Body shaming

I’m going to start this post off by saying body shaming is not ok and what I mean by body shaming is attacking someone’s appearance based purely on how they look and your opinion of such, this topic is a double edged sword because I know I am not innocent when it comes to this issue and have remarked on people appearances before I don’t think a single person can say that they haven’t and that I also believe that there is a difference between body shaming and being concerned for someone’s health, ie concern over someone’s weight or eating habits because it is making them sick or unhealthy in a psychological or physical way and I want to stress that I do not believe overweight equals unhealthy because as I have said before in previous posts I know some big girls who can run a frikken marathon and I cannot even run around a block unless the motive is running after my kiddos.

My hubby is thin… very thin and considered underweight by most people who meet him, he has been mocked for it and around it his entire life and even I have been given flak because clearly I don’t feed him right.

Well I can tell you he is healthy, he has the appetite of a bear at times and even if he has to eat nothing but crap and sugar all day he will still not gain a smidge he has been to doctors and other than a fast metabolism he is healthy and has chosen to not go on medication for it which is his choice and quite frankly I cannot blame him because who wants to be on medication for life right, my eldest has been on medication for several years and it is not something I would wish on anyone having to remember to take and rely on pills every day.

On the other side of the spectrum is me, I on the other hand was overweight for most of my life and not a healthy version of overweight I was unfit and had developed very poor and emotionally supported eating habits that I carried through into my teens and was severely mocked over for most of my childhood.

I did a complete 360 at the end of high school as I have mentioned in previous posts and developed a severe body image disorder and eating disorder whereby I would eat almost nothing and work out a ridiculous amount of hours every day standing on the scale several times and day and wanting to smash a mirror every time I walked past one… and I was encouraged, as the weight fell off no one saw an issue I was praised and encouraged and given attention I never had before, it took my eldest sons pregnancy to turn things around but I still carry many issues with me today even though I am considered now to be of a healthy weight and am most days happy with how I feel and look.

Two very different sides of the spectrum but both shamed neither is justified and are the cause of so many youngsters as young as 5 having body issues and suicidal thoughts today….

So I would like to take this time and apologise for the times I have body shamed others in my life knowing full well what it is like to be on the other side of the window I should know better and I want to encourage everyone to please check yourself from now on when you see someone going passed and they are over or underweight or just do not fit the conventional standard or your opinion and standard of beauty take a step back and think about what you are doing and saying because you have no idea what lies within and behind that person, what stories have to tell their lives or reasoning’s and even that aside whether they are just happy with who they are and that in itself is a good enough reason.