I've talked a little bit in previous blog posts about fat shaming and skinny shaming but I wanted to go deeper into it. I love body positivity and I love the fundamental message to love who you are for you. It's such a simple thing but so difficult to apply. So I love to see things on social media about how we should embrace ourselves, flaws included, and I mean that. It can be so difficult to love yourself for so many reasons. Most of which being that we don't look our best 100% of the time. Be it because of hormonal changes due to time of the month causing breakouts, pale skin, dark circles, bloating and just feeling a bit "meh" about yourself in general. Or pregnancy, swollen ankles, stretch marks, gaining weight. Sciatica, varicose veins etc. Or sometimes it's due to feeling off our game, over working, not allowing enough time to properly take care of yourself due to juggling so much. It could be to do with poor mental health, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia etc. Sometimes it is so refreshing to be reminded that we are worthy, more than adequate and deserving of love, and respect. That said, I feel like there are extremes to everything in life. In this body positivity movement there are essentially the "Skinny Shamers" and the "Fat Shamers". I find both sides extremely depressing and draining. What both sides have in common is that neither are healthy in the long term. Sure most people will lose and gain weight in a lifetime. But to continue to stay in one state or the other will have an impact on your health and well being in the future. A lot of people will say that "Just because someone is larger doesn't mean that they aren't healthy. Doesn't necessarily mean that they will have diabetes, hypertension etc. Don't judge a book by it's cover." Which is fair, to a point. People who are overweight aren't necessarily going to automatically have heart disease. But being overweight is a contributing factor for developing it. That's the thing. These conditions don't just appear over night. They accumulate. Your body compensates. It isn't healthy in the long run. There are plenty of studies that provide evidence that being overweight increases your risk of developing co-morbidities such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. It isn't fat shaming when your doctor says that your blood pressure is higher than the average person and that to try and combat this it would be best to attempt to lose some weight, then with your consent refer you to a dietician. That is helpful. What would be considered fat shaming would be if you attended your GP and they said in a less than tactful way "You need to lose weight, you'll get a heart attack at this rate". I've seen people use this approach and it's less than productive in helping people achieve a healthier lifestyle. On the other side of the coin, being underweight or being obsessed with being skinny or losing weight, over exercising and envisioning yourself to look like Naomi Campbell or Kate Moss can be also just as detrimental to your own health and well being. If you're a female, and you reduce your calorie intake enough you can suffer from what's called Amenorrhea; which is when you're body tries to compensate for the fact that it isn't getting any nutrients so it stops your reproductive organs from working in order to help your body to survive. It literally goes into survival mode. Muscle wastage can occur as a result of having burned so much fat. Obsession can occur no matter what stage you're at, to the point that you can think of nothing else, having a detrimental effect on your mental well being. There are studies that suggest that you mightn't have any body dissatisfaction but there is a link between reduced mental health and being underweight. These aren't things that can happen over night but things that accumulate over time. There are health reasons on both sides of the argument that can contribute to weight gain or weight loss. Certain medications can contribute to weight gain such as steroids. Hormone conditions such as PCOS or Thyroid conditions can contribute to weight gain. Stress for some people can be a contributing factor in relation to stress and comfort eating. Digestive conditions such as coelic disease can contribute to weight loss. Stress can result in people losing their appetite and thus induce weight loss and so on and so forth. So yes there are contributing factors that might cause weight gain/loss. I'm totally understanding towards this fact. It also depends on a persons body shape and anatomy as to why they might look like they carry more weight or less weight than the next person. Neither extreme side of this body positivity movement is healthy in the long run. It should be about balance. (Photo credit below: https://hellogiggles.com/lifestyle/size-doesnt-matter-chart-proves/) The image above perfectly depicts that body shape can have an impact of how you carry weight. Just because you're skinny at 4" 9 doesn't mean you'll look exactly like Kate Moss at 5" 5.
"OK, but body positivity is about accepting you for you, right? So live and let live" Well, sure, accepting yourself for you is perfectly healthy from a mental health stand point. However like I mentioned before, neither case of being too skinny or too large is healthy in the long run and is known to run into further health complications in the future. There's nothing to say that someone large or skinny can be strong, flexible, confident and sexy. But there will be a higher risk of developing health issues in the future. References worth looking at: Being overweight can lead to health problems: http://www.journal-of-cardiology.com/article/S0914-5087(13)00355-9/pdf https://th.schattauer.de/en/contents/archive/manuscript/23611.html http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/63/14/1345 Being underweight can lead to health problems: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5728753/ http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/866/The%20Effects%20of%20Being%20Underweight1.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3160375/
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AuthorI am a 25 year old nurse, who is trying to find herself. This blog will contain epiphanies I have, my yoga progress and other such things. Enjoy. :) Archives
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