Above All, Be Kind. (to YOUR Body)
Artwork by P. Larson, age 4
Part One: Above All, Be Kind
Whether you're a size 2 or a size 32, you don't matter any more or any less than the person next to you.
Period.
Whether or not you think that a person's health is determined by their size, it's not your place to judge.
End of story.
Did you know that people in larger bodies experience weight stigma that does REAL negative psychological and physiological harm? Harm that can explain most if not all of the increased risk for heart disease and other metabolic disorders associated with "obesity"???
Stop being a bully. Stop teaching kids to be bullies.
Every person matters and deserves to exist in our world without getting fat shamed at every turn (by medical professionals, family members, and strangers on the street).
Healthy behaviors are weight neutral. You don't need to be thin to eat vegetables. You don't need to be thin to find joyful movement. You don't need to be thin to belong to a supportive community. You don't need to be any size to be kind.
If I sound fired up, it's because I am. Don't hurt my friends.
Love you though, Lauresa
Part Two: Above All, Be Kind (to YOUR Body)
When I said, "above all, be kind" I was definitely speaking to the jerks who fat shame people they don't even know and judge them for being "unhealthy". I'm going to not repeat the rest of those words cause they're terrible.
But the truth is, those jerks most likely hate themselves and their own bodies.
It's called internalized weight stigma.
Weight stigma = mistreating people based on their weight or size (including prescribing weight loss to someone who wants to have a baby and happens to be a certain weight ).
Internalized weight stigma = when we believe that we DESERVE mistreatment because we are in a larger body. OR when we believe we DESERVE to be shamed into dieting to prevent gaining weight.
We learn to internalize weight stigma by the constant media messages we receive.
The messages are everywhere! I don't even need to repeat them.
Three ways to work on shutting down internalized weight stigma:
Edit your media - as much as possible. This includes Instagram accounts of "body positive" people that constantly take and show pictures of their body.
Positive body image = not thinking about the way your body (or other people's bodies) look every second of the day! Check out @beautyredefined to learn more about that.Set boundaries. No one, including your spouse, bestie, mother, or doctor, has a right to tell you what to eat, to go on a diet, or to comment on your body size in any way (whether you’re thin or fat). By the way, if someone is living in a larger body, they are well aware of that fact, thank you.
You're allowed to say, "I don't want you to comment on my appearance/weight/size or food choices." If they can't respect that, it's time to get a new doctor. (Family members will have to learn while you safely distance yourself)
Practice using your intuition. The beauty of re-learning Intuitive Eating (listening to hunger, fullness and satiety cues), is that you get to practice listening to your inner voice again. If it's been a long time, mindfulness can be a painful process. That's why we get help! But as you practice listening and acting in faith, you'll strengthen those muscles and find what you really want and need. You'll rediscover the amazing person you are and ditch that internalize shame and move onto incredible things.
How do you fight against internalized weight stigma??
❤ Lauresa
