Women of any age and size can be attractive! (Image Courtesy: photostock/freedigitalphotos)
Is any size OK? Yes and no.
The truth about “OK at Any Size” is that it depends on what you are really talking about.
With 1/3 of us overweight, and another 1/3 obese, it has become more and more important for individuals to be comfortable with their weight – especially in public. Heaven knows we, women, have so many things to worry about, that worrying about whether or not we are OK – whether or 2/3’s of us are OK with our weight – is becoming more and more of a very personal consideration.
I am sure you would agree that with a little care any woman, at any size woman can be attractive. Some very thin women can NOT be Ok, if they got there through unhealthy practices. And, for many women who are well past “plus sizes,” they are clearly amazing and very attractive women. So, it’s a “Yes, it’s OK to be any size” if you are talking about looks.
And when it comes to character, a plus-sized woman has just as much moral character as a naturally thin model. We all know that, of course, but from what I hear, many men don’t. It seems there are still some neanderthals on this planet that somehow think bigger women are slovenly, lazy, habitually over-eat, and are very unattractive. In fact many men often make open derogatory comments in anybody’s presence about larger women.
So, is “OK at Any Size” true when it comes to character? MOST certainly. Absolutely.
But what about health? Well, that is where the “OK” stuff really breaks down. As you know from my earlier articles on this subject, excess weight kills. For men, excess weight, carried over long periods, will most likely kill them suddenly. But for women, it is a much different story. Being overweight for a number of years kills. It just kills women more slowly. More painfully.
So, YES, please stand up to the terrible cruelness that is directed to those who are overweight (Image Credit: stockimages/freedigitalphotos)
So, NO, it is decidedly not OK to be overweight, because I don’t want any of you my sisters to go through that pain. I want you to avoid that untimely death. I want you to be with your loved ones, giving them all the wonderful uniqueness that you are, and pulling into your inner soul all the beautiful spirit and liveliness they possess. You deserve more of life, not less. But, the more you are overweight, the less you will be able to fully enjoy life, and the less time you will be with them…with all of us who want and need your rich uniqueness in our lives.
So, YES, please stand up to the terrible cruelness that is directed to those who are overweight. YES, any size is more than OK when it comes to being attractive or the radiant colors of your character. But, please, my wonderful sisters, remember that you may need to lose weight, to fully enjoy all that Creation has put you on the Earth to enjoy. And there are your loved ones who would give anything to have you around for extra years — don’t you think?
OK at any size? You already knew the answer, didn’t you?
27 thoughts on “OK at Any Size?”
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Hello Essijay,
Very interesting feedback from you. I thank you.
Yes, every body is unique, is trained to respond to any change in a unique way, too.
Yes, I do agree that it wouldn’t be cool to impose any opinions on anybody either.
Yes, I do agree that people have heard a ton on “how “dangerous” their size is to their health.”
The only thing that can change any what a person want to change if a person makes a mental commitment to that change – doesn’t matter whether it is to quit smoking or lose weight or anything else.
With commitment comes that needed support and more.
What I honestly think I share on the pages of my blog with those who come here freely. Frequently, I am inspired by my daily events and/or people I meet or observe to write these posts.
Not only my mind, but my soul, my heart are dedicated to the whole process of such sharing with all of you.
To call me a bigot was probably driven by your emotional state of anger or some sort of dissatisfaction.
I forgive you.
My mind is open to new ideas, different points of view. I am forever in a discovery mode of all things called life, inspired by life and people in my life. I want to learn. I want to know. I want to support those who need support now.
That is my motivation for what I do here on the pages of my blog.
And Yes, you are always welcome to share your points of view here. That’s how we learn and expand our horizons of thinking and doing things.
bigotry disguised as concern is still bigotry.
every body is different – if a person is eating healthy foods (not dieting!) and exercising regularly (running mouth doesn’t count) then it shouldn’t matter what size they are and we should keep our comments to ourselves.
if a person is NOT eating healthy foods or exercising regularly, it STILL doesn’t matter what size they are and we should STILL keep our comments to ourselves unless they SPECIFICALLY ASK US for help, advice, or opinion.
do you honestly think they’ve never in their entire life heard how “dangerous” their size is to their health? they’ve heard it, they know it, and another person commenting on it is NOT going to change anything in a positive manner… if you’re not their doctor, it’s not your place.
I try so hard to keep my weight where it’s always been, but the older I get the harder it is. I love every style and people no matter what size they are!
Kim,
The main thing is not to get discouraged for a long time!
Do something little every day that shall bring satisfaction and results in how your body feels and look. Take small steps. They accumulate and lead to transformation.
I agree to an extent . However, some of us have been big our entire life. I remember as a little girl my mom who has never weighed more than 100 lbs making a huge deal over watching every bite I ate. No seconds, no large portions, 3 meals, no snacks, she always made a deal about my weight, yet I was always overweight. They have tested my thyroid umpteen times, no problems there. I have PCOS, so I am unsure if that affects weight gain, but it does affect hair growth and other unpleasant things. I know I literally gain as much weight by eating only one Nutrisystem meal a day and nothing else as I would if I were cheating and eating dessert every day which is frustrating. I have excellent blood sugar, it has never reached 100, my cholesterol is excellent and my blood pressure is excellent. While I am working desperately at losing weight, it is creeping off, and it can get almost depressing to put in so much work to see such slow results. Just a side, every person on my dad’s side is overweight. including my sister and my brother. My sister is thinner than me, but she is overweight and she watches what she eats and walks 2 miles a day on the treadmill. I think that being thin has become such a media thing on the tv that we feel pressured to all be a certain size. Truthfully, while I am willing to do a lot to ensure I am healthy, I am not sure that I will ever be societies example of thin no matter how hard I work to be so.
Dear Alyson,
I hear you. I get it that some people have their conditions, their innate nature to be heavier than others. Believe that some overly thin people are suffering from their thinness.
What I was intending to do with this post is
1. To truly appreciate every person no matter size of clothes she wears
2. Obesity does bring its side effects like heart disease, hypertension, insulenimia – all those chronic diseases that interfere with people’s lives and cost them dearly, both physically, emotionally and financially.
If you are a healthy person, active and enjoying life – it’s a blessing, and I am very happy for you.
Thank you for your input. Yes, your opinion is values and appreciated here.
With love.
if you are eating only one meal per day, your body thinks there is a food shortage… thus it keeps the fat stored instead of burning it off, because it worries there may be a famine
your best bet is to eat 5-6 small healthy meals per day… lots of fresh veggies and fruit and meat… then your body will realize there’s no shortage of food and won’t be storing up for the famine it’s thinking is coming. 🙂
Great post! For the first time in my life, I am over weight! I never thought I would have to deal with this, but now I must! As a result, my blood pressure is whacked, I am so out of breath, not to mention I hate looking in the mirror! I definitely do not need to be harassed on top of all this! And I AM going to lose this weight!
Dear Alaina,
More power to you!
When your mind has made a decision – you can and shall definitely do it!
Need support, ask for it, and we’ll be there!
I very much agree with this post. Is it ok for people to think that you HAVE to be tiny in order to be beautiful? No. In fact before Model Icon TWIGGY even came onto the scene the most beautiful women were larger women size 14 and had curves. Men wanted larger women because they had the better ability to bear children in an age when medical assistance was limited. They needed the larger hips so the baby wouldn’t get stuck and eventually kill mom and baby. They loved women with curves and soft bodies.
Now, the idea of beauty has changed and media is continually pushing that you can only be beautiful if you are a certain size and look a certain way. NOT true and it’s most definitely NOT ok.
On the other hand, we can’t go so far on the other end of the spectrum and think that being overweight is ok in a health aspect. It’s been proven that the amount of fat that resides on the abdomen directly relates to one’s heart health. The more abdominal fat and the longer it resides there directly affects risks for heart disease, heart attack and other health issues. If one is to focus on being “OK” with themselves and tries to be healthy, by eating good foods and exercising they will see improvements in their health. If one is understanding they don’t have to look a certain way to be OK and beautiful, then they can focus more on just being healthy instead of trying to lose weight to fit that beauty standard. that is where the real difference is and where yo-yo dieting comes in. Losing weight so you look OK doesn’t offer you enough incentive to stay healthy and it is far too easy to gain it all back. But when you are OK with who you are and how you look, but merely change your eating and exercise patterns to improve your health then you may not lose all the “weight” to no longer be “obese” according to the world’s beauty standards, but it WILL dramatically decrease your abdominal fat; which will in turn improve your health, and lower your risk for heart disease. And since motives are for a more sustainable purpose, it is far easier to maintain and the desire for yo-yo dieting is greatly decreased.
Amber,
You clearly caught the spirit and the total intention of the post – Change your life style in order to truly extend your productive life.
Thank you for your stats and deep understanding of the subject! And yes, your comment is to help to many here as well.
I think that the issue is that people judge each other within a few seconds of meeting them so if you can’t convey you are an amazing, strong, independent, woman people will automatically think less of you. While do agree that being overweight can lead to health problems just because a person is a size 16 vs a size 6 does not mean they are necessarily any less healthy they could be eating good healthy foods and exercising regularly. While the size 6 eats chocolate donuts everyday for breakfast and then a soda for snack before they skip lunch so that they can fit into the dress they want to wear for dinner.
Well, I appreciate the fact that you condone not harassing/bullying someone for being overweight, but I do have some objections for your post. Are you aware that only 5% of people who lose weight can keep the weight off for long term? That means that 95% of people will gain the weight back and then some within 3-5 years. I’m sure this may not be your intention, but the encouragement of yo-yo dieting is what’s detrimental to someone’s health, not being overweight. The act of losing weight and gaining it back just to try to lose it again is yo-yo dieting. Most people who try to lose weight go through this cycle and it’s very dangerous and deadly. There is no study that shows that weight loss prolongs life; in fact, on average overweight people live longer than “normal” weight people.
I mean no disrespect, but what should be encouraged is for healthy eating and healthy movement that is safe physically and emotionally. Please don’t fight the wrong battle here. Weight is no indication of health. There are sedentary “normal” weight people who eat junk food all the time just as there are fat people who eat healthily and exercise regularly. The battle we need to fight here is the diet industry, a $60 billion a year industry that feeds off the fear of people whether it be because they are fat or because they are afraid of becoming fat. The diet industry is what’s wrong with the world. That industry is harming us all. Being fat is not the problem. Diets are the problem.
Crystal,
I would agree that constant dieting plays havoc on a person’s health and future well-being. There’s no place in my post that approves of a yo-yo diet!
The major point of the message is to encourage people to take a look at their life style overall and see where they are and what can be done. A lot of retrospection needs to take place. And my message is a catalyst for that introspection to take place.
Thank you for your amazing comment.
Thank you, what I was trying to convey over all in my comment was that a person’s goal should not be about weight loss, it should be about being healthy. When a person’s focus is solely put on weight loss, they lose perspective on why they are doing these healthy things and get discouraged and depressed and will stop doing these things that makes their body feel good. The stress the media is putting on people to be thin is very unhealthy and it doesn’t do anyone any good whatsoever. That’s what causes a disordered relationship to food. I fully appreciate what you meant to convey in your post, it’s just that some people might take the words ‘you may need to lose weight’ in the wrong way and can be quite triggering to people, especially those who have or have had eating disorders and those who have an unhealthy relationship to food. I want everyone to feel safe and healthy without being shamed or hated on for being heavier or skinnier than others as well, so I understand that your heart is in the right place and I’m thankful for this conversation.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to what I have had to say. 🙂
Crystal,
You are an amazing person and I totally agree that each person has her own perspective and motivations and values in life.
Some people basically ignore the state of their health.
Some take care of their needs in timely manner.
And yes, we live in time when media can impose its values on us.
One step,one focus at a time or it can become very much complicated.
I appreciate your conversation! Thank you for time and the values you bring to share with all.