Wanting to lose weight is okay
If you’ve been reading my blog you’ll notice I am not very pro-weight loss. In fact, I believe we need to stop equating thin bodies and the pursuit of weight loss with health. (This will be a theme – what is health? Who do you picture when you think about health? Chances are the person you envision is white, young, fit (thin and muscular), able bodied…. just reflect on that.)
And also, wanting to lose weight does not make you bad or wrong.
This is where I add, I live in a straight sized body, even what many would call a small body. While I’ve been bigger and smaller than I am now, my size has not been the thing people see about me first. I say this because it feels disingenuous for me to tell someone living in a larger body they shouldn’t want to lose weight, or shouldn’t be trying to lose weight. Nope, that is not my place.
I want to offer an alternative for people who are done with dieting or trying to lose weight. Or who have tried to do that so many times they have no idea what their body is telling them when it comes to food. Or for whom dieting has led to eating disorders and disordered eating (no matter your body size).
I also want to call out the health care system, and the health professionals who think when they see a person they can judge by their size whether or not that person is healthy. This is about changing a system, not those who have suffered at the hands of the system. Of course, you also can choose something different – and maybe you’d like to chat with me about how that can look.
As a person with a body in this world, you get to choose what to do with it. Whether that is pursuing weight loss, or choosing something different.
Our cultural obsession with thinness and small bodies has caused more harm than good. That is all. It is my hope that we will see a changing tide as we move forward.
Good morning Bronwyn… i have just heard your CBC interview.
Thank you for talking about eating disorders in public as i believe, from some experience that they are not publicized as much as they need to be and that they are not prioritized within our health care system.
Reason for my thoughts: Approximately 13 years ago we found out about our daughters eating disorder diagnosis, which was assessed as she began to approach end of life at the age of 29/30. Thankfully she was in the states working at this time and had an opportunity to be placed in a [private] eating disorder home/clinic. The next four months was a journey that we would not wish on anyone.
The short of this is we found out that our daughter had been hiding the disorder for approximately 12 years.
She is now back in BC, but will tell anyone who asks that she still has the eating disorder, but has the skills to manage the disorder.
We attempted to work with providers in the province to provide more then the minimum care facilities [ staffed with knowledgeable/caring professionals], but it seems as if most is still short term and our patient based.
The disorder still forces me to well up inside when i hear programs such as yours … and we wish there was more that could be done.
We wish you the best as you pursue your career in Kamloops and work with the folks who are in need of assistance.