Day Six – Food, Part 2

Disclaimer for my Disclaimer Alerts: I have a lot of disclaimers, so bear with me.

Disclaimer Alert: For the record, I don’t want to discredit healthy eating.  I am pro-healthy eating.

I am also pro-pancakes, pro-ice cream, and pro-pizza.  It is good to nourish yourself with healthy foods.  However, do it because it makes you feel better.  Do it because you actually like the taste.  Do it because you love and respect your body.  DON'T do it because you “should”.

Disclaimer Alert: I understand that I am more sensitive to the topic of food than most people.  So, you might think my perspective is too dramatic.



{Photo courtesy of here.}

Nevertheless, as a society, you have to admit that we’ve got to stop the “fat talk".  “Fat talk” is so common in our conversations that most people don’t even notice they are speaking it.  This kind of talk is negative, self-degrading, accusatory, and unhealthy.  For example, “Do these jeans make me look fat?”  “These chips are going to go right to my thighs.”  Often our “fat talk” is more subtle.  We are good at camouflaging this talk under the guise of a compliment.  For example, “Your legs are so skinny!  I wish my legs were that skinny.”  Or, “You look fabulous in that dress!  I could never wear something like that.”

 

Disclaimer Alert: I don’t mean to offend anyone with the phrase, “fat talk”.  I adopted this phrase from Tri Delta.  You can read about them here.

 

“Fat talk” does so much damage to our self-worth.  Every time we speak it, we are prioritizing our appearance over our dignity as a human person.   “Fat talk” also does so much damage to the young people who are watching our every move.  Every time we speak it, we are subconsciously training our children how to think about themselves.

 

Disclaimer Alert: I do not have any children yet, but I have spiritual children, God-children, nephews, nieces, etc.  Are you sick of my disclaimers yet?

 

There is a wonderful blog that I follow called, “Weightless” by Margarita Tartakovsky.  She recently published a post on this epidemic of Body-bashing.  You can read her masterpiece here.

Tartakovsky brings up some very key points.  I highly encourage you to read it if you find that you are struggling with keeping a positive body image.  Reading her blog was a key component in my personal recovery.

Disclaimer Alert: I give Tartakovsky all the credit for all the ideas I think about and all the things I write about.  In my book, she deserves the Noble Peace Prize.

Soooooo, how do I stop the “fat talk”?  I am glad you asked.

A few tricks to use this Thanksgiving:

Recognize the “fat talk” in your vocab.  Become aware of your it in conversations with your friends, co-workers, relatives…and…yourself…yup…with yourself when you are in front of the mirror in the Kohl’s dressing room.

 

Disclaimer Alert: Um....never mind.

Think about other topics to talk about besides appearance before you start a conversation.  If you know that your monthly luncheon with the girls at the local coffee shop always turns into gab on the latest fab diet, write down some topic changers before you go.  And if the conversation still tends that way, make it a point to compliment your friends and say something positive about yourself.  Discuss “fat talk” with your friends if you can.

 

Disclaimer Alert: Just kidding!

Cultivate a healthy body image.  Something we can do to change the culture of self-hate is to love our own bodies the way they are now.  God created us and loves us the way we are, right now, hands down, no questions asked.  To God, you are a beautiful creation, more beautiful than the most beautiful work of art.  Once we can see ourselves the way God sees us, we can love our bodies and be thankful (and happy!) in our own skin.  And we won’t feel so much pressure to change.

Since this post is just bursting with Challenges throughout, see above for the daily dose.  I put them in bold in case you were having a hard time finding them.  Thank you.  You’re welcome.