I like the whole gist behind the “Big is Beautiful” concept but only to a point. Woman (and yes even men) who are overweight still do get ridiculed and get made fun of or are viewed as less attractive. And what is true many overweight/obese people do suffer from insecurities and low self-esteem – have it be the media’s perception of what beauty is, or the rude skinny folks that haven’t been taught how to be polite and courteous and feel the need to bring someone else down by saying something hurtful. Whatever the reason – the concept behind “Big is Beautiful” I appreciate for it was a way to bring encouragement, self-esteem, and confidence back to the individual.
Truth be told beauty is in the eye of the beholder but at what price does one’s health pay for being quite large?
Being overweight myself throughout my childhood, periodically through my teens, and then topping at 230 lbs by the time I was 22 years old sure wasn’t good for my self-esteem but it sure wasn’t good for my health either. I believed I missed out on a lot of the life I should have experienced during that time because of my size and how I viewed myself, but in the same regard people didn’t help make me feel good about myself either. I remember around Halloween time shopping in the store with one of my grad. school friends (also quite large) we were looking in the candy aisle and a slim gentleman perhaps in his later 30s to later 40s took it upon himself to slow down as he walked by me and my friend and made the comment of “ladies if I were you, I would highly reconsider getting any candy.” Something so simple stung hard, and what good mood I was in quickly diminished. What bugged me at that time was his assumption. He more than likely assumed we ate a lot and that’s why we were big. I cannot speak for my friend at that time, but I hardly ate a thing. In fact I often starved myself, but it seemed to be backfiring. The more I restricted the heavier I got – which in turn also wasn’t good for my diabetes. Lets just say that time of my life was excruciating. I found myself hiding and daydreaming more of what I wanted myself to be and look like. I also found myself becoming angry and jealous of women who in my eyes were beautiful and slim and got all the attention I could only dream of ever getting. I won’t lie – it can mess with a lady’s head and all the crazy thoughts that can form. However, I had another quite beautiful and large friend who also attended school with me – but she ate healthy and frickin’ ran marathons! The calves on that chick – Wowza! But her attitude was amazing! Her size didn’t stop her but also she had PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) which can make weight loss quite difficult and weight gain easy. (Totally had to add that in there to get to an important point – which I will get to at some point ;-))
As I to this very day teach the patients that I lecture to, is that you should not judge a book by it’s cover. And that can go with any condition. However, when we speak of obesity it’s literally meaning you cannot assume that a large person is lazy, inactive, and constantly eats. In return, you cannot assume that a slender person eats healthy, exercises, and is well. For both those examples those assumptions are quite commonly far from true. However, when we do speak of the obesity trends especially in the United States we unfortunately do have to look at two of the common culprits in a majority of cases – poor nutrition and lack of physical activity.
I will say this is a pretty sensitive topic for people but what is the true cause for such an increase in weight in our society? Now if you tell me, “well my mama and papa were both large people, so that’s why I am,” I’m going to have to say I don’t agree with that. What I will agree with is that genetics can play a part in how high one’s metabolism is – meaning based on family genes some people have an easier time gaining weight while other have a more difficult time keeping weight on. And that’s just where knowledge comes in handy when it comes to our own bodies and how it reacts. Again going back to you can’t judge a book by its cover, don’t assume that someone is eating healthy because they are slim for they may just have a higher metabolism and can burn off a double pounder with cheese way quicker than someone else with a lower metabolism. It’s just best to think sensible healthy meals that are balanced are the best way to go regarding nutrition as well as keeping physically active as much as you can within your means.
Now if it was as simple as that we may not have the roly-poly debacle we are currently facing. I look at a number of issues that gets me thinking. Convenience foods, fast food, sugary drinks, delivery food services, lack of walkways, media and television, smart devices, video games, lack of support, poor habits, etc. what else can I add in here? But I cannot forget to add in here we are all our own individuals and we make our own choices. No matter what education or amount of knowledge one has, we know eating “unhealthy” foods on a regular basis is not good for us. We also know that sitting all day and getting hardly in any type of physical activity is also not good for us. We know we need to eat for nourishment and energy, and we know our bodies are designed for moving. But yet again, here we currently are with a rather huge health issue. I’ve heard people say that eating healthy is expensive – true, it can be but it doesn’t have to be. It is sadly true that fast food restaurants are making the stuff that really isn’t good for our bodies quite affordable. I mean you can get a large cheeseburger, large fry, and large coke for right under $3.00 But then let’s talk about the issue of artificial sweeteners and how it’s now viewed to be another possible culprit in the obesity problem. Yeah! Zero calorie sweeteners may be helping the bulge find your waistline! This isn’t all heresay or my speculation but the research is all out there and available for you to read. Of course you’re going to find contradicting statements and theories that may seem far-fetched or too simple. But things don’t always have to be too complicated do they?
As a health coach I do try to keep things rather simple. I look at statistically proven facts. We know that obesity can lead to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, fatty liver disease, stroke, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, cancer, pregnancy problems, and sadly the list doesn’t end there. Risk for such conditions do decrease with a healthy eating plan and regular physical activity and even more so when weight is at a level that is appropriate for one’s height, gender, and age. Looking back to even when my parents were born in the 1940s, seeing overweight adults was not as common as it obviously is today, and definitely was not that common back than to see as many overweight children. My dad to this day still says “it’s crazy we were made to play outside and sit and have home-cooked meals, going to a place like McDonalds (which he adds didn’t happen until almost his teen years) was a rare treat. ” But you too have to think also how portion sizes have changed over the years, and how technology has almost replaced the desire to just go outside and play. It’s totally not uncommon nowadays to see a younger person sitting down with their nose literally jammed up to their iPhone as they’re slurping down a Trenta (31 oz) Frappuccino by special request and a large cookie. (But not all younger people are like this) I keep saying that because another factor are external influences. Children do fall prey at times to their parents not so great health habits or they learn great healthful habits. But as adults at what point do we finally take accountability of our own actions? Come on folks we need to fess up a bit and say it can’t always be someone else’s fault or something else caused it…… we control what goes in our mouths and how much we move.
Often times I hear the patients that I am asked to see by the medical provider say “my doctor doesn’t understand that it’s expensive to eat healthy.” As I said earlier – I can’t fully agree with that. If you can afford $3 at a fast food restaurant you can probably afford something healthier with that same budget than a burger and fries. It’s literally just knowing how. May sound silly yes but eating a SMALL wheat tortilla with 2 TBSP of peanut butter, a small apple, and carrot sticks with water will be more filling and more gratifying to your body than the other example. But habits can do funky things too. When we are so use to eating high fat, high sugar, and high salted foods we find ourselves craving them and wanting more and than what is truly tasty and good to us tastes boring and bland – to me that’s messed up but at the same time I’ve been there. I also think the food industry has helped create this beast with the ghastly portion sizes and the hidden extras in foods. It’s sad to think that when people truly do try to eat the right things they are being set up for failure in some cases. Sugar and salt is pretty much found in the majority of store-bought foods. America – the land of plenty – is indeed becoming too plentiful. Nearly one-third of American children and adolescents are labeled as overweight or obese, and they are expected to be the first generation who won’t live as long as their parents due to high cholesterol, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases. That’s frickin’ awful if I may say. But somehow the shenanigans is still allowed to happen. The media gets a whiff of the arising problem, the public realizes there’s a problem, the medical field knows there’s really a problem, but the food industry (and government) continues to let things happen that hinders helping the issue.
Now I say help rather than resolve because again there is this truth that we at some point have to be held accountable for our own actions and choices. No one made you walk into BK and order a double whopper with cheese and a large onion ring. Oh complete side note – if you really wanna have fun go online and start typing in your favorite fast foods and see all the fat, calories, and carbohydrates that you are getting in just one meal. While you’re at it add that soft drink in there too. You’d be amazed how quickly it adds up, and what’s even more scary is that in most cases the caloric worth of one fast food meal is equivalent to or more than a person’s individual daily calorie needs. But heck this can go with even restaurant meals in general not just fast food.
I don’t want to ramble too much more because I can obviously go in so many directions with this. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive, doesn’t have to be inconvenient, doesn’t have to be tasteless, but in a way does have to be a choice that you make. If you find yourself feeling tired a lot and well just “blah” and you are eating quite a bit of high – salt, sugar, and fatty foods perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to try changing it up by cleaning it up to a healthier eating style and add some exercise in there if you don’t already. I mean heck do you want me to go into leaky gut syndrome now? lol – I’ll save that for another post at some time. Again though if you truly are wanting to take your health to a more serious level – really consider eating more plant-based foods and plant-based proteins and see how you feel afterwards. And here’s one more thing – water is your friend. We probably all should be drinking more of it anyways. 😉
Here’s to Your Health!
Blonde and Zesty 