Exercise, and the Moral Dilemma - Replies Please!

[kistha]

So.

While I do not believe it will help me lose weight at all, I do need to get my muscles back into shape so that I can try and get a massage job in late May or early June. Giving a massage a day is turning out to not really be feasible, since I want a life with the husband when he gets home, and most people work during the week, during the day. Also, I do not really want to become the "free massage machine" again. (Not pointing at anyone! Just remembering how it turned out from school.) Doing the occasional free massage is OK but doing it on a daily basis for a month...yeah. Probably not a good idea.

This leaves me with the need to get a good muscle workout, where I won't hurt myself (I am a stubborn stupid mule, when it comes to weights, and have repeatedly hurt myself when doing them at home or without a trainer at a gym.) and I don't really want to add any more time to my day that I already do with my current cardio workout (walking on the treadmill.)

The *only* program that worked for me in this area is Curves. It's a cardio/weight training program that takes thirty minutes (really) and since they use hydraulic weights, you improve only as fast as you can improve which also means you improve in real immediate time. Since you can only do as much as you can do, and time on the machines is short, injury is a lot less likely. The clientele is all older heavy women, so you don't have to think about appearance or competition. You are there to (lose weight) workout, and that's it. That covers my cardio for the day, and adds the appropriate weight training too - in less time than my usual cardio.

So, the Dilemma, you ask? A portion of the profits for Curves franchise goes to Christian Right Legislation. One of the big ones the founder funds is anti-abortion legislation.

I know it works really well for me, and it's only 30 minutes 3 times a week, and for most people it really works in the fat burning department. But I'm really, really not for that kind of legislation. So I'm torn - on the one hand I know it will only take a couple of months to get me to where I want to be for massage, but I'll still be giving money to a cause I seriously oppose. Some people do the "buying off" method of giving the same amount of money to the opposite cause, making the impact "neutral". I'm not sure I buy that. And while we're not poor, there's a reason I'm going back to work. (Have to pay off the cat's iron lung.) I don't really want to give them money, but I do want to use what they have developed.

Now I'm against it. You may be for it. No dilemma for you - but then what if it was for pro-abortion legislation? What would you do? What do you think?

I know no one can dictate my morals for me, but I've been hemming and hawing for a week now, and I'm interested in other points of view. (And if anyone can figure out the math of what the percentage of my actual money that makes it to the legislation, that would be fabulous.) I want to take a look at what other people think, and see if that gets me off the teeter-totter I'm on.

Comments

[sgoilear.livejournal.com]

Curves: There was some misleading info, and some downright fabrications, about Heavin's support of Christian, militant pro-life groups, which circulated in 2004. The short of it, is that the only monetary support he's given on pro-life lines is a pledge of $3.75M over a five year period to a family practice center (providing health services to the uninsured, but not abortions), and a $250k pledge to an abstinence project, also over a five year period.

So about $800k/year during those years ... which is a pretty tiny portion of the money Curves makes. You're probably 'contributing' to causes you dislike in greater quantities by filling up your gas tank, or grocery shopping. =)

I've patronized businesses who support things I don't -- but if it's one of my push-button issues, I'll write them a letter telling them I really wish they wouldn't (more cleverly, but that's the gist).

So, I say "go for it". =)

[mischief-wa.livejournal.com]

Oh wow this is a toughy. Really what I think it comes down to is how you feel about it deep down, and how strong that feeling is.

sgoilear brings up good points about filling up your gas tank, and going to the grocery store.

Trying to imagining myself into a similar situation, I'd say go do it. (and I sat here a long time thinking about it) By not going, you're not having any impact on the 'issue', and instead keeping yourself from something that will be good for YOU.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Gotta admit, that's *exactly* the reason I've never gone there -- so if spoilergear is right, perhaps it's a different issue then I believed..

On the other hand, perhaps a little research is in order to make sure that you have the facts -- if the guy donated to these causes once, he might well have done so more times.

I do shop my conscience, at least on the big things -- so I shop at Costco instead of Walmart (not only who they donate to, but how they treat their employees as well) and so on. But yea, I buy gas and do shop at the larger grocery stores, so I'm hardly clean. When I can, I make alternate choices. If you can get to a gym that works for you and isn't owned by someone who donates to causes that give you hives -- that might be the best alternative.

But yea, that's a hard one...

[zephret.livejournal.com]

Your taxes help pay for murder?

I mean, all I'm saying is, your money goes on all different services and products throughout the day, which can go in any number of directions you are or aren't aware of and you have very little control over that. Maybe brands you are buying in the store are exploiting underdeveloped countries, you just never know. Thinking about it will drive you mad.
If you want the service Curves provides, go for it and use it. Don't be worried about where they send their money. Unless you're out there killing abortion clinic workers, I don't think you're going to be adding that much difference to it.

[winifred.livejournal.com]

As a former gymrat the one thing I can tell you is that if you've found something that works, stick with it. I have avoided certain gyms and programs for all kinds of reasons big and small, but when it comes down to it the one person I am responsible for and to is myself.

If I were in your shoes I would be experimenting with similar exercise programs. Are there any? If nothing else, join a regular gym and see if you can negotiate a session or two with a personal trainer into your joining fee to get you started. Some gyms in the area have a women-only area in their facility if modesty is an issue.

If a personal trainer isn't in the cards, Body-for-LIFE has worked for me very well in the past. I'll loan you my intro book when I see you next. The principles are sound, and the exercise plan may keep you from hurting yourself while still making progress.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

After all you've been through with your health, and everything you've tried, certainly nobody else has any right to judge you for using a service that made that big a difference for you. You have to save your life.

If I were in your situation, I'd try to balance the political impact with money or volunteering. And I'd keep trying to find a doctor who could help you figure out what the underlying cause is.

I know how it is to go to a doctor, or a long series of doctors, to try to get help with the underlying causes of weight gain, only to be told, "Well, you're fat because you're fat, and if you magically lose weight, everything will fix itself."

The doctor who finally diagnosed my fibromyalgia was a sports medicine specialist. I had a minor foot injury that didn't heal for 3 months, during which time my primary care doc kept saying, "Just elevate it, ice it, and don't put any weight on it for a few more weeks," until I could no longer walk. "Can you work?" she said, as if that were the only way to gauge the seriousness of an injury. Well, I was a grad student, so my job consisted of sitting on my butt, reading and writing, so yeah, I could work, but I couldn't get from my reading chair to the bathroom without crawling. The sports medicine guy saved my life, yet his was the last specialty I would have expected to solve the mystery.

Wishing you an accurate, auspicious diagnosis, and soon.