptation of technology is to compress the active periods of our work (harvest, planting, etc.) into a fraction of the time I knew as a boy. Now, much of my work is as physical as shaving.
It is time to admit I need to get off my complacency and maybe even walk somewhere other than to my pickup. Besides, exercise always improves my appetite.
