Holiday gain now : 8lbs
Loss this week : 1lb
I think the picture says it all. (Ignore the fact my carpet needs hoovering). I'd had a couple of glasses of wine the other day and really fancied some chocolate. I normally have plenty of supplies for such emergencies, but the fridge was empty. Luckily my son is home from uni. And he has to pay his way somehow. So off he toddled to Asda. What a good lad. I was spoilt for choice. Obviously I didn't eat it all... in one sitting!
So a friend of mine posted on Facebook this week, and I found it very interesting. She'd read a post on her feed about a woman who had lost weight, going from size 12-14 to a size 6 and she shared an image of her body before and after. (I didn't see this original post so can't comment on the pictures per se. Nor can I comment on whether this new size 6 was appropriate for her build (a height of 4' 8" or 5' 10" makes a huge difference)). My friend (as an adult) could appreciate that this woman had lost weight sensibly and healthily and could understand how proud this person obviously was off her achievement. What worried my friend was the image and what it says to impressionable teenagers. That being thin is the be all and end all (my words not hers). That young people receive an onslaught of body images and may learn that this is the way we should all endeavour to look. And that when we don't, we are somehow sub-standard. I messaged my friend as I was curious as to whether it was the woman's ultimate size (a 6 is pretty small) or just the fact she posted her body image that worried her so much. (It was the posting of her image). My friend would have preferred if she had just posted about her previous poor eating choices and how she had made the decision to eat healthier. About how much better she felt with a healthier lifestyle. I completely understand where my friend is coming from. We hear all the time that children so young that they are still in primary school become obsessed with their body image, of 'dieting'. The obsession of selfies. And that anorexia affects younger and younger girls, and boys too! Now I too post images of my body. Of course my images are mostly of how overweight I look rather than how slim I look - but what's the difference? My friend doesn't care what size a person is and would like us all to concentrate on being healthy and strong and empowered. I agree. But (there's always a but) we can not forget that obesity is at epidemic proportions. That they now think it causes more cancers than smoking. Then the heart attacks, strokes, diabetes - I could go on but we know it already. I would like to think that if we all ate healthily and exercised the natural by-product would be no obesity! However we (by we I mean the government and health service and media etc) have been saying this for years and look at us! We are fatter than ever. I'm not sure that the soft approach works! It's a massive balance! Young people desperate to be thin no matter at what cost, and those that are fat and need the hard truths. I don't have the answer. Do you?? Maybe (and it is a maybe) becoming slim needs to be promoted because of the health benefits but let's face it (and I am guilty as sin) most dieters motivation is mainly the way they look, and the health benefits are a bonus. The health benefits are not so easily seen let's face it. Hopefully I won't get any obesity related illness but it's so hard to quantify! I can 100% see that I'll look so much better wearing size 12 jeans but preventing something that I don't have and might not ever have, even at my current size, is just so different - so shoot me, I'm just being honest, sorry. I'm pretty sure all my readers are adults so I'll not worry about my blog or my body image photos, for now at least.
Why did the nurse need to carry a red pen? In case she needed to draw blood!
Feel free to comment on this week's post. I will not be offended. Likewise I trust I've not offended any readers xx
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