OMG! How Fat Is She!
Oh look, she is so black. Why is she so thin? Why is she wearing shorts? She should not wear body hugging clothes. These are just a drop of comments in the big ocean of body shaming. This insult in name of “for your betterment” is what makes people self-conscious and nervous to face other people who according to the society are either “beautiful” or “perfect”. I am myself an obese person, so this article is about how I feel and what I think. But I am sure that other people who have gone through this or worse kinds of body shaming or are going through this, feel the same.
People have a habit of making overweight people feel ashamed and guilty of their weight or eating habits and schedule and think they may motivate them to get healthier. However, the truth is, instead of motivating and inspiring obese people, fat shaming makes them feel terrible about themselves, causing them to eat more, gain more weight and have suicidal thoughts.
Obesity needs to have a more researched and informative solution. This issue is not just related to physical health but mental as well as emotional health. Need more? Roughly 90% of people who lose weight, eventually regain it and are back to square one. Why is it so hard to maintain the reduced weight? The reason is really interesting. If a person gains a significant amount of weight, the cells not only puff up but the body starts acting as the higher weight is the normal weight and starts to defend it. It changes the biology of the body.
Weight discrimination is also linked to depression, eating disorders and low self-esteem. I have met people dealing with low confidence due to body shaming. They each have a unique background, experience and a different story. A person’s upbringing and family health history all these factors can’t be controlled but have a huge impact on health. Fat shaming has led people to self-destructive behavior. It can never ever be helpful in reducing weight but follows obese people with anxiety and depression everywhere.
Another aspect of increasing body shaming can be seen on social media. Social media has become a part of everyone’s life and a big part of this mayhem. People have to face the cruelty and inhumane nature of “perfectionists”, because they are not able to meet the beauty standards set by them. Social Media has become a vulnerable place for sensitive people. In order to attain more number of “likes”, “comments” and “followers” people have started living their lives as a lie. Have our lives constricted just to these numbers? Not getting the expected feedback has made people skeptical about their own appearances. Why don’t we understand that being judgmental is a human tendency? It can never be cured. Doubting yourselves just because a selfie or a picture did get enough likes? Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?
This article does not imply to continue your unhealthy lifestyle but motivates you to believe in yourselves. Not everybody can have that “perfect body”. Sometimes it’s about the genes forwarded from families or sometimes it’s just how your body functions or that’s how your body structure is. Small platters have never successfully helped in weight reduction. It might give you temporary results but is harmful in long run. Nutrition is the key factor to healthy life. Eating a balanced diet with a little punch of exercise is possible. Of course having a cheat day is allowed.
Loving your body in this stereotypical world is difficult. But let us face this challenge together, kill our inner self-conscious demons and discover a new ray of confidence.
