Thursday, May 6, 2010

Oh All The Things That We Think...

Okay I have recently been reading this blog about school lunches. At first I couldn't believe all the things that we feed our children! One of the most recent posts talked about what we say affects kids. For instance many commenters said that they overheard their parents talking about weight issues they might have had as a child and they grew up thinking they were fat. There was many tales such as this that I painfully read through.

Now I have never grown up thinking that I was fat, in fact it was just the opposite. I have been underweight my whole life, and most likely always will be. My mother has had four children and we weigh practically the same, we are not far off in our pant sizes, and we are about the same in height. Growing up I was never teased about being fat, but instead I would be teased about how skinny I was. My mom always told me to ignore them, for in just a few short years they would envy me, they would want to be skinny just like me. Well after those few short years, kids, mainly girls, did envy me. Not that I am self conceded, or at least I like to think that I am not, but I would overhear comments or people would just flat out tell me how skinny I was and how lucky that made me. Now of course, like any other teen trying to fit in and to be considered popular, it gave me a confidence boost. Someone wished that they could be more like me, or more so look like me and have my body. I want to put this out there, I was never popular and nor will I ever be popular.

So from a very young age we have either labeled ourselves as fat or skinny. We have drawn lines, put of barriers, and even made a checklist of what you need to be or have in order to be allowed to pass over to the most highly sought skinny side of the line. We have created programs to help us get there, we are constantly dieting, we are told we need to exercise more; we need to fit into a size 2 in order to be perfect, we need to take all of these pills, we need to stop eating. We are always told what we need to do in order to cross over and become one of those skinnys. Then we are told now that you have been allowed to come over on our side of the line, congrats by the way you are now a skinny!, there are more rules you have to follow. You need to constantly be dieting, exercise more, you’re not quite perfect, the size 2 is a bit snug dear, here are some pills to help with that, and ohh by the way that piece of celebratory cake was all you get for today, and since it was cake, I wouldn’t advise eating anything tomorrow.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we constantly worrying about our weight, what size our dress sports, what others will think of us? Now I am not perfect in any shape or form, for I have done this myself. I just want to know why we feel the need to think this way? Is the media responsible? Yes, they media needs to take its fair share of blame, but is not the sole reason. Should we blame our parents? Sure, blame your parents for talking about your weight behind your back, which you happen to overhear and let it set the tone for how you think of yourself. Are we to blame? Yes, we let the media tell us what to do, how to think, how to behave. We let other people's opinion of us bring us down, or in some cases we let them go to our head.

In order to fix this ever present problem in our lives, I propose this:
1. Don't you dare step on that scale unless you happen to be in a doctor's office for your annual checkup!
2. Stop that crazy diet! It will never work! I said stop dieting! Start eating healthy instead, less processed and fast food. I will tell you like your mother used to: You are not allowed to leave the table unless you finished your vegetables! Smaller portions, smaller meals, no more super sizes. Try the half portions or buy a smaller plate. You don’t have to diet, count calories, or points. You just need to eat a variety of things and make sure you have food from the 5 food groups.
3. Don’t look at the size of your dress, in fact cut the tag out. Wear whatever fits you. By the way, dress sizes here in Europe are different, I happen to be a size 28-36 and in America I happen to be a size 4-8. I like to buy dresses that fit me and look good on me; I don’t buy dresses based on what is on that darn tag that happens to have a number on it. Try it sometime; you might get a pleasant surprise.
4. Exercise it important. I know that it is hard to fit it into our busy lives, so try parking in the furthest possible spot, so you have to walk, like what 30 feet at most? Please everyone can do simple things like that. Try doing something fun for a change, take a Latin dance class, join a pick-up basketball game, and play with your kids. You don’t have to hit the gym all the time to have an active lifestyle. Now for all of you who hate to exercise, try some fun things in order to be active. I hated to go to the gym; everyone seemed to think that they were better than me because they could bench four times the weight that I could. Here we are again getting caught up in numbers. Who the heck cares what you can bench? If you feel good about what you can bench then why would you let someone bring you down and make you feel like you suck? Don’t let them do that to you!
5. Cover up all of your mirrors, but leave enough room so you can make sure that your hair isn’t sticking up and that you can swipe on some mascara, with sheets, family pictures, positive sayings, Bible verses, old birthday cards, whatever you want. Stop looking in the mirror so damn much! All you ever do when you look in the mirror is pick apart yourself, find your faults, and compare yourself to others. Don’t even try denying it! When the heck was the last time you looked in the mirror and said "Hey, look at me! I am an amazing person! I love my legs, butt, hips, lips, eyes, or whatever" I bet that was never...yeah so stop saying that you don’t find your faults. Since we can’t say anything nice about ourselves then we shouldn’t look or say anything about ourselves at all!
6. Don't flip that page, click that mouse, or turn up the volume! Stop listening to the media tell you that you are too fat! Who the hell wants to listen to someone tell them that they are not good enough? I know I sure as hell don’t, so stop reading and listening to them! You shouldn’t worry about the latest diet, the hottest trends (for they are just trends and they do change, so by the time you get that new wardrobe you need a new one again!), or what you should act like. Start acting like you want to act, dress how you want to dress, and once again STOP THAT DIET! IT DOESNT WORK!

I invite you to take up this challenge with me. I will no longer worry about what I weigh, never again worry what eating a pie will do to me, care about the size of my dress, worry about not being able to get to the gym or not going to the gym, never evaluate myself in the mirror again, and I will stop letting people tell me what I need to look like. I like me for me. If you don’t like yourself, then maybe you should start changing the person inside, not the outside. Be happy with the way you look, for I will not judge someone by the way they look anymore.

I know this is asking a lot. I know that it won’t be easy. I know I will slip up many times. But I will never give up until I have created new healthy habits. I will not stop nor will I give up. I love me for me, I love you for you. I will stop all of this crap from taking over my life!