Why the Body Positivity Movement Most Hurts Those They’re Trying to Help

Vets call my cats overweight. So, I feed them pricey diet food which they sniff at, take a taste of & then throw up.

Hello Thrivers!

I hope these pearls find you feeling good.

Pearl One

Our culture is currently having a body positivity moment which part of me fully embraces. I want everyone to feel included, and I never want to return to a time when it was okay to tease, bully, snub, or sneer at someone else because of their weight.

I mean, I want seat-belt extenders on planes, gorgeous clothes for every body size, and restaurant booths and chairs that’ll fit and hold all of us.

But here’s the thing, glorifying overweight like it’s a person’s “lifestyle choice” feels a little too “the emperor is wearing no clothes” to me.

The truth is that the emperor is living at an unhealthy weight, and needs to redesign his eating habits (if not for himself then for his loved ones). And I say this from personal experience: we had a dear member of our family die at just fifty years of age due to a heart attack that we assume was exacerbated by being severely obese.

And forever he’ll be severely missed.

By putting a positive spin on a dangerous eating disorder (binging and/or overeating), we’re doing a mammoth disservice to those who need our kindness, concern and care.

Not our complete and total denial. ♥

Pearl Two

You know how I have a four-pound weight window for maintenance? The lowest number in the window is super low for me, and the highest is flat-out “whoa, what’s happening here?”

Well, I’ve been focused on getting into the middle of my window, and lately am seeing the scale’s number go up.

For a nano, I hoped off the scale and felt myself getting furious at the number.

But then I remember to use my first mantra: “No drama; stay chill.” (No woe-is me. No WTF?!, No this stupid scale needs stupid new batteries because that stupid number cannot possibly be right!)

My first mantra leads me to the second: I remind myself, “Don’t get furious, get curious.” (In other words, I look back over my last few days and journal-write about what’s working and what’s not working. Like the following,

• Am I always doing errands with my cold-tote?
• Do I stop eating at 6 p.m.?
• Am I tracking every meal?
• Etc. and so forth.

Then my third mantra appears and I say, “It’s time to go food shopping for my most helpful and supportive foods.

When things go south, I go grocery shopping (on a full stomach) because when I’m eating poorly it’s a reliable sign that I don’t have the friendliest/smartest food available in my kitchen.

So yesterday I took out a small loan, and went to the grocery store in search of friendly/smart food like my favorite fresh fruit, frozen veggies, salad-stuff, baby yogurts, petite carrots, hummus, cereal and so forth.

The key words here being: friendly, smart, and favorite.

And that is exactly how I handle it when the scale’s number is annoying me.

I use mantras one, two and three and bamo!! I’m back on the Smart Eating Path. (P.S. these three mantras are at their most effective when written on stickies and kept near the scale.) ♥

Pearl Three

Our last writing prompt of September:

Most of us have thought, “why don’t they teach real-life skills in school” like the following:

• “Going Toe-to-Toe with Lawyers, Realtors, and Landlords 101.”

• “How to Travel Well & Spend Less So You Don’t End Up Living Under a Bridge.”

• “The Adorable, the Middle-Aged, and the Senior: What You Need to Know About Caring for Your Fur-Baby.”

Write about the class you most wish they’d taught back in the day. It can be about anything: marriage, money, home repair, self-reliance, castles of Europe; it can be about anything that you wished you’d learned in school.

Next, write about why this class topic matters so much to you and what it would have done for your life to have taken it.

Last, write about how you can bring the energy of your chosen class into your life today.

This is a powerful exercise, one I plan to use again and again. ♥

Pearl Four

Holy-guacamole. Love this author (I first “met” him when I read This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!) Since I loved Harriet so much, I went in search of the author’s other books. And the second one I found — The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving: a Novel by Jonathan Evision was just like Harriet in that Evision writes about serious topics, yet manages to wrap the seriousness up in humor. (Quite the talent.)

The overarching theme is about the redemption of the story’s dads. Each man had made terrible mistakes – one being a tragic mistake –, and their children had cut-off contact. Sounds like a downer, but the book has a very life affirming message. Highly recommend. Total five-star. ♥

Pearl Five

What I’m trying to do is to maximize the probability of the future being better.” ♥

I love this quote and used it as my journal prompt to write about what I can do today to maximize the probability of my future being better. ♥

And please write to me and share what topics you’d most like to see discussed here! Wendy@theInspiredEater.com.

Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone!

♥, Wendy

P.S. Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!

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I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥

My favorite cold tote-bag to carry smart snacks.

My five-star book list.