False Belief About Our Body Size

Posted on August 14th, 2008.

If there is one thing that absolutely drives me crazy, it is the false belief that society tries to enforce upon all of us, that people who are thin are better than people who are overweight. This perception is so far from the truth, yet more and more people are falling into the belief that it’s true… especially when it comes to the way people perceive THEMSELVES. 

 

 

While it’s true, that people who are overweight are typically less HEALTHY than those who are at a normal weight, that absolutely, positively does NOT mean that they are less important or less wonderful people than their thin counterparts. I would love it if the world would view weight and body fat percentage, strictly as a HEALTH guide and not as a measuring stick for who is better than who. Like I’ve said before, everyone is at a different place in life and has different challenges. Some people have just given birth and haven’t had the energy to get back into an exercise routine. Some people are struggling emotionally and turn to food to soothe their pain. Some people simply haven’t been taught how to live a healthy lifestyle.

 

Of course, I believe that everyone should try diligently to live a healthy lifestyle – and I don’t believe that we should accept making up excuses to be lazy and eat terribly. But think about how much easier and enjoyable life would be if we focused on our HEALTH instead of our SIZE, when it came to why we were motivated to get out and exercise and eat right. All too often, if we feel we are not “skinny enough”, we feel intimidated around other people, we feel insecure about ourselves in many situations, and overall we may feel down in the dumps about the way we look. 

 

If you were to step back for a minute and think of all the people in your life who influence you for the better, who make you laugh, who make you feel comfortable to be around, and who bring out the best in YOU… and then, if you were to think about their body shape, size and weight – are they what society would call PERFECT? Are they a size zero? Do they weigh only 100 pounds? Probably NOT! When you think about the people in your life that you admire and look up to, do you focus strictly on their looks or their body size? Of course not. 

 

If you struggle with feelings of inadequacy or inferiority – because you perceive yourself as LESS of a person (simply because there may be more of you than you’d prefer), write down all of the people you love and admire and then next to their name, write down WHAT it is you love about them. Notice that it’s how they treat you and other people that makes you like them so much. It’s how they SMILE and enjoy life. It’s how they serve others and show love to those around them.

 

Instead of painfully working toward losing weight- JUST so you can feel more accepted by social standards – which are usually unrealistic anyway – FOCUS your energy on being the type of person you like to be around… by the way you ACT, LIVE and TREAT other people. Then, determine to make yourself healthier by eating right and exercising – simply because you love life so much, that you want to be able to enjoy life to it’s fullest – WITH the people that make life worth living. 

 

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