Friday, June 1, 2012

It's just a word

I've been calling this a fat blog.  I am also comfortable referring to myself as "fat".  I'd love to be zaftig, but frankly, that's someone far more pinup girl than I am.  I shop at "big girl stores", and I talk about the "big ass" chairs we used to have in our old building at church.  When I bonk into something, I'm most likely to say "baby got back".  Interestingly, I really, really hate when fat comedians do fat jokes.  But I'm OK saying I'm fat.  Because I am.  FOR NOW.  Isn't it amazing that it is something I can change?!  Some of my very kind friends have said, "but you're not fat!" or "you don't look fat!" or variations on that theme.  And while I appreciate that they are saying that they love me regardless of how I look (and seriously, let's stop and think a minute about friends who care about us that much.  Really.), the fact is that I am fat.  Whenever the news does a story on the morbidly obese; I'm it.

Do I weigh 400 lbs?  No.  Can I go in and out of my own door frames with ease?  Yes.  But that doesn't mean I'm not severely overweight.  Coming to that realization (what's the "first step"?  acceptance?  I think so) is partly what motivated me to actually take action this time.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this "fat" thing for a while, and then my friend Alphabet Salad wrote a very interesting and thought-provoking blog entry about body image and the "Serenity Prayer".  I liked it, and I think you might, too.  Her post can be found here.

Not for nothing, I added about 20 blogs to my sidebar menu the other day, and now not a single one of them is there.  Alphabet Salad was one of them :)

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for the link to my blog, and for your thoughtful post. I need to learn to be as comfortable with that word - fat. It still makes me wince. So much history, pain, regret, all wrapped up in those three letters!

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  2. I think if that word upsets you, don't use it. Honest! For me, I need to be able to say it because it's true about me, if that makes sense? But seriously, I don't think it's magical or that anyone MUST embrace it. If it's harmful, ignore it!

    *hugs*

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