What could we accomplish if we didn’t struggle with fat, diets, calories and food?
Isn’t it just a little convenient that we’re too tied up worrying about fitting into our jeans to wonder what Congress is sneaking into that healthcare bill?
Isn’t it convenient that we’re so worried about keeping our jobs that we bend over backwards to please the man at work and, as a result, try to eat stress away?
Once, I heard a Human Resources vice president say, “If you want someone to work their ass off for you, hire a fat woman….”
“If you’ve got an impossible job, hire a fat single mother,” she said. “She’ll get the job done – stay late, do overtime without pay, work weekends, whatever you ask.”
That really struck me.
Because I was that woman. That binge eating, overtime working woman struggling with excess weight.
And I remember looking up at 6:30 one night as I was still working – and realizing that everyone else still working was fat too. Yes, we were making our bosses’ deadlines but we were making our way through large bags of candy at the same time.
We were running our lives on pure sugar and fear, a deadly combination.
Isn’t it a little too convenient that doctors love to write prescriptions (that usually work for all of 6 weeks), but they don’t have time to ask what the root issue might be?
The TV, fashion industry and magazine covers tell us we’re wrong, fat, and should be unhappy.
How convenient they get us buying low-fat this and craving high-fat that. And gaining more weight every year.
Buy more clothes. Make more body fat. Buy a fix. Buy more temporary weight loss. Buy something to hide behind.
Try to buy something to fix it.
Just try.
Become more powerless every day you fight a fight THEY set up for you.
Their bigger message is: “Keep looking for the answer. Keep struggling. Blame others. Blame yourself. Be powerless. Here, let us distract you with our TV, our gadget, our exercise machine.
Look here! Pay attention to us. You’ll be happy if you’re thin but you must suffer to be thin. Deprive yourself. Struggle. Hate yourself for your struggle.
But, wait, don’t think about that too much. Look at this new invention!
Just don’t look inward and make changes there!
(Because that’s where the answer is – right inside you.)
Thank you! Yes!
Susan commented on Facebook: Outstanding, Pat! This totally rings true for me. I remember starting to connect these dots back in college after struggling with eating disorders since I was an early teen. That rat wheel literally became my life and robbed me of any true identity or sense of self. I was a hollow, pretty shell. However, when women get clear and find their own voice, we break free and become unstoppable! Thanks for being such an articulate voice and scout for others to follow you out- it’s a gift.