Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Fat Tuesday: You can be fat AND beautiful!

For, oh, about forever, I believed that these two things were true:

Thin = Beautiful

and

Fat = Ugly

Really. It was basic mathematics, or whatever you may call it (I majored in English and only had to take one math class in college, so I really don't know).

In order to be beautiful, one also had to be thin.

The funny thing is, that I didn't really believe this about OTHER people. There are so many women in this world who are not of an "acceptable weight" who I've never looked at and thought, Oh, she would be so much prettier if she were thin!

For example:

Queen Latifah. She is GORGEOUS! I mean, I just can't explain how beautiful I think she is. And I'm a writer! I should be able to put words to it. But I can't. She's just so many perfect elements put together and she's been beautiful at every weight.

Jennifer Hudson. Before she did the WW, I was horribly confused as to why people were calling her "fat." She was (and still is) this lovely, talented woman and everyone was focusing on her weight? Egads! AND she was much to thin (and young) to play Rosaleen in The Secret Life of Bees. I still can't believe they did that. Craziness.

Rebel Wilson. She's lovely and funny and has the world's most amazing smile!

Adele. I've never been able to figure out why she is considered "fat" as well. She looks perfect to me. And her voice is incredible! And I love her.

HOWEVER...

...they didn't make me see myself any differently in my mirror. Or how I thought I looked to other people.

I was (and am) fat

therefore

I was not beautiful.

Did it matter that my husband would tell me that I was beautiful? Nope.

This past year--as I've lost some weight and then gained it back--I've come to realize that I am not not beautiful. This is a process, and I'm still learning to love me as I am, but it has changed me. A lot.

I have much more confidence in myself than I have had for a long time (probably since the first time I was doing the WW), I'm not beating myself up for my food choices all the time, and I'm happier in general.

But I'm still trying to remember that fat doesn't mean ugly and thin doesn't necessarily mean beautiful.



What about you? What body image "triumphs" have you had this week? (Any tips are greatly appreciated.)


1 comment:

Nicole said...

I worked out 3 times last week. I didn't exercise for very long. And I still ate cookies afterwards. But it was a start!

One thing I realized is that I can't do the kind of exercise I think I'm "supposed" to do. Or I hate it and I'll never do it.

I was thinking of training for a 5k or a marthon earlier this year. Becaue it seemed like what everybody else was doing. But I HATE running!!! Like seriously.

But I found an adult ballet class. And I'm the chubbiest girl in class. And I'm so not flexible or good at it. But I get sweaty and work my muslces and the other ladies in my class are super fun to be around and I look forward to going. I have never looked forward to running!

I think the biggest key is finding what works for YOU.