Be The Change

So this post will be along the same lines as the last one. But I want to give the so-called "normal" world a little perspective on not fitting.

That's not a typo. Not fitting.

When you are more than fifty or a hundred pounds overweight, you don't fit.

You don't fit into booths at a pub. You don't fit into certain chairs in restaurants. You don't fit into stadium, movie theatre, or airplane seats. Or (how could I forget?) stylyng chairs and pedi-spas at the salon.

You don't fit into regular clothes. Your options for clothing are actually quite limited and quite expensive. You can get cheap stuff but it is usually very ugly and unflattering.

Now, I am not talking about "plus sizes" like they sell in most stores. I am not talking a 1X or a 2X. I am talking bigger than they sell in most specialty stores.

There are very few choices for the very large. And the nicer, more fashionable, better quality clothing costs way more than what fluffy gals can find in a basic plus-plus size catalog. My fluffy brothers don't fare much better.

You can't fit through certain stores because they make the spaces between what they are selling more narrow to fit in more products. Walking into a crowded restaurant is a nightmare. Or, when you are in a crowded place, an elevator, a night club, you find yourself trying not to take up so much space, to make room for the normal people. I have seen people not get onto elevators because they think "I don't want to get too close the chubby gal" or they just don't want to take the chance.

Fitting into cars can be an issue too. I remember the last time I gained back weight after keeping off 50 or 60 out of 100 pounds lost, the steering wheel of my car was eroding at the bottom because it hit my stomach when I drove.

And perception and perspective of the thin world is skewed too. I could lose forty or fifty pounds and a thin person might never notice because to certain types of people, fat is fat. 50 pounds or 150 pounds...to them, you are just fat.

A few years ago, a former co-worker of mine came into my new place of employment and I made comment to her about how I used to be skinny (because you always, when you are fluffy, have to clear the air and make it known that you know you've gotten fat!) and she said I looked exactly the same. I had gained 80 pounds since I had last seen her.

Then there is the other end of that spectrum. I have plenty of thin friends who don't "see" my fat because they love me.

They think I am wonderful and beautiful because they see past the weight and see me.

If that is true, then why are they so happy for me when they see me looking more like them? It is for the very same reason, they know me and they love me and they know that this other person was in here all along.

A friend of mine commented to me the other day on my previous post and she said that she takes people noticing when she loses weight in negative way. I've done that. Because you second guess and you say to yourself "Well, jeez, I must have looked really terrible to look so 'great' now. Why did I let myself go like that?"

I am here as a person who only kept getting bigger and bigger and I am here to tell you that I find joy in the fact that I am not getting bigger anymore.

Sometimes I wonder how people who barely know me can notice it and are looking at me in a whole new way. But then there are, what I like to call, the skinny-minded people who don't notice because I am still fat. I hope that's the case, anyway, and that they are not just thinking something completely different. (Like "Is she ever gonna lose all that weight?")

I used to hear skinny people, and when I say skinny people, I mean the really, naturally skinny ones who never had to worry about gaining weight and do anyway, or the ones who are fine they way they are-fit and healthy, but won't wear a bathing suit without shorts and a t-shirt over it; and I wonder what they see when they look in the mirror. I would  kill to be that small; to take up that little space. I don't like to be envious but I am a little  bit. I can admit it.

Last night, I did a client's hair and I have to say, she is hands down, one of the most beautiful women (including models and celebs) that I have ever seen. She is tall and naturally thin. She barely wears a stitch of make-up and she is flawless.

I often wonder, on the rare occasions I meet someone like that, if it feels different to look so pretty.

I know that thin feels much different than fluff. But does pretty feel different than plain? I wonder. I wonder, when you're thin, if you will ever be thin enough.

When I was a size ten, I felt "thin enough". I felt it because that was the size that people treated me like everybody else. That was the size that no one gave me a second glance at the beach. That was the size and weight that fit. That I fit.

I watched a movie (a guilty pleasure and I can't believe I am admitting it to all five you!) called Pitch Perfect in which there is a fluffy girl and she calls  herself Fat Amy "...so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back." I totally do that. I try to beat people to the punch. To let them know that I know that they know I'm fat!

All you "twig bitches" out there who think you are fat or have a crazy, unrealistic image of yourself, don't teach that to your children. Teach them, instead, to make the right choices when it comes to food. Lead by example. Don't count calories in front of your daughters. Calories are not nearly as important as nutrition.

I think, when I was a child, I received so many mixed messages from my mother and my aunt and my grandmother. "Finish everything on your plate or you don't get dessert!" It didn't matter that I was full, I wasn't allowed to go out and play until I cleared my plate. Then, I was told, as I got older, that I was eating too much.

Teach your girls and boys about healthy foods and lead by example. Eat your fruits and veggies. Drink water instead of soda. Don't force feed them if they are not hungry. But if they are holding out for ice cream and they didn't finish their dinner, tell them that's OK but just one scoop and then have a piece of fruit. When I was a kid, if I choked down all my dinner, I didn't want to miss dessert so I ate it anyway. I'm not saying it's my mother's fault. But, I can't help wondering if, had I learned moderation at a young age, things might be easier for me now.

Don't bribe your children with snacks and treats like my mother did. I'm not saying ever, but don't make it their habit.  Sometimes, you just have to give in and give them that lollipop. But not every time. Sometimes, it's better to just leave the cart in the middle of Target and cut your losses.

Change the cycle. Teach them to get off the couch and away from the computer. Teach them that balance is more important than counting calories. But when they want chocolate cake, let them eat it! Just not on a daily basis.

I'm no shining example of how to be thin. But I sure know how to get fat. Trust me, thin is better. But more important than that is good health. Natural, whole foods most of the time, can make up for the chicken nuggets they're having in the school cafeteria. Teach them. If you are a junk food junkie, teach yourself first.

I come from a long line of the "feed a cold, gorge a crisis" mentality. At some point, we have to break the vicious circle.

Gandhi said that we should "be the change" we want to see in the world. Be the change. Skinny, fat, or somewhere in between, we all need to stop beating ourselves up and start taking care of ourselves.