Not the most popular of opinions, but it should still be said.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed today, and I came across an image posted by one of my favorite sites (Spark People) that I completely and wholly disagree with.  The image was this:

This is where (I have a feeling) my opinion gets really unpopular.  I think it's a terrible idea to tell people that it's okay to be a size 26 and that it's okay to be fat and that if you're beautiful on the inside, it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside.  I want to clarify and say that it is hugely important to be a good, kind, considerate, and loving person.  I am not in any way knocking those traits.  What I'm saying is that you wouldn't tell an alcoholic it's a good idea to spend every day knocking back cold ones, so why would you tell a fat/obese person that it's okay to be that way?

I am well aware of the fact that I am overweight.  Fat.  I am fat.  I know this, I have accepted it, and I am trying to fix it.  But when all I was hearing were messages that told me it was okay for me to be obese, that's what I believed.  I understand that there are people who have conditions that severely limit their physical activity.  For everyone else, there is a way to lose weight and I think that society should be encouraging that instead of saying that it's okay to be obese.  At this point to me, it sounds like they are saying (more or less), "I know you're 200 pounds overweight and I know that this means you'll probably die about 10 years sooner than you would if you were in the normal range for someone of your height because of the health complications associated with obesity, but you're a nice person, so it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside."

When I was at the heaviest I've ever been, I was miserable every time I looked in the mirror, but I was hearing these speeches and trying to convince myself that it was okay for me to weigh that much because I was a generally nice person.  In reality, I was only hurting myself.  

Beyond that, weight does define who you are.  It defines everything about you, because it's what people see and it's what they form their opinion around before they ever talk to you.  It defined (and still does define) me.  When I walk past a random stranger in the mall or on the street, wherever, they don't know that I am working my butt off (literally and figuratively) to become healthy.  All they see is the fact that I am currently overweight.  I doubt that many random strangers stop to ponder all of my life choices that led me to this point, but I'm sure that they quickly pass judgment on me as I do on them.  It's human nature.

I don't see the point in hiding behind feel good messages.  What makes me feel good is working out, is looking at the scale inch ever closer to my goal weight, is eating healthy.  I don't think anyone who is legitimately overweight ever looks in the mirror and says, "Damn, I look awesome and there is nothing I would change about my weight situation."  I'm sure when I lose the weight and get down to where I want to be I'll have things I want to change about myself, but not near as many as I do right now.  Being told that it's okay to be fat and that I'm beautiful regardless never made me feel beautiful like losing weight has made me feel better about myself.  Not beautiful yet, but I'll get there.  (Although I do get pretty close on good hair days.)

I guess my point is that the focus of our culture and our ad campaigns and whatever else should be on getting healthy and getting to the point where every person is healthy and comfortable with how they look, instead of trying to convince people that even though they may not like where they're at, it's okay and they're beautiful regardless and there's no point in trying to change anything.  Those messages doom people to complacency, which is one of the worst places to be mentally.

For the record, I don't think the ad campaigns that imply that you're obese if you're more than a size 2 are great for society either, and should absolutely be sent away as well.  People should be encouraged to be healthy - to be in the ideal range for their body type - which almost never happens.  I won't hold my breath for any of this to happen, but maybe someday people will come around.

Things That Are Gross

Remember back in the day in grade school when they used to show you what a smoker's lung looked like as opposed to a nonsmoker's lung?  I specifically recall a day in grade school when they actually brought in models of lungs for us to look at and hold.  I had enough of a reason not to smoke purely because it's the reason I never really got to know my dad's parents (they died when I was 4 and 5), but I remember how disturbing it was to look at the difference between the two lungs.  Just in case you never got to have the fun and exciting experience of seeing the difference, let me show you:

Guess which one is that of a smoker!

Anyway, it seems that now here in America, we've pretty much accepted that smoking sucks with the move toward severely limiting where smoking is allowed.  For example, here in Omaha you can't smoke in bars or restaurants anymore.  It's so nice to be able to go to dinner or out with friends without having to be around cigarette smoke.  

The new problem America faces is obesity.  While people are definitely acknowledging that obesity is a problem here, most of the country is not doing nearly as much as they should.  I've heard people throw around the idea of a 'fat tax' on things like soda and fast food, but I don't think any of it has been a serious discussion.  It also doesn't help that kids are spending so much time playing video games and so much less time doing things like going outside and playing.  Anyway, I saw a picture tonight (courtesy of SparkPeople on Facebook) that I'm pretty sure would solve the obesity problem.

This is what one pound of body fat looks like. ONE POUND.

Maybe it would have more of an effect on adults than it would on kids, but either way it's still absolutely disgusting and I'm pretty sure anyone can see that.  As if I wasn't motivated enough right now to lose weight, this just made me want to work that much harder to achieve my goals.  Can't wait to be rid of all of that grossness and way more muscle-y.