Self loathing! Gaaahhh!
Weight Watchers is running a campaign where thin clients rip pictures of their formerly bulky selves in half, and pitch the paper towards the camera.
I'm not impressed. Matter of fact, I'm pretty annoyed.
One of the very reasons I resisted a lifestyle change over a year ago in the first place was the apparent necessity towards self-loathing as a key to success. I know it works, that what I used to do as a teenager, but it didn't make me, or anyone around me, happy. I remember one ex in particular who would hang up on me when I would lament over the phone, "I'm so faaaaaaaaat."
As an adult, I resisted this line of thinking and practically rebelled against it. "I like who I am," I'd grumble as I tried one thing after another (why oh why couldn't I have been diagnosed diabetic earlier?!) without success.
A recent podcast from Stuff Mom Never Told You supports my line of thinking, Is Dieting Anti-Feminist? As one of the hosts says, "I fell down the diet rabbit hole." There are feminists out there who are against dieting for the wrong reasons - vanity, approval from men, succumbing to societal pressure for the feminine ideal.
But one of the hosts also said (not quoted exactly, sorry) that dieting shouldn't be a feminist issue, it is a health issue, and should be about one taking care of themselves for the betterment of their own lives.
As someone who has gone through a major life transformation, I couldn't agree more.
But I also know my stance could also be seen as hypocritical. Part of the emotional roller coaster I've gone through the past year has included a ton of self reflection and self loathing. In September, I was not too far away from being a photo-ripper as I reviewed in horror photos from the past 5, 6 years when I was my heaviest.
This past weekend, I reviewed these pictures again. What did I see?
- A host mom to a ballplayer who adored her.
- A competitive figure skater at nationals having fun in the stands with friends.
- A successful business woman embarking on her own freelance business.
- An artist winning Best in Show.
- A new mom.
- A wife mugging on the arm of a happy husband.
- A gal with a gleam in her eye at a friend's Halloween party.
- A sister goofing in the kitchen at her parent's house.
No, there isn't a single part of my life I will ever deny. I hope no one who reads this blog ever will either. Life is too much of a fantastic journey to turn your back on any portion of your life.
And for the record, while typing this, every time I typed "part," I accidentally typed in "party." That ought to tell you something.
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