You Are Not Fat!
I often wonder how overweight individuals feel when someone calls them fat, or when they see someone else who everyone considers to be skinny. Do they feel downcast, ashamed, riddled with self-pity that only makes them waddle into more of a downward spiral, wanting to emotionally eat more and more to satisfy some inner craving to be accepted? I would, wouldn’t you? Let’s face it, no one wakes up everyday and says to themselves, “You know what, today I’d like to me made fun of, teased, or gawked at.” It just doesn’t happen. So why do people overeat? Some people are so emotionally scared that they eat crave food as an escape. Others overeat because of cultural norms. While some people are mere victims of their own family values, which teach them to always clean their plates and consume foods that are high in saturated fats because that is all they can afford. Socioeconomics plays a key factor in the quality of the food people eat. We now know that it’s not just the quantity of the food we eat that dictates our weight gain, but the quality of the food. In some cases, quality is more of a factor. I know I can’t change the world over night concerning these two circumstances, but I want to implore you (the reader) to try and do something for me. I want you to join hands with me and make an attempt to stop calling people fat. People are not fat. They may have an excess amount of or a redundancy of fatty tissue, but they are not fat. Overweight folks have muscles, bones, and most of all feelings, just like those who are not overweight. It may seem like a matter of semantics in which I am speaking, but people have to begin thinking differently if they are to overcome their shortcomings. Overweight family: you are not fat. You have fat on you yes, but you are angel, sent from God with purpose. You have the ability within you to accomplish so much more than you have. It starts with getting your health right, then being used to help others. If you are able to accomplish those things, then the sky is the limit. Don’t be a victim of the identity that society has placed on you. Your identity is so much more than a visual image or a set of digits on a scale.
Amen.
Reblogged this on JoanieP The Mad Hatters' Corner.
I love this! Calling people fat does not help them. They will channel those negative comments into eating more of the bad food that caused them to get to that point. This is a positive, motivating message that can only reap a positive response from those, like me, who struggle with their weight. I’m working on me but, for others, they’re still in a rut. Your message also shows that you have a heart for people. Kudos to you! 🙂
I’m so glad you liked it Cheryl. Stay positive, motivated and pumped about your health. Set your goals and blow them away. God’s best.
Thank you for this Mr Cosby, I need to see and hear this. I am at such a loss right now , life is getting harder by the day it feels like. I am 6’1 and I weigh 489 pounds right now , I just recently tried starting a diet again and I did well for the first 7 days, its just so hard eating right when you live with family who doesn’t and just can’t afford to eat right , all the processed horribly un nutritious food is the cheapest. I am recently laid off and I just feel at the end of my rope. I didn’t always used to be heavy I remember as a child I was skinny it wasn’t until about 3rd grade that I started packing on weight and the teasing started. But even then by the time I was 19 I was 6’1 and 240 so really not bad at all , I was happy , working out, and my life was at my doorstep. And then on the evening of March 19 2001 I received one of the worst phone calls you can get , I returned home from hanging out with my best friend and watching one of our favorite movies Meet the parents and the entire time I was watching it I knew something was wrong because I wasn’t laughing at the movie, so I walked in to the house and it was late around midnight and I noticed no one was home and I knew that was not good, just then the phone rings and I answer and it was my mom and she tells me that my sister had died… I was shocked and just numb and from that moment on I know it is cliche but it really isn’t when it happens to you but part of me died that night. I became really busy in life trying to fill the void that losing my sister had created I was in the church praise band , my own christian rock band and I served God and the church any day or time that I could if the church doors were open I was there, so as the next few years went on I thought I was ok because I was so busy I didn’t have time to realize the weight creeping up on me.
In 2005 I met at the time the love of my life and my fiance and life was good , the weight was still slowly creeping up on me by this time I was 370. Things went for the worse in 2006 my grandma was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and she came to live with us during chemo and until we couldn’t care for her anymore and she went to hospice and in June we lost her , she was our families rock our Patriarch. From here life just got worse and worse and I honestly have felt like job… in 2008 my fiance and I found out we were pregnant , we ended up losing the baby which was the hardest thing I have ever experienced losing my sister and grandma was hard but also an unborn child on top of that just crushed me. Then I found out my fiance was cheating on me and she left me to marry the man she was cheating on me with, I was working in the oilfield and was working on purchasing the house I was leasing when in January of 2009 I was laid off from the oilfield when Obama enacted some new energy laws that put and end to my work. So I lost my great paying job, my house , then my car broke down . One thing after the other hence the feeling like job . I was at the lowest of the low, and then in 2010 I broke my foot in the beginning of the summer right when I was starting to exercise again and so depressed because I couldn’t do anything I gained more weight. And the final scare I had was in 2011 I was rushed to the hospital in Denver Colorado because they wanted to do emergency surgery to remove my gal bladder, I thought I was going to die it was the worst pain I have ever felt. The doctors decided not to operate on me because of my weight I could have trouble coming out of anesthesia. This helped to wake me up but not enough. Here it is 2013 I’m 31 and 489 pounds, life is kinda looking up I am trying to go back to school to get my bachelors in creative writing and pursue my dreams of becoming a successful screenwriter, but I feel like its too late , I feel like I am going do die soon too young and that I just don’t have it in me to lose the weight because all I ever do is try and fail. Thats the crappy thing of it I am finally in a place mentally where I know that given the chance that I can achieve my dreams but losing weight and getting healthy is just out of my reach. I need help so I humbly ask for your prayer Mr Cosby.
Sincerely Jason Killpack
Wow! Jason that is a powerful message. All I see is the faithful hand of God moving in your life. It is all there to be received if you keep the faith. I believe in you fully. You have to start believing in yourself now. If you take a few steps rather than trying to run you will be fine. First of all, start with your diet. Eat 5-6 times a day, but cut your portions in half. That should be easy. Then, start to be a little more active. That needs to happen at small set goal periods. Don’t look at months or weeks, do days. Try to look at 10-14 day periods. Then, once you make it, move the bar again. Meal and working out management along the way. Once you are able to be successful with those intervals. Then move on to bigger goals. ALSO, before you do anything, make sure you pray for God to strengthen you in all areas. With God’s help, you can do anything and EVERYTHING. I’ll be praying for you Jason. God bless, you can do it.
Thank you Braxton,
I will do just that , one day at a time , one goal at a time , progress not perfection! Thank you for your prayers I know with God all things are possible! Your encouragement means the world to me again Thank you, I will keep you posted on my journey!
Jason, stories like yours touch my heart, because I too struggled with depression for years and as a result, my weight got out of control. It was a long and tough journey, but I had to lean on God and my faith brought me out of it to accomplish things I never thought possible. I’ve lost about 100 lbs and I’m back in school working on my Master’s degree. Everyone’s road to healing is different, but just keep the faith and know that you are not alone. Like Braxton says, start with small steps, but most importantly just start! Praying for you man! Best wishes to you!
Thank you so much for your encouragement Jessica very appreciated! Much love and blessings to you !
I do agree that calling people fat is something hurting. It just shows how ugly they are, even some of them are fat bcoz it genetically happens. And something I wanna ask ’bout this is: why some people are fat genetically? Is there any way to overcome this?thank you.
Genetics plays a role two ways. The number of fat cells a person has a tendency to have and the size of those fats cells. Although one cannot change these genetic traits, you can and must exercise and watch your meal consumption that much harder. In order to make change, you have to accept the things you can change.
So true ! 🙂