Lately I have been thinking a lot about the way we talk about weight to one another. A good friend of mind has recently gained a few pounds and she is constantly talking about how fat she is and how she just wishes she was thin again. I am so sick of this kind of talk! We need to change the way we talk about our bodies RIGHT NOW. It is absurd to act like gaining a few pounds makes you automatically fat! First of all, we need to start thinking of our bodies as healthy versus unhealthy. Another good friend of mine told me the other day that her BMI was 24.5, almost overweight according to the rules of BMI. But she is one of the healthiest people I know, very fit and athletic and she eats great. So the words we are using to describe our bodies are obviously not the right ones. Second of all, diets are not a lifestyle. In order for our bodies to be healthy, we need to not focus so much on dieting and getting the numbers on the scale to change, but to fueling our bodies with the nutritious things they need in order to be active and feel that we have enough energy to be focused, happy people.
So my idea is this: next time someone is talking about their weight in terms of fat and skinny, or if you are thinking of it yourself, change the words you are using. Think to yourself, is my body image healthy or unhealthy? Is this food I am about to eat fueling me or dragging me down?
It is time to change the conversation about our bodies.
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Nice post Alex. I agree that the words we use to describe ourselves and others not only have a big impact on how we think about ourselves and other people, but also how we experience life.
ReplyDeleteYour post made me think about how we often let the buzz of advertisements and popular culture define our ideas our idea of healthy, unhealthy, fat, skinny, good food, and bad food.