Healthy vs Unhealthy
The topic of body positivity has been an important but also touchy subject on social media. While I applaud ALL women for being vulnerable and expressing their self love of their bodies at any size ( which is really important for all women) I want to discuss our health. Obesity is an epidemic and kills more than 4 million people a year* . Obesity puts people at a higher risk from other diseases including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. People living with obesity also have a greater risk of severe illness and even death if they contract COVID-19.**
But before I do that it’s my turn to be vulnerable and tell you my story.
ME
AGE 14 Years
I was overweight as a child and bullied. A child of the 80s, my diet was mostly fast food, sugary drinks, and processed foods. I wasn’t “sporty” like my super talented brothers and kept to myself a lot. I was “moo”ed at in school, and called names. I remember for my 13 birthday party my dad rented a huge community hall so I could have a dance. All the popular kids came because they wanted a venue for a Friday night to “hangout”. I was on one of my attempts to lose weight and wouldn’t eat a piece of my own birthday cake. I was ridiculed by the kids at my own party so I hid out in the kitchen of the hall.
At age 16, I joined a gym. I started to lose weight and I loved the feeling of getting Fit & Strong. By high school I was a healthy weight, and found my tribe of friends that loved me for who I am, but my body image would have many ups and downs in the years to come.
My early 20s, I became an excessive exerciser and ate an extremely low calorie diet. My body fat percentage was 6% (for women healthy is 20-29%) and I had Amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation) for over a year.
In 2002, I went back to school to study Fitness and Lifestyle management where I learned all about the health sciences and what it truly means to be healthy. I choose health & well-being and the physical part reflects from that choice.
The weight loss journey is not an easy one but if you start it from a point of self love and self worth then the ‘how” to lose weight can be the easy part. It’s the “why” that needs to be solid. The “why’ needs to outweigh the self sabotage, the old habits, the midnight binges & any other derailing habits that you have had in the past. You need to do the inner work before you can really do the outer work. Educate yourself on healthy eating habits, get quality sleep, get help from professionals or loved ones, surround yourself with people that support you, get a full physical check from your doctor.
Our health should be our number one priority, not what we look like. We have this one body to live in. Let’s treat it with the respect and love that it deserves. Let’s choose self care over putting everyone else above our own needs. Let’s choose change over our comfort zone.
Let’s choose health over unhealthy!
I encourage you to sit down and write a love letter to your body no matter what size you are. Think about all that your body does for you everyday, and think about all the positive things you can do to help your body to become stronger and vibrant. Make this letter the reason you put your health above anything else.
