The Other F-Word

FAT

The other F-Word. What images come to mind when you hear this word? What other words come to mind when someone says fat?

Lazy? Unattractive? Smelly? Sickly? Disgusting?

Why has fat become a bad word? I talked about this recently on my facebook page. Some well-meaning folks have come up with the term "no fat talk" to discourage people (women in particular) from negative self-talk. So, answer this for me- why is "fat" a bad word?

It's descriptive. I have black hair. I have blue eyes. I am five-foot-two. I am fat.

That does not make me gross, ugly, undesirable, lazy, or any number of other negative stereotypes that have been associated with that word.

Why is fat automatically associated with bad health? My husband has been fat for a long time. He was fat when I met him in high school and he's fat now. I've given him a hard time about it. I've worried and cried over it, and here's the kicker:

He's healthy.

His cholesterol is normal, his blood pressure is great, he has no sign of diabetes- everything checks out.

I feel like I need to point out that I'm not saying we should all go out and get fat, but I am also suggesting that weight doesn't have to be an indicator of health. I'm not unhealthy because I'm fat. I'm unhealthy because I don't move around enough and I eat a lot of garbage. Thin people can be unhealthy too.

I advocate lifestyle changes for health benefits, not to adjust the number on the scale or fit into a certain size dress.

I encourage women to stop bonding over self-loathing. Stop coming together to talk about food you can't eat because you want to lose weight. Enjoy life. Enjoy food. Enjoy the body you have and stop trying to cram it into some pre-determined mold created by the fashion industry.

Your body deserves for you to love it as it is right now. Treat it like you love it. Show it off, feed it good food, take it somewhere fun.

I am currently doing a lot of reading on the concept of Health at Every Size- which basically is exactly what it sounds like. Some people just aren't wired to be thin, just like some people aren't wired to be fat. At this juncture, I haven't read enough about it to determine how sound the information is, but it's something I'm looking into further.

Regardless, our bodies deserve to be loved and not mistreated. They are amazing!