YOU DON’T NEED TO TELL ME I AM FAT
YOU DON’T NEED TO TELL ME I AM FAT
In my daily walk of being a trainer and consultant, I work with many beautiful people who want to lose weight and get healthy. Guess what, they not only know and tell me that they are fat, but carry a heavy emotional burden of unhappiness about it. I or anyone else does no need to verbally slap them across the face by telling them what they already know. For some reason our society feels the need to point out the obvious as if the person does not know their own condition. Who am I or you to judge anyone without walking in their shoes physically or emotionally? I am blessed on a daily basis with gaining insight into the lives and emotions of those who are fat challenged, empathetic to many of the shares and driven to help them adopt a healthy lifestyle.
A fat person does not need to be told their fat just as a skinny or muscular person does not need to be told what their body looks like. Standing in the truth of our own mirrors tells that story. There are strong stated “no excuse” and “your fault” labels placed on the fat challenged and even coming from those working in the fitness industry. Blanket or general statements of blame seem a bit harsh without knowing each individual’s circumstances in life. Sadly, strong and hurtful terms can be used as publicity gaining ploys but at the emotional expense of those who are in a fat challenged position in life.
I am not saying that it is a healthy state of well-being to be fat and that it should be an accepted way of life. That is way off the base of this blog. What I am addressing is the unfair judgments, statements, and ignorant approach to those who are fat challenged. All people deserve to be treated with respect and honor and we definitely should not be throwing stones when most of us live in glass houses. There are many people running around unhealthy and simply not wearing it on the outside of their bodies in the form of fat. Imagine if everything about everyone was exposed automatically for all to see. In such a state, I guarantee the judgments would quickly come to a halt and all of us would be running with our unhealthy tails tucked between our legs.
Whether the amount of overweight is twenty, forty, or over one-hundred pounds, the person carrying the extra weight knows and feels that burden without me as their trainer or you as an observer saying anything. Those people dealing with obesity need to feel safe to share what has gone on in their life that has brought them to such an unhealthy state of living. Some are at the point of owning their sabotage and others are still lost in denial and not ready to make healthy changes. I do not need to blame or fault anyone because those feelings are always shared honestly with me by those who are fat challenged. Obesity carries a stigma that is negative and can feel painful for those that suffer it daily. I like that saying that goes “you have fat, you are not fat” because it is not the abundance of fat that should define us as a person.
All of us in this life want to be healthy, and even supported through the process. It is our personal responsibility to create that healthy life regardless of our size and shape, and the healthy choices that we make today will form our healthy tomorrows. I know what needs to be done and what makes me feel great as a healthy person, and what I offer is support, motivation and education to those who desire to get there. All of us can find reasons to procrastinate and that is probably a good place to start by asking that question. Why are you waiting?
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