Harriet Brown (Missed Images, October 2016, Prevention
Magazine, prevention.com) fell into a common error: she discovered that she’d been doing
something to harm her kids and decided the only solution was to go to the
opposite extreme. Specifically, she’s spent years criticizing
her body in truly unhealthy ways, in front of her kids. She’s stopped that. Good.
Now listen to her list of what the rest of the world has to do: no
mentioning of weight, calories or carbs, ever.
Those of us who are determined to stop being victims of the
nationwide-epidemic of overweight – a very serious health hazard, personally
and for our country! – can’t even mention our weight loss and strengthening victories,
much less celebrate them! If we congratulate each other on
vegetable-eating and subsequent weight loss, talk about recipes, talk about yoga
and water aerobics, about losing fat and putting on muscle, then we are
“trash-talking” our bodies. We cannot
discuss these health facts and victories with our kids or with each other – ever,
in any way.
Any factual information
about the health hazards of obesity are equivalent to body-hating. What other pressing problems could we solve
if we stop thinking about improving our health by reducing our fat, the author
asks? More important than a strong,
healthy body and the self-care that precludes stress-eating? Health is the #1 most pressing issue in your
or anyone else’s life. What does it profit
a woman to save the rainforest and die young herself of preventable
disease? We women have been modelling
THAT kind of devaluing ourselves for way too long.
The cure for trash-talking isn’t a gag rule. We can't switch from shaming each other for our unhealthy bodies to trying to make ourselves feel better by shaming those who are trying to improve their health - or ours.
What this author should have said is that she used to refer
to herself in self-loathing terms, now she is self-loving. She now tells herself that she completely
loves and respects her physical self AND she is charting exercise, calories,
carbs and meditation every day so she can nourish and care for her physical self
in the best possible way, during the making-muscles, losing fat transformation
period and on into maintenance of her healthy, vibrant body.
Insisting that all body types are equally
worthy of LOVE is right on. Saying that
all body shapes are equally HEALTHY is utter nonsense.
