I am working at loosing weight with the help of my doctor, counselor and Myfitnesspal. I am not doing it to be more beautiful or to attract attention or anything except that my body was sick and getting sicker by what I was eating. I am not dieting, I am changing my life style. I am not trying to meet the demands of someone outside myself; I am trying to listen to what my body was begging for, to be taken care of. I read this article and felt it was worth sharing. I lived with a person telling me I was fat when I weighed only 125 lbs. I saw how fad dieting and yo-yo weight loss and gain can be destructive and addictive. I am changing my life and loving myself because I deserve it.
This is the letter that prompted me to post the above on Facebook. I was talking with DH this evening that at 55 I can do more than I dreamed of ever doing at 32. I was so sick then both body and spirit. I appreciate Iris Higgins writing this letter.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/iris-higgins/an-open-apology-to-all-of_b_3762714.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
How many times did I try to change myself to meet someone else's expectations? Learning to love myself involved accepting myself exactly as I am. Loving myself I choose to become my best self by my standards. At the dance studio I go to are reminders on every wall that I am beautiful. I am not defined by a number on a scale. When I started 3 years ago I wouldn't look at the mirrors. Now, I can see myself growing stronger every day. My spiritual strength and my physical strength are growing together. As I strengthen myself physically, I am lifted spiritually. As I grow spiritual my strength increases physically. Body and spirit make a powerful team.
3 comments:
Wow. Thanks for sharing that link.
I don't believe in dieting. It's never worked well for me. Like you said, lifestyle change is better than dieting. I'm running and working out make me healthy and strong and I enjoy it now that the initial start-up pain has ceased. The other day I ran 14 miles, which burned over 1,300 calories in 2 hours. Those 1,200 a day calorie diets would kill me, leaving me no fuel for my body to function.
I still avoid mirrors (mostly because I see too much of my mother in my face), but I'm taking pride in the strength of my healthier body. Diets are about deprivation. People who malign others for their appearance have control issues that they pass off on others. I'm glad this former weight loss consultant was strong enough to realize what was happening and spoke out.
Ruth, Thank you for sharing this. Unfortunately, it has come too late for me to share with a young woman, the very successful adult daughter of my housekeeper, Bev.
I've known for years Bev has issues around food and weight and she has made several truly nasty comments to me about her DD's weight as well as to her DD which I've *immediately* countered. Bev is small framed and her DD is much more solid-a totally different body type. I've NEVER viewed her DD as "fat" or "needing to push herself away from the table" (said with great conviction and disgust by her mother.) At some point, the DD must have told Bev to BACK OFF forcefully and the weight issue appeared to recede.
I was shocked when Bev announced to me with great pride in May her DD was having Bariatric Surgery! I thought one had to be morbidly obese to be eligible for such radical interventions, but apparently this has now become big business and it seems *anyone* can be a candidate for these invasive procedures. Her DD had a procedure which reduced the size of her stomach to some tiny facsimile of a child's stomach and is NOT reversible.
I'm furious and heartbroken for this young woman. She will spend the rest of her life on all kinds of supplements-sold, of course, by the same medical group that employes not only the MDs, but the "psychologist" who "screens" those seeking Bariatric Surgery, the "Weight Loss Experts" and "Nutritionists" etc. What a racket! The screening doesn't even include a FULL evaluation of thyroid function (just the pretty useless blood tests).
This craziness has to stop. Who knows what the long term effects of these kinds of extreme procedures may be on otherwise healthy women? Not to mention the psychological beating these women have endured to embrace some airbrushed image of walking skeletons? Or the internalization of their own mother's food issues?
Bev needs psychological assistance regarding her own eating/body image. (No surprise, Bev has a hx. of childhood sexual abuse.) What a shame her lovely, accomplished DD has so internalized Bev's messages she opted for an irreversible, unnecessary, invasive medical procedure. Bev proudly announced to me how much weight her DD had lost shortly after the surgery. (She won't repeat that mistake, I can assure you.)
This weight obsession is literally killing people: Maybe quickly, maybe slowly and it surely is killing their self-esteem and confidence. You have much more insight and a very different kind of assistance than what I've seen promoted generally. Ultimately, you understand your value and worth as a human being is not tied to numbers on a scale.
I'm so sad, so furious for this beautiful, successful young woman. I've told Bev many times how PROUD I would be to have such a DD. It has fallen on deaf ears. Thank you for letting me rant, Ruth. I feel like I failed that young woman...and feelings just are.
TW
TW thank you for sharing DD story. I plan to have your comment as a post. I have become ultra aware since I am working on learning to care for myself in a healthy way.
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