Category: fitness

Heroism and Weight Loss

April 27, 2014April 28, 2014 · 20 Comments ·

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for some time. Everyone who reads this blog is probably aware of my distaste for weight loss in the media. I know many find shows like the Biggest Loser to be encouraging but for me they are the opposite.

What bothers me is they paint fat people as bad, and reformed fatties as good and that just isn’t true. As I often say, ‘a lot of people lose weight in prison’… Losing weight is hard enough without having these types of morality judgments thrown in our face.

So that’s media but this post is a slightly different take. I would like to talk about how we as a culture often couch weight loss in heroic terms and how this is almost never helpful.

Just the other day I was watching a show and the reporter asked the man how he had ‘overcome his heroic battle with weight loss’. This is not uncommon phraseology for our average conversation. All of us, including myself, have used such phrases when talking about weight loss.

What’s wrong with that you ask? I mean losing weight is really hard. Why is that not heroic?

Well, let’s start with some definitions-

Over on about.philosophy.com author Kendra Cherry asked her readers How Do You Define Heroism? Pretty much every response is something like this:

“A hero is a person who would risk life and limb just to save people or a person. these people standout as brave intelligent and loving. these people need to be recognized”

So what are the elements of being a hero:

1. They are brave

2. They are worthy of recognition

3. They are loving

4. They risk their own safety to help other people

It is this last aspect that is the most common thread in all the responses. Another reader says:

“Heroism is when you act out of the kindness of your heart. Whether you’re helping someone on homework, or helping someone who got hurt, the main thing is that your helping someone who is having a hard time”

So, heroism clearly involves being unselfish and serving your fellow men and women especially when doing so is difficult.

How does weight loss fit such a description? I can’t think of any other change of appearance that is lauded in such ways. For example, if someone gets a face lift they are often derided, criticized but I’ve rarely heard that when gastric bypass is done. Why is one surgical enhanced change heroic and another isn’t?

You could say that gastric bypass is required where a face lift is not? Well, the research from the Health at Every Size movement would strongly disagree with that assertion, but even if you accept that gastric bypass is necessary I don’t see how it is heroic? If I break my leg and have surgery on said leg (essentially fixing a problem in my body like GB) does that make me a hero? No, it makes me a person with a broken leg that was fixed.

I can see no part of weight loss that involves risk to help other people. You can help people get in shape or encourage them to enter a race, but that’s not really the weight loss, that’s your service in the community and amongst your loved ones. Anyone should be lauded who serves others no matter their size. That is worthy of the hero label.

What about athletes? Who are they serving and we call them ‘sports heroes’? One could argue such a term is misapplied to professional athletes but I would counter that most athletes are participating in a team or cause greater than just themselves.

For example, an Olympian is certainly worthy of individual applause but also their gift of performance on behalf of their country makes it worthy of the hero label.

There are a few sports like golf that are truly individual events and then I would say they aren’t really heroes but simply exceptional. We like them because they are good at something and we are not. Nothing wrong with that!

But I hear you saying ‘Rachel it’s so hard. Shouldn’t we be encouraging?’. My answer is ‘of course, we should’. However, there are lots of hard things we do in life that aren’t really heroic. If I am a PHD candidate and I complete my thesis am I lauded as a hero? I’m encouraged, congratulated, cheered but unless there’s a disability or something extraordinary I rarely hear the kind of language we apply to weight loss for any other ‘hard thing’ in life.

Why? Because the diet industry in America is a 20 billion dollar industry. They want you to spend money and what better way to get someone to spend money than to either make them feel really good or really bad about themselves. A tepid, lukewarm person never bought anything. They have a vested interest in convincing us that we need to change and that if we make said change we can be the hero.

Now, you might suggest that I am focusing on mere semantics and poor word choice. I would argue back that according to the Huffington Post the average American woman has dieted 61 times by the time they are 45 and that’s starting at 16 (I would start much younger- 81% of little girls in America have dieted before the age of 10).

Assuming some marginal success in most of those diets, the average woman has been the hero 61 times, and then fallen sometimes quite speedily off of her pedestal. Then to make matters worse 35% of women gain more than they lost on said diet.

So, now we aren’t really a weight loss villain (to use the cannon of terms) that is probably reserved for sinful foods and the companies who pedal them but we are something even worse- the fallen hero. I mean think about what that means. 61 times the average woman not only feels let down with her own frailties but is no longer the inspirational tool for her family and friends. I’ve felt it and I bet most of you have too. It is devastating.

I actually remember one time my sister telling me ‘you can’t gain the weight back because then you wouldn’t be this person that we admire’. She was very little and didn’t mean to hurt my feelings but is that not what all of us go through on the roller coaster of weight loss? 2012 I was at my peak of fitness and weight loss, then I had a personal crisis, chronic pain and a herniated disk in my back. Things changed and so did my body.

I’m not making excuses. That’s just what happened. I felt guilty for a long time. Like I’d let everyone down, which is insane when you really think about it. What had changed was something in my body. My other actions were exactly the same. I still swam my races, I still blogged. I still worked. I still held book club and spent time with my friends. I still traveled. All of it. I can’t think of one thing for other people I could do in 2012 and couldn’t or didn’t do in 2013. So why did I seemingly let them down?

Because I wasn’t the hero anymore.

That’s why this language about our bodies is so important. It can have devastating repercussions that can make us feel like failures, and we already feel that way because of the way we look. The language just piles on. And sometimes it is not just language. I have friends who’s parents were vocally disappointed in them for their weight loss struggles. Instead of sympathy and encouragement they received pity and disgust. (Luckily my parets have always been pretty good about letting me live my own life)

What worries me most is if being the fallen weight loss hero is hard for adults, imagine what it must feel like for a child who has so little control over his or her bodies in the first place? That I do know. I remember vividly the feeling of disappointment after diet, after diet, not only frustrated at not looking the way I wanted to, which is hard enough for a young girl, but letting everyone down in the process. For goodness sakes, now these kids are even letting down the President.

So, in a perfect world where everyone took all of my advice what would I suggest? How would I encourage others in this hard thing called weight loss? I would treat it like the accomplishment of any other worthy goal. ‘that’s great’, ‘I can see you worked very hard’, ‘great job’, ‘congrats’, ‘I’d love to go jogging with you’, or any number of responses without vaulting the person up as a hero because of the way they look.

What do you guys think? Have you felt like you were letting down people when you gain weight or fail to lose? Do you think the hero narrative is helpful or hurtful? Please share your experience, as this is just what makes sense to me. Love you all!

Exercise and Weight Loss Success

October 4, 2013October 4, 2013 · 1 Comment ·

Many of you know I believe in a healthy lifestyle or the Health at Every Size Movement http://www.haescommunity.org/.

How do you determine the success of a health regiment or diet? I would wager that 90% of you would answer “weight loss” or if you didn’t you probably would be thinking ‘weight loss’ in your head but saying something more socially acceptable.

Here’s the thing- THAT IS WRONG!!

Every day there seems to be more evidence that the link between weight, even obesity, and actual health is not as strong as we once thought. This defies the logic of the ‘war on obesity’, Michele Obama, scores of trainers/dieticians but that doesn’t mean it is not true.

Read this book. It will BLOW YOUR MIND

Think it is just one woman’s crazy enabling antics? No. The book has 7 pages of detailed recommendations from doctors, leaders, scientists etc. (see articles for more back up

US News World Report

New York Times, and New York Times

The Today Show

To start the book Dr Bacon (I know ironic last name) shares her testimonial. Here it is directly from the book:

This quote might lead you to believe the book is merely anecdotal but its not. There is real science to back up what she says about eating healthy, being happy and not worrying about weight. She leaves no stone unturned answering questions about diabetes, cholesterol, heart disease, bone density, and even has the most brilliant defense against gastric bypass I’ve ever read. I’m telling you it will change the way anyone, not just the obese, look at eating, health and exercise. Here is my favorite (this is also quoted in Amy Farrell’s brilliant book Fat Stigma):

UC Davis.

“In this study, a group of fat women was divided into 2 groups, one receiving coaching in restrictive eating (diet) and exercise, the other being encouraged to eat a healthy diet, listen to their bodies cues, to foster ways to engage in fun exercise and take part in a fat acceptance discussion group.

Significantly group 1- the traditional diet/exercise group- initially lost weight, but by the end half had dropped out; most had regained weight; blood pressure, cholesterol, and other metabolic measures had not improved and self-esteem levels had dropped.

In contrast, group 2 hadn’t lost any weight, but most stayed with the 2 year program; their blood pressure, cholesterol, and other metabolic measures had improved dramatically; their self-esteem levels increased substantially; and they exercised regularly. Encouraged to pay attention to their bodies, to stop restricting calories, to fight the discrimination they experienced as fat people, and to enjoy their bodies through physical movement and eating well- the non-dieters showed significant health improvements. But, and this is the key point, they never became thin.”

Doesn’t that blow your mind?

One of Dr. Bacon’s patients describes her battle and realization of her own worth so beautifully:

I recently have become aware of the activist Jeanette DePatie, otherwise known as The Fat Chick. She gets it. I wish someone had explained this to me when I started exercising (instead I went into it expecting to lose 100 lbs in the first year. Sigh…)

I am happy most of the time. I love my life most of the time. I have times when I’m more fit than others but I’ve basically looked the same since I was 17 years old and I was always ashamed by that, like it was this big failure I could never overcome. Now I just make sure I have clothes that fit me in lots of sizes and work out at least 3 times a week. Would I like to be skinny? Yes, but I’m finally not convinced I’d be any happier if I was (or healthier). The guilt is for the most part gone.

I hope this encourages all of you. I started my journey saying I was the Only Happy Fat Woman in America and I had friends who fought me on it. They thought I was just being patronizing or disingenuous but it was true then and today it is still true (I really had someone argue with me saying I was basically full of crap. Not true). TV will make you believe you have to be miserable if you are fat (biggest loser sorry) but its a lie! Be healthy, be happy, be human, have bad days, eat cake and then work out for an hour the next day, find stuff you love, therapies that work and live the best life you can.

Every time Tanya and I swim together people look and have a surprised expression. I know they think ‘I’ve never seen a girl that looks like do what they are doing’ and that makes me so happy. It may be my greatest legacy of all.

So thats what I have to say on that. Get active. Be happy. Love life and Follow God.

Do something you never thought you could do. I love MMA (kick boxing) and I'm not too bad at it! — Do something you never thought you could do. I love MMA (kick boxing) and I’m not too bad at it!

Do a fashion show when you find a cute pair of jeans. Who cares!

Find something you love. Even after all the swims I've done it still makes me smile — Find something you love. Even after all the swims I’ve done it still makes me smile

My trainer who has stood by me for 4 years. She is why I go to treehouse and she is one of my rocks. I really love her.

I would also just add that my times in the water when I’m at my thinnest and best trained is about 3 minutes faster than when I’m not. My recovery is much better but my time really isn’t. Funny. It just goes to show what your definition of success makes such a difference in achieving it. If I was only focused on times I’d never be successful.

Deer Creek Clinic 2013

August 3, 2013August 3, 2013 · Leave a comment ·

After I got home from the temple I went with my friend Tania to the Deer Creek Open Water Clinic which is held every year before the Deer Creek Open Water Marathon Swim that I am participating in for the 3rd year next week! Last year I did the 5k but have less training and am doing the 1 mile this year.

For some reason there was a small turnout so basically Goody, Josh and Gordon put on the clinic for Tania and I, which was super nice. They could have cancelled seeing it was just the 2 of us but they went ahead anyway and I was grateful (aren’t open water swimmers the nicest?). It was Tania’s first time swimming outside of Blackridge pond in Herriman and she was pretty nervous, but she did great!

I felt pretty good but my stamina is nowhere near what it was last year. 😦 However, I swam about 800 yards and it was good practice for Saturday. Thanks to Josh and his boys for kayaking as I swam. That was super nice.

I was thinking the other day- Doesn’t it seem like I’ve been open water swimming my whole life? Its hard to imagine my life without it, and yet its only been 3 summers. I first heard about it in July of 2011 and my friend Jim Hubbard took me to the Deer Creek Clinic and I was nervous just like Tania was and look how far I’ve come. Pretty cool! http://smilingldsgirl.com/2011/08/05/deer-creek-clinic/

If you look at that post from my first swim it says it all:

“I did it! I did it! I did it! I swam in open water for a mile and held my own with people who had all done it before without a wetsuit. This is the best day of my life!”

I think Tania was feeling some of that as we left. That’s what makes open water swimming or anything worth doing in life. Its the people. I know so many great people. I always said I must have helped an old lady across the street in the pre-earth life because I don’t know what I did to deserve such great people in my life. I watched my friends help Tania and was truly moved and thought of my long journey over 3 years and how great it has been.

Great people=A Great Life

Slowing Things Down

April 23, 2013April 23, 2013 · 3 Comments ·

I don’t think I have mentioned on this blog I have started a new pain treatment at the Utah Chronic Pain Center. This is a dual approach of hormone balancing and laser/decompression treatment all supervised by nurse practitioners and doctors. As part of the treatment I am supposed to remain active but not cause my muscles to be overly swollen, tender or pulled. This would revert all of our progress. I am also supposed avoid bending, twisting or sudden movement. As a result I have moved from working out 4-6 times a week to more like 2-3 times a week. I have also been a little less intense on the diet; although I don’t really have an excuse for that.

I have also been specifically told by the doctor to stop mixed martial arts for the moment because it is too jarring and too much potential for my muscles to be strained. I miss it and hope to be back soon but for the moment, the treatment is very expensive and I’m inclined to listen. :).

Here’s the weird thing- I feel great. I feel energetic, happy, and relatively free from pain. In all the years I was working out hard core I kept expecting to be energetic from exercise but never really felt it. All those endorphins were a myth to me, never a reality (and I mean never). I can’t explain it but I feel healthier now than I have in years. Hmmmm… Why does my body have to be a freakazoid and not response like everyone else’s! Can any of you relate to what I am saying? Please, please share your experiences.

Now I have to get training again soon because I have the GSL swim coming up and I have been woefully out of the water this year. (With everything crazy for Poler and Grabber I haven’t had time to get to the pool as much as I would like. Going tomorrow though!).

What do you think of this? Am I just deluding myself that these behaviors are making me feel good. I don’t think so. I really feel good. Most importantly I am not in constant pain when I breath, move, bend over or walk. What should I do in the future because I don’t want to lose all the training I worked so hard for but it was making me feel terrible and it never got easier after 3 years? Never. What would you do? It’s like I have to decide pain or fat?

It’s so hard because you feel like you should almost be feeling bad when you are training but usually that goes away after a while. For me it was a constant bad reaction to exercise. Even swimming would leave me weak and frustrated. There’s a limit how long a person can live like that especially without losing much weight.

I’m puzzled because it seems to go against what doctors and medical science thinks for me to feel better not exercising. Thoughts? All I know is what my body is telling me and it is definitely telling me to slow things down.

QUAC 2013

February 16, 2013 · Leave a comment ·

This won’t be a long post because I can barely keep my eyes open. This morning I wen to the QUAC meet at Fairmont pool in Salt Lake. It is a fun, casual swim meet, and it was my first major gathering of the recently formed SLOW (Salt Lake Open Water) masters team. It was fun to see my friends and get a swim in.

It has been a few weeks since I have made it to the pool. With the move taking up so much of my energy it has been hard to find any time for swimming. I’ve missed it a lot and couldn’t wait to dive in. However, I hesitated in going because I’m so out of shape and its been weeks since I was in the water but I decided to go for it and I’m glad I did.

I ended up swimming 2 relays which were fun. They were my first relays in a competition environment and one of them was all women which is awesome. I was surprised so many wanted me to be on their team given my lack of training. Grateful! I also did my own 50 meter free and amazingly finished in 49.5 seconds. My best time is 48 seconds! I couldn’t believe I got that good of a time considering the circumstances.

Now I am just plain exhausted and am going to take a nap.

Laurie came and did awesome. Her first meet!

How Mrs. Claus Relaxes

December 24, 2012December 24, 2012 · 2 Comments ·

I mentioned the other day that I have a hard time relaxing and taking the day off. Well I do know 2 things that I love and would do all day if I could and they couldn’t be more different- MMA (mixed martial arts) and massages

As my Christmas gift to myself I decided to do both and I did them with some Christmas flair!

I’ve learned some new moves since my last video. I love doing the blocks. I’ve also gotten faster and higher in my kicks.

gloves 2 — Nobody will mess around with this Mrs Claus!

left hook — Body shots. I’m thinking of those cabinet makers slowing things down right now! 🙂

And then the massage. I love massages. If I was super rich I’d have a massage every day.

DSCF0924 — Happy face. Little nervous at my eye alignment in this picture but don’t I look relaxed?

Now that’s how you get it done!

Christmas Swimfest 2012

December 15, 2012December 15, 2012 · 2 Comments ·

So we had a our second annual Christmas Swimfest 2012. Last year I wanted to give back to the swim community so I invented this idea of a Swimfest with relays and games. The purpose was to have fun, get a good work out and introduce people to our swim family in a non-threatening way. Since then we have done 2 others, one at Valentines and another in the Summer. The Christmas Swimfests have been the most popular and the easiest to plan. This year was no exception.

In truth, I almost didn’t do it because I felt overwhelmed with my move and everything but there was enough interest and I’d done it enough times I decided to go for it and I’m so glad I did. We met at Gene Fullmer Pool in West Jordan (the pools in Utah are THE BEST! Bar None!). and ended up with 10 people which was perfect for even teams of 5.

The crew before our elves vs santa race — The gang before our elves vs Santa race

We had igloo caps this year, which I thought were quite cute. Thank you Swimoutlet for getting them to us just in the nick of time.

My cousins Jaleah and Anne came which was fun and my friend Etsuko. All sporting the igloo caps.

The treading water activity was a lot of fun. You had to hold your hands out of the water while jingle belling. Josh, Sue and Sabrina lasted the longest

Sabrina was an amazing treader especially considering she just had a baby! Wow!

281242_474450832593970_749989375_n — Everyone getting ready for the t-shirt relay.

155909_474452162593837_480980084_n — Swimming the candy relay

156285_474451159260604_146257781_n — Gordon swimming the t-shirt relay

Some of the other events we did are: (Jim took more photos which I will add when I get them)

t-shirt relay with long sleeve t-shirts that made it a lot harder)

Santa vs Elves

treading water with jingle bells

Doing a lap and then eating a chocolate santa and then next person gets to go.

There is something else I’m forgetting. The time went by far too fast!

Other one’s I had planned:

Push a plastic toy with your nose.

Plastic candy cane as a baton.

Rudolph antlers breaststroke race

Anyway, I love races and competition and being with my friends. When I was a little girl I always wanted to make a game or race out of what we were doing, so I guess this all goes right up my ally. I had a great time and I’m grateful that Heavenly Father inspired me to go forward with a happy thing on a sad weekend. He really does know what we need.

I’d love to encourage other masters groups out there to do their own swimfests and come up with their own relay ideas and pass them on. Swimming (or life in general) doesn’t always need to be so serious. We can have fun, let lose, and be happy. It’s Christmas after all!

Merry Christmas!

To read about my other swimfests see:

https://smilingldsgirl.wordpress.com/?s=swimfest

Exercise and Control

October 4, 2012October 5, 2012 · 6 Comments ·

I realized today what I have learned to like about exercising. When I’m at the gym my success or failure is entirely up to me. I am not talking about weight loss that can be entirely out of my control. I’m talking about during that hour of work. I decide whether I am going to kick butt or play it safe.

I cant get that kind of control from almost anything else in my life. I can’t control my family, my love life (or lack of), my friends, my job, what deadlines are set for me without my say. I think this is also why I like voice lessons. It is entirely in my control. (I’m doing Moon River this week. Hurray!).

This week I was under so much pressure because of a deadline set for work that even my boss had no input on. I really thought it was going to be impossible. I finished my end of the month 6 days faster than I normally do. That might as well be an eternity in accountant terms! So for each day to go to the gym and have a short sense of control makes a big difference for my mental health.

This is especially true when I’m kickboxing. It feels so empowering and exciting to get the anger and frustration out. I wish I could explain it. I feel like I can explode (maybe even lose control) in a socially acceptable way.

The strange thing about my anxiety is I actually feel tons of adrenalin during the anxiety. I think that is what allows me to get through it. I do a good job despite the tears when I’m under anxiety. In fact, often it is my best work which is perhaps why I can’t seem to remove it from my life. I remember my old boss saying he kept giving me more work because I did such a good job on them that I was the first person who came to his mind. Each job I’d agree to because most of the time I had no choice but then I kept doing better and better with the increasing pressure. Problem is my head was exploding bit by bit….Gosh it’s hard to explain.

At least when I am angry, or anxious my performance in the gym or pool is like nothing else. Perhaps I feel challenged or my body gives off some chemical when it feels anxious that boosts performance? I’m not a doctor so I’m not sure. In February I was very upset because of a personal disappointment but I had an appointment to swim so I went and my times totally rocked. Has anyone else experienced this?

It’s funny because I generally don’t get adrenalin from exercising. In fact, I never do. I get adrenalin from anxiety and stress and then it helps me in exercise but it doesn’t actually cause adrenalin. Maybe before races I just need someone to break my heart or tick me off? (Please, no!). 😉

Anyway, I was grateful this week when working 12 hour jammed pack days and having my anxiety episode that I have built up a pattern of exercise to help me feel in control. I don’ t know how I could have made it any other way. Well, I know it would have been an episode a day earlier and much more severe. I’ve said it a million times but for me anxiety is all about fear and control. Cognitive therapy has taught me a lot about rationalizing and overcoming that fear but I think everyone needs some control over their life. For me, exercise does that.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve been forced into this mindset of control because so often in my life I’m in situations where if I didn’t do it, or lead it, it didn’t happen. I remember even going back to Middle School and there was a craft fair for some club and I made nearly every craft. (Still have the burn on my leg to this day). In grad school I decided to give up control and went on a trip trusting my group for a project. Came home and turns out they hadn’t read the assignment fully and in 3 days I had to come up with a survey of JWA employees, tabulate the results and turn in the assignment for the group. That was the last time I took a back seat in grad school I will tell you that!

This is how it goes for me. Every job I’ve ever had has been one where I had no back up or substitute, total control. Funny because I think I’m a natural leader? (I admit I’m a terrible follower…). A side of me obviously likes this control or it wouldn’t land in my lap so often (I certainly hate the reverse and being told what to do all the time) but the anxiety is an unwelcome side affect I’m getting better at dealing with. (this is why a mission was so hard for me. You lose all control, but it was for God so I knew it was in His hands and had a great, if exhausting, experience).

This blog actually gives me control. In the end it is my voice and I chose what to put out there. No editors (but my own constant editing), no teachers, no collaborators to deal with. Just me and my voice.

You see why I’m single. This control thing will be interesting come marriage!. Even in dating and relationships I feel I often have to take control but that can be obnoxious too. Are you asking the right questions? Are they being real? What should you say? One time I went on a date and a guy made me ask every question or it was silent and then at the end I hadn’t finished my food I said ‘Sorry I’m a slow eater’. He said ‘Well, if you didn’t talk so much’…Last time we went out!

I guess in the end it is all kind of silly because I don’t really have any control . That is in God’s hands. Believe me He made it possible for me to finish the impossible task this week. He held my hand when I felt out of control and He helped me make the tough choices. Some may look at my life and even express to me that I have nothing to feel anxiety about. What a comfort to know that God understands and loves me no matter what. He is all patience. All love. And He knows us and knows that in the midst of the hurricane I need an hour of control at the gym

(Thanks also to my trainers Michele and Ben for being so great during this crazy week).

I honestly feel like I did on my mission and I can’t wait for a relaxing weekend. Wahoo!

A Defense of Curves

September 3, 2012September 3, 2012 · Leave a comment ·

I’ve mentioned the infamous Maura Kelly op-ed in Marie Claire many times on this blog . The one where she compares fat people to heroine addicts

“”I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I’d find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine [sic] addict slumping in a chair.”

and

“I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other… because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything.”

It is hate speech of the worst kind and the fact that a major fashion magazine would publish and then defend the smut is unbelievable.

Anyway, I came across an article by Josh Shahryar for the Huffington Post refuted each of Kelly’s claims and her subsequent apology. It is so awesome!

http://huff.to/992Yrd

I was particularly moved by his last segment called The Conclusion.

I don’t normally share whole articles on this blog but I was so moved I wanted all of you to read it. Being on a new diet this last week I think I needed to read this article. So beautiful and moving:

5. The Conclusion

I’m not a personal issues expert. But I’m a human being living in the West who knows what’s going on. And what I see is this: there is an incredible amount of bias perpetuated against overweight people in the media. They are almost never the central character — always neatly tucked in as a secretary, the nurse or a character who’s too old to rouse romance. The last time I saw overweight people in a movie as the central character was in Paul Blart: Mall Cop and recently in Precious. Both the movies had a bit to do with weight.

When they appear on TV shows, it’s about weight. Guess who the loser in The Biggest Loser is… Guess who’s huge on Huge (by the way, a very witty show that got canceled). And when it comes to commercials, There’re always those damn ‘fatties’ that can’t seem to lose their weight without this or that new magical drug or diet.

Criminals can and do get central characters, otherwise. Druggies do. Even rapists and child abusers get more frequently featured. Fat people just aren’t good enough. (And to come to this realization right now just truly, deeply and profoundly upset me.)

The only shows, commercials or movies in which they get treated as normal people are those oriented towards the African-American population. Kudos to them for having the empathy. Only the oppressed can feel the pain of the oppressed.

Overweight people have become marginalized by the media simply because they’re overweight. Just like African Americans were marginalized because they were black and more recently, gay people because they’re gay. I understand fully that unlike the color of someone’s skin or someone’s sexual orientation obesity is a medical condition and a problem, but obese people aren’t. That is the issue. That is the problem. That is what both overweight, “normal” weight and underweight people need to come together and fight against.

The first step towards losing weight is not putting your mind to it. It is not making a list of things you will absolutely not do. It is not locking up the fridge. It is knowing that even if you fail at losing weight, people will still love you for who you are and not the number of pounds you’re packing. That people will judge you by your character and not because you are unhealthy weight-wise (and some people are perfectly healthy even when they are overweight). It is that feeling that you are doing this for yourself not because you have to fit a mold created for you.

That cannot be accomplished as long as Western culture continues to brand people who weigh more than what it deems aesthetically pleasing as unacceptable. It’s gotten so bad that even a few people who’re skinny live in constant fear that they might add a few pounds and not look beautiful enough to not be judged by people. And since media plays a huge part in formulating our cultural perceptions, it needs to change immediately — whether people like Ms. Kelly like it or not.

To that end, I urge everyone who finds size-ism in the media as a menace to view this as a watershed moment. It’s time to come together and fight this bigotry to the bitter end. Change does not come without someone pushing for it. If we want this to change, if we want for us, overweight or not, to not be judged by our BMI, we need to not let this fire die down.

We need to stand up and demand change. Even if it means we need to force the issue daily on social networking sites. Even if it means we have to boycott media that continue to practice this bigotry. Even if it means we have to hold peaceful demonstrations for the end of this practice. If media does not change, we cannot change this culture that seems to have been forever marginalizing overweight people.

It’s not just people judging you on the street. It’s about losing job opportunities. It is about equal treatment in the health care system. It is about being able to breathe, knowing everything’s gonna be alright.

The media’s side-stepping the issue and pretending all’s well reminds me of a scene from the movie Good Luck Chuck. Chuck is hexed so any girl who sleeps with him ends up meeting the love of her life in the next few days. His overweight secretary finds out about this and like any woman, she wants to find the lover of her life. She corners him one night and begs him to have sex with her, but he won’t. It goes on for a couple of minutes. Then, finally when he’s on the ground and she’s on top of him and he refuses, she tears up and says, “It’s okay. Close your eyes and pretend I’m someone beautiful.” He looks up, visibly moved, and says, “I’ll pretend it’s you.”

Well, pretending is just not good enough anymore.

(So awesome! I hope I can keep the discussion going and show people a different version of what a fat American can do. I bet Maura Kelly couldn’t swim a 5k!)

posterboy — It’s not just girls that need the positive body image messaging

Diet Before 10

September 2, 2012September 2, 2012 · 2 Comments ·

I shared this with my facebook community but thought I’d do the same with my blogging community. I think this photo tells a lot.

I can relate to this photo because I was on diet before I turned 10. I have almost no memories of not being on a diet in my life. In fact some of my most vivid memories are being put on diets or being told I was fat by kids or even coaches, other adults. As all my readers know I was also bullied for nearly 2 years (4th and 5th grades) because I was overweight.

I have to say compared to some of my overweight friends, my parents have actually been pretty great. They did put me on a diet when I was young but overall they tried to be supportive and loving. I did not get a ton of pressure from them to lose weight and I certainly was never told that I was ugly, embarrassing, fat, whatever. I hear such stories from some of my friends and I’m grateful for good parents.

So what is my advice to parents who have a heavier child and don’t know what to do? Here goes:

1. Set the whole family on a healthy lifestyle regiment so that one child is not singled out. Then everyone wins. It could even be a fun project to do together.

2. Explain that it really isn’t about appearance. Its about health, energy, happiness. Perhaps give them examples of athletes, other adults who maintain a healthy weight. (show them my blog about my swims 🙂 )

3. I think a lot of parents feel guilty about their overweight children and that just makes the child feel worse for failing their parents.

4. Do not EVER be embarrassed by your child. This will only teach them to be ashamed of their bodies and could lead to behaviors later on that are far worse than being overweight such as self-abuse, eating disorders, and addiction.

5. Try to avoid using food as a reward or a punishment. It will happen on occasions such as birthdays or at a party and that’s fine but in general find non-food related rewards

6. Avoid equating food as a sin. Do not make a child feel guilty for what they eat. Just encourage the good and move on from the bad. I still struggle with feelings of guilt and even sin when I stray from my diet and I don’t think that is a healthy behavior.

7. Introduce your kids to new food experiences so they don’t think that healthy food=boring food.

8. Involve your kids in the cooking process so they can see what goes into it. A processed packaged meal will never give your children any excitement for fresh, healthy ingredients. Also take them to farms, have them learn how to milk a cow, see where eggs come from, how to make cheese, whatever. This may be a drag for some kids but in the end it will help them build healthy eating habits and a love for good food.

9. Be positive, positive, positive, positive! Even today, I find I need overwhelmingly positive feedback from my trainers and other support. I know what I could improve on. In fact, I’m usually beating myself up more than I probably should and don’t need any help in that department. Any added ‘tough love’ just makes me feel depressed and hopeless

10. Make sure you explain all aspects of health to your child. Meaning physical, mental, spiritual, emotional whatever. All of these aspects are important for a healthy person. Writing in journals, meditating, having honest discussion, learning new things, reading, prayer, other worship, and learning to manage stress are all AS IMPORTANT as our weight.

11. Make sure they have correct information about weightloss, health, etc. Despite all my dieting I never learned that type 2 diabetes was curable. When they diagnosed me as border-line a few years ago, I honestly thought I was going to die. I was petrified. Instead of just scaring kids with words like cancer, heart disease, diabetes. Let’s explain what they really are and how they can be prevented and overcome.

Recently I did a wellness challenge where there were 10 categories of health including 15 minutes of spiritual reading and setting daily goals. I think this type of overall wellness would be a great system for kids.

Now some of you may scoff and say ‘she’s single. What does she know about raising kids?’. Well, I was a kid once and I know intimately what it is like to grow up as a fat kid. I also have kids in my life who I want to support in the right ways; therefore I have given the topic much thought.

Its important to understand that as adults, we are all fighting an uphill battle when it comes to the health of the kids in our lives. They have so much coming at them from the media and even other children and adults at school. We must conscientiously work at fighting this messaging or our kids will get their self-worth from the myriad of other sources trying to claim it.

Unfortunately sometimes people that mean well can be a destructive influence. Celebrities like First Lady Michele Obama have started a ‘war on childhood obesity’. I really wish Mrs. Obama would rethink this wording. I wish she was more focused on health of all children whether they happen to be heavy or skinny. I certainly am proof that an active heavy person can do things that a lazy skinny person could not do.

Health, health, health not weight, weight, weight.

https://smilingldsgirl.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/maggie-goes-on-a-diet/

https://smilingldsgirl.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/skinny-skinny-skinny/

https://smilingldsgirl.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/ventingaboutweightloss/

https://smilingldsgirl.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/body-image/