Someone found my blog through google by searching “hate my body shape.” This fact makes me terribly sad and almost makes me want to destroy mine and every other weight loss blog that exists.
I don’t think you should hate your body in any way. Of course there are days where I am unhappy with my body, I am a girl after all and sometimes this is just how it goes, but for the most part I love my body.
My chubby little body is not “perfect” if you use the Hollywood beauty standard. I’m not tall, skinny, tan, or any of the things that they say make you look hot. I’m not starving myself so I weigh 90 pounds and I am not beating myself up because I have fat on parts of my body.
Yesterday Marshmallow gave me a few links to some new blogs. These blogs and the others I ended up reading dealt a lot with body image, positivity and acceptance. Basically they say it is okay to be fat. And to a certain extent I agree with that mindset.
It is okay to be fat.
Coming from a weight loss blogger this may seem like a crazy statement. Yes, I am trying to lose weight. But it is not because I absolutely hate my body and think I am disgusting. In fact I think I look hot now. I think my curves are sexy and my body feels good.
I also think that my weight is negatively affecting my health (my knees, my heart, etc). And that reason is why I want to lose some of the extra pounds. But I don’t want to be skinny. I don’t.
My goal is healthy, not skinny. I like my curves and I want to keep them, just in a smaller size that will allow my body to be more active. I am fat, but I am not entirely unhealthy.
I am a fan of eating the right kinds of foods because it makes you feel better. I do not support diets because diets really don’t work. I am a fan of living an active lifestyle because it also makes you feel better and live longer and healthier. Being fat however does not prevent you from being active or healthy. I am way more active and healthier than some of my skinny friends that never workout and always eat fast food.
I don’t want to spend any more time hating my body like I did in high school. I also don’t think anyone else should either. Life is too short to spend days, weeks, months, years hating your body or yourself.
I have read several posts on the blog Diary of a Fat Teenager. This girl is crazy awesome and at 17 loves herself and her body more than most people ever do. She has several posts of her bikini pictures which are just awesome. I will totally wear a bikini (I bought my first ones ever this summer) but I don’t think I am even brave enough to post them online. She is just cool like that and totally cute and positive about her body.
And just because you are obese doesn’t mean you can’t be awesome. You can be obese and awesome, not ‘obese but awesome’ or ‘fat but beautiful’. You can be both. You can be fat and beautiful.
She tries to share her body positivity with others and help her readers love their bodies too.
“I actually wanted to be different now. I wanted to be myself and love the person I am. I wanted to influence others, and inspire them to love themselves exactly as they are and to be as happy with themselves and I was with myself- because no one deserves to hate their bodies and suffer within themselves. Life is too short to spend hating the connection you have with the world.”
Exactly. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I also read a few posts from Shapely Prose. She just wrote a really interesting article about body positivity on television. Of course there was a ton of messages about being thin, losing weight, achieving that dream body. This is what tv has become. It basically tries to sell you the Hollywood image of beauty that basically equals skinny.
She also mentioned the show What Not To Wear as an example of a show that had a moment of body positivity. Stacy (who I love) told one of the women on the show:
“You need to stop thinking about clothes only in terms of whether they make you look thin. Slimming is not the point — making you feel fabulous is the point! Your body is perfect.
I love Stacy and Clinton because they do this often on their show. Of course its crazy hard and embarassing to be told flat out that you dress poorly and look terrible, but they always end up helping the women love their body for what it is. Their message is: dress the body you have, not the body you want. Love the body you have, not the body you think you should have.
Sweet Machine on Shapely Prose had this to say about the topic:
It’s easy to hate your body, fat or thin or in between: everything in our culture tells you to, constantly. It’s not easy psychologically, of course — but it’s less work. You get to fight yourself only, instead of a whole misogynist, fatphobic culture.
But every now and then, you get a glimpse of what our culture would look like if we all fought back, if we didn’t subscribe to this ridiculous fear- and shame-mongering. Your body is perfect. Pass it on
It took me a long time to realize that my body is perfect. But it is. And yours is too, no matter what size or shape it is. Remember that.
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I love it! Its important to love your body. I love mine, I just want to make it stronger and last longer.
All good things to keep in mind. You’re no less human, no less deserving of respect, if you’re overweight.
I not only agree with your attitude about weight loss, I appreciate it. I really feel for those who are trying desperately to become “skinny” or a “size 0″ – these people will never find lasting happiness. Your goal to lose weight to become more healthy and active rather than “get skinny” is refreshing. Too many are too shallow when it comes to motivation.
@Rosie: Awesome attitude Rosie!
@FLG: Good point. EVERY person deserves respect no matter what they look like on the outside. Its so strange that we take outer markings of people and consider these something that makes them less worthy of respect. Its ridiculous.
@Steve 4.7: Thanks. :) I try to be deep. Like the ocean. Haha.
Glad you liked the blogs! You’ve always struck me as a character who wanted to do things for your health – though it’s always awesome hearing someone say it because when it comes to the weight loss industry, we don’t hear it enough. :-)
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