The Fat Nutritionist blog
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She makes a good point- that the person doesn't know her. Doesn't know anything about her. I think there's a this idea, this stereotype that all skinny people are healthy, and all overweight people are unhealthy. Science has blasted through this myth but the average person doesn't seem to look to science for answers. Obesity does play some part in certain illnesses, but above all else- a person who eats well and is active is healthier and less at risk for diseases than someone who does not.
I'm fat. I know I'm fat. This isn't a shock. I'm working to lose weight, but I love me regardless. For years I felt guilty for opting to have dessert when I ate out, or for having having a fast food veggieburger. For the most part, I eat healthy, but I don't deprive myself of everything that's not healthy.
The past 8 years have been a struggle weight wise. In high school I was a bit overweight, when I was 17 I was in a car accident that destroyed the cartilage in my right knee. I couldn't walk without it hurting for about 3 years well it rebuilt (I did 3 years of physio). That put a damper in my physical activity level. A few years after that I found out I had a neurological problem, and while everyone was telling me it was just in my head because I was a stressed student I was pretty much bedridden for about a year and a half. Finally I got competent doctors and they figured it out. All that lack of activity slowly added up pound upon pound though.
I still have some neurological issues, one of which is Trigeminal Neuralgia which flares up every once in awhile (not in the past 2 years thankfully!). TN is a horribly painful condition that I don't ever wish upon anyone. It causes constant, intense pain in half of your face. You can't sleep, you can't eat properly, painkillers do absolutely nothing and it makes sane people go crazy. It has some of the highest rates of suicidal tendances of a medical condition, and I understand why.
I still have some neurological issues, one of which is Trigeminal Neuralgia which flares up every once in awhile (not in the past 2 years thankfully!). TN is a horribly painful condition that I don't ever wish upon anyone. It causes constant, intense pain in half of your face. You can't sleep, you can't eat properly, painkillers do absolutely nothing and it makes sane people go crazy. It has some of the highest rates of suicidal tendances of a medical condition, and I understand why.
I remember being in Cuba a few years ago, on the medication that they finally discovered works for me, I have to stay on it for about a month at a time. It makes the pain stop, it makes me able to sleep, eat, and function normally. Honestly, it makes me not want to die in order to stop the pain. Those thoughts terrified me at the time. However it also causes rapid weight gain. I was in Cuba about half way through my 2 week stay when 2 female tourists from Canada decided they would "talk to me about my weight". I started by saying that I was aware I was overweight, that I was working out and eating well and trying to be healthy, but that currently I was on medication that also caused weight gain (The first time around I gained over 30lbs in a month). One of them told me that I shouldn't be taking it then because I couldn't afford to gain more weight.
The audacity of that blew me away. They didn't know me, they didn't know what I've gone through. To suggest I stop taking a medication because THEY felt the side effects weren't worth it... was just deplorable in my mind. To me, weight gain was an easy trade to get rid of the pain induced psychosis that TN caused me. I got to feel like my normal self again. I can't imagine anyone suggesting someone live a life of insane pain in order to not be fat. A few years ago I talked to a girl who was also on the same medication (she had slightly less weight gain, but was on it long term so it was a constant struggle for her to balance it out.) She said to me "It's worth it to constantly struggle with my weight, because the alternative if this drug didn't exist, is that I don't think I'd be alive to struggle with it". There are many medications that you can try for TN, most of them anti-epileptic... many of them with some scary side effects like a high risk of Drug Induced Lupus, Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) feel free to google those to see how scary they are.
The Fat Nutritionist talks a lot about different experiences and stereotypes. I find it a really interesting blog.
For now I'm going to concentrate on school, workout (ps if you've never tried Aquazumba, do it. It's amazing, I'm addicted) whenever I'm able to, and eat healthy, but eat happy too.
Don't judge people by their appearances. I know skinny girls who can't run up stairs, fat girls who can, fat girls who can't and skinny girls who can. The world isn't about being fat or skinny. It's about being you, trying to be healthy and being happy.
A side note, my boyfriend is supportive of me living a healthy lifestyle, but less enthusiastic about me losing weight. A direct quote: "If you lose weight... what about your boobs?"
Oh boob men.
Stay Healthy, Stay Happy!
