No More Fat: Declaring a New Health Revolution for Me

I’m ready for a fat revolution!

They have been defining what’s right for my body for far too long. Because of their limits, I have always felt FAT. And their definition has been perpetually shifting.

Why We Need a Fat Revolution

I started developing when I was nine and my brother was the first to announce it to my mothers. “I will not ride the bus with her anymore until you buy her a bra.” The comment provided HUGE fuel to my image of my self-worth. NOT.

Curves showed up not long after. Looking around the middle school I realized that I was not shaped like the other girls. I not only had curves, but I had shoulders to hold the weight of the world (or that’s how it’s felt some days).

The magazines on the shelves had slim girls, with slim arms, and size 0 hips. When they showed up in my mailbox, they showed just how wrong my body was. And I started believing them.

All the images of my mother as a beauty queen that were around the house reminded me that I was NOT a beauty queen. The biggest “you are not right” moment happened when I decided to use her high school cheerleader outfit for a Halloween costume – and it did NOT fit. I was bigger in middle school than my mom was in high school.

That launched me into an obsession with dieting that followed me for most of my life. The Grace of God kept me from developing a full-blown eating disorder, but I missed out on many opportunities because of my insecurities about being fat – at least by the standards of the time.

Looking back, it’s clear that I wasn’t fat.

I was not skinny.

I was full of curves, physically fit (and very active), had hair to die for, and intelligence that made school a breeze. When I see pictures of me from back then, I genuinely wonder how I came to the conclusion that I was FAT.

Or why THEY felt the need to declare me so.

My obsession with FAT grew in college where I tried fad diets, herbal pills, and intense exercise routines. I still felt fat because “they” said that my the curves on my size frame was fat.

I started teaching ballroom dance which kept me on my feet for eight to ten hours every day – in four inch hills no less. I added in stretching exercises and core strengthening exercises twice a day. My muscles toned and defined, but I still weighed the same. I comfortably wore a size 8 jean – which was a first since I had entered junior high.

Training with a dance coach – for an upcoming pro competition – he pulled me aside and explained that I was too fat to ever be a professionally competitive dancer. He didn’t mention that one of the top professionals in the industry had just as many curves as me. He compared me to the other female instructor that looked a lot like a six foot toothpick.

I had to evaluate the people I was around and the things “they” were forcing on me. I knew that I was in the best physical condition of my life (and I in high school I ran track, swam, played basket ball, and played volley ball – I was doing some form of physical activity every day). Still, the people around me were telling me that I was still not good enough. And I continued to grow my belief in what THEY said.

I felt fat because “they” said I was fat.

I had breasts and hips and short of surgical intervention, I would always have breasts and hips – so I could never match they definition of thin determined by “they.” I would never be a six foot toothpick. All the dieting and exercising in the world wouldn’t make me worth.

What is it about society that makes perfectly healthy and fit girls crazy because they can’t fit into a size zero?

What person determined that there needed to be a size zero?

Who was the genius who decided what “fat” would be?

Who was it that determined a cinched waist was the only good waist – when in truth it’s more of A WASTE.

I’m done with THEY.

I’m taking a stand against all of their declarations, determination, and regulations.

It’s time for a FAT REVOLUTION.

In the last few years, it seems to me that people in general are beginning to embrace women with curves. The kids today are wearing clothes that emphasize the rolls and the fat and they are not focused on disguising it all.

The trends may be shifting, but “they” do not seem to be jumping on board. I watched on a recent television show where girls (who had the fat hanging over their pants or rolls under their shirt) where talking about how other girls were “fat.” They did not see themselves as fat – just the others.

Maybe society is more delusional than transitional. It seems to me that there is still far too much airbrushing going on in the print industry to believe that attitudes about fat have changed. In some ways, it’s shifted to the wrong side of the pendulum.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I am tired of waiting for “they” to get it right.

They say they want a revolution and I say let’s make it happen.

Want to join me?

I will start with my own children and the kids that they bring around – I will remind them that they are special and encourage them to eat better, get moving, and be unique.

I will start with my own image – I will remind myself that “they” do not define me. If I can find a place of comfort and peace then that is my place. “They” do not know me and “they” will not direct me.

I will start with my eating habits – it’s not about what I eat but about how and how much. The basics of weight have not and will not change. Too much in and too little out expands the curves beyond the boundaries of the pants.

I will start with what I support – because I can’t expect change in an industry fueled by my finances.

I will start with the people around me – encouraging them to find their YOUnique way to health without a focus on FAT or SKINNY.

On little bit, one shifted thought, and one personal image at a time – I am out to change the world.