Watch your language! :)

 "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become." ~Buddha


Language is powerful. The language we speak and even the language we think. It is important to be mindful of the language we use about ourselves. While I do not in any way advocate talking bad about ourselves... we must also be honest. We need to not hide from ourselves. 

What do these words have in common? Chubby, pudgy, curvy, womanly, buxom, BBW (big beautiful woman), fluffy. They can all be substitutes for the word fat. The dreaded word: FAT. I understand the desire to not be called fat. Up until about a year ago if something made me think for a second I was fat I would think "No, I'm just a little chubby." When I, at 5'2", had to buy size 14 jeans I thought "Oh, I'm just curvy." Yeah... right. All I was doing was fooling myself. In a way I was trying to be kind. I didn't want the truth. The truth was scary and required action. But the truth delivered without malice... the truth just as the truth isn't painful. It opens the door for change. And change can seem painful.

I used to look at myself and figure next to someone who was morbidly obese I wasn't bad. But what did that nameless obese person I made up have to do with me? Nothing. I had to stop comparing myself... I had to look just at myself. And the truth was I was unhealthy. I was, in fact, the dreaded word FAT. And the day I set aside all the cute words for what I was... I wasn't curvy or pudgy or womanly... I was fat. That was the day I was able to start changing. I no longer allowed myself the luxury of sugarcoating what my body had become. I was overweight. I had no energy. I took a nap every day after work because I wasn't sleeping well. And in 20 years I would only be worse. In 20 years I would really regret not getting myself together now. The list of diseases caused just by being overweight... the diseases that are completely preventable... that list is long. And any disease that may hit me that isn't preventable... well, the least I can do is be in fighting shape!

I understand that no one can start changing their life until they are ready. This goes for weight loss, smoking, drinking... any behaviors we know are bad, but are afraid to put down. But I believe that looking at yourself with honest eyes is necessary to get to the point of being ready. Don't judge yourself. Don't hate yourself. But don't sugarcoat things that are unpleasant. Face them, and decide if you want to change them.