Fat Like Me
Good morning readers of my blog!! I am posting one day earlier because tomorrow morning, my mom and I are heading to NEW YORK CITY!!! I have been wanting to go since the day in late July, that I watched Kira Kingston head to the TSA line so that she could board her plane to her new home, so to say I am excited to see her is an understatement. Since we are driving (someone needs her winter clothes), I will not do my regular weigh in post, although I might hop on and just report it before I head out. That will depend on how early I rise, so don't hold your breath. I will also be switching over to the Kingston Road Trippin blog to chronicle our trip, so all things food related will be shared over there for the next 5-6 days.
About the photo. I don't have anything blog related to share, so I am sharing the photo of the Washington Capitals new mascot Captain. I am now a hockey fan. Just sayin.'
I am in LOVE with this pup!!
I wanted to talk a little bit about what I experience as an overweight person in social situations. While I desire to lose weight, it is not going to come off overnight, so I still have to live this life in the body I have partly created, and living in this body comes with its challenges. I grew up in the era of "you can never be too rich or too thin," and while I hate that Gloria Vanderbilt is no longer in this world, her vapid quote caused me a lot of pain growing up. Society ate that stuff up, and I was teased for being overweight. I was overweight true enough, but I was not obese. I don't remember a time where I wore "normal size" clothes, and anything above a size 14 was very difficult to find in the stores. I cannot imagine the frustration my mother experienced with having to shop for me. There was no plus size department then, and those of us who fell in the category of chubby were out of luck. Funny thing. The boy's department had the lovingly termed "husky" section, which I found a bit unfair even before the gender equality movement took root. Every trip to the doctor resulted in an admonishment to my mother for me to lose weight, and she tried to help me. She packed me the healthiest lunches to take to school, and cooked the healthiest foods at home. We were not allowed to eat sugary cereals, and there were always vegetables with every meal. I was not to be deterred however, and learned quickly to trade my apples and bananas for twinkies and candy bars. I also loved pizza Fridays in the cafeteria, and never passed up an opportunity to trade my French fries for someone else's cake. My mother could not follow me around all day to make sure I ate properly. Looking back, I know that she was trying to save me from pain caused by the teasing from classmates and the public in general, and I will always appreciate that. We never want our children to feel unnecessary pain. I just wish the parents of the teasers had taught them compassion, and how cruel fat shaming is.
Fast forward to today. Our society has learned a few things about body positivity, and that not everyone is a size 0 or even a size 18. Designers finally started marketing clothes to those of us who lean toward the 20-32W sizes, and we can look as fashionable as our thinner friends and co-workers. However, be careful fellow fatties. You need to always be on your game and look as nice as you can, because there are still different rules for us. For example, a thin girl/woman can show up with no make-up, tattered clothes, and unwashed hair, and people think she is going for the "natural look" and they call her adorable. An obese girl/woman can show up in the same get-up, and she is "unkempt" or a "fat slob," or "just doesn't care about her appearance." Obese people are also very oftentimes blamed for our healthcare crisis. You hear it all the time. "Obesity is the leading cause of cancer, heart attacks, infertility, diabetes, etc." The list goes on and on. I finally went to the orthopedist about my knee issue, and the 30 plus pound overweight doctor told me that I need to lose some. Pot meet the kettle. Sure, it would take undue stress off my knee, but it is also the knee I hurt when I was 14 and far from being overweight, AND I have a torn meniscus. That same piece of cartilage that athletes tear all the time. Of course I tore mine trying on a pair of jeans, but still. To this day, the only medications I take are for high blood pressure and hypothyroidism, and I know PLENTY of normal weight individuals who take those meds and many MANY more. I have my own opinions of what is causing our healthcare crisis and none of them have to do with obesity.
If you watch the very well-written show This Is Us, you know one of the main characters is overweight, and has been fighting her weight her entire life. I will be forever grateful that they did not hire a thin actress and put her in one of those ridiculous fat suits, but instead hired the amazing Chrissy Metz, who herself is obese and knows the struggles we experience first hand. Her character married someone she met at an OA meeting, and he had his own weight issues, but recently has lost a ton of it, and is now a gym rat. Her adjustment to now being the fat spouse is something I can relate to as well, but not something I will get into in this post. The scene that struck me the hardest is when they went to a restaurant with work colleagues and the waitress took them to the dreaded BOOTH. It was obvious that it would be an issue, and her husband tried to ask for a table and tried to play it off by saying they would get too cold sitting in the booth because of the air vent above. He was trying to save his wife from being embarrassed but the other people were completely oblivious to there being an issue. So much in fact that Chrissy's character finally had to say "we need a table because I can't fit into a booth." That scene crushed me because it happens a LOT to me, and subsequently to the people I am eating with. When I first go to a restaurant, I don't look at the décor first. I look at the booths. Will I be able to fit? I am bold enough now to ask for a table, but I hate to have to do that, because a booth is better for most people. It is more intimate. I will also try to sit at the head of a table, not because I think I am better than the other people, but because I want them to have room to sit and eat in comfort. In a movie theater, I will try to leave a seat in between. I have had people jokingly say "I don't bite," because they think I am trying to get away from them, but in truth, I am trying to give them space. I won't ride roller coasters because I am afraid I will get to the front of the line, and not be able to securely fit in the seat. I once made a joke to the attendant at Six Flags that I would have to pass riding Goliath, because I was "too big." He laughed and said "Nice try. Those seats are just fine for you. GET IN!" These are just a few issues I have faced being an obese individual. I am not looking for pity and I am especially not looking for judgment, because there is no way anyone could judge me worse than I judge myself. I am just putting this out there because I know there are others like me. My goal is to be able to go to any booth in any restaurant and enjoy a meal and conversation without first having to scope out the size first. I don't ever want to be a size 0. I just want to some breathing room between my stomach and the table.
I will pass on the roller coasters.
About the photo. I don't have anything blog related to share, so I am sharing the photo of the Washington Capitals new mascot Captain. I am now a hockey fan. Just sayin.'
I am in LOVE with this pup!!
I wanted to talk a little bit about what I experience as an overweight person in social situations. While I desire to lose weight, it is not going to come off overnight, so I still have to live this life in the body I have partly created, and living in this body comes with its challenges. I grew up in the era of "you can never be too rich or too thin," and while I hate that Gloria Vanderbilt is no longer in this world, her vapid quote caused me a lot of pain growing up. Society ate that stuff up, and I was teased for being overweight. I was overweight true enough, but I was not obese. I don't remember a time where I wore "normal size" clothes, and anything above a size 14 was very difficult to find in the stores. I cannot imagine the frustration my mother experienced with having to shop for me. There was no plus size department then, and those of us who fell in the category of chubby were out of luck. Funny thing. The boy's department had the lovingly termed "husky" section, which I found a bit unfair even before the gender equality movement took root. Every trip to the doctor resulted in an admonishment to my mother for me to lose weight, and she tried to help me. She packed me the healthiest lunches to take to school, and cooked the healthiest foods at home. We were not allowed to eat sugary cereals, and there were always vegetables with every meal. I was not to be deterred however, and learned quickly to trade my apples and bananas for twinkies and candy bars. I also loved pizza Fridays in the cafeteria, and never passed up an opportunity to trade my French fries for someone else's cake. My mother could not follow me around all day to make sure I ate properly. Looking back, I know that she was trying to save me from pain caused by the teasing from classmates and the public in general, and I will always appreciate that. We never want our children to feel unnecessary pain. I just wish the parents of the teasers had taught them compassion, and how cruel fat shaming is.
Fast forward to today. Our society has learned a few things about body positivity, and that not everyone is a size 0 or even a size 18. Designers finally started marketing clothes to those of us who lean toward the 20-32W sizes, and we can look as fashionable as our thinner friends and co-workers. However, be careful fellow fatties. You need to always be on your game and look as nice as you can, because there are still different rules for us. For example, a thin girl/woman can show up with no make-up, tattered clothes, and unwashed hair, and people think she is going for the "natural look" and they call her adorable. An obese girl/woman can show up in the same get-up, and she is "unkempt" or a "fat slob," or "just doesn't care about her appearance." Obese people are also very oftentimes blamed for our healthcare crisis. You hear it all the time. "Obesity is the leading cause of cancer, heart attacks, infertility, diabetes, etc." The list goes on and on. I finally went to the orthopedist about my knee issue, and the 30 plus pound overweight doctor told me that I need to lose some. Pot meet the kettle. Sure, it would take undue stress off my knee, but it is also the knee I hurt when I was 14 and far from being overweight, AND I have a torn meniscus. That same piece of cartilage that athletes tear all the time. Of course I tore mine trying on a pair of jeans, but still. To this day, the only medications I take are for high blood pressure and hypothyroidism, and I know PLENTY of normal weight individuals who take those meds and many MANY more. I have my own opinions of what is causing our healthcare crisis and none of them have to do with obesity.
If you watch the very well-written show This Is Us, you know one of the main characters is overweight, and has been fighting her weight her entire life. I will be forever grateful that they did not hire a thin actress and put her in one of those ridiculous fat suits, but instead hired the amazing Chrissy Metz, who herself is obese and knows the struggles we experience first hand. Her character married someone she met at an OA meeting, and he had his own weight issues, but recently has lost a ton of it, and is now a gym rat. Her adjustment to now being the fat spouse is something I can relate to as well, but not something I will get into in this post. The scene that struck me the hardest is when they went to a restaurant with work colleagues and the waitress took them to the dreaded BOOTH. It was obvious that it would be an issue, and her husband tried to ask for a table and tried to play it off by saying they would get too cold sitting in the booth because of the air vent above. He was trying to save his wife from being embarrassed but the other people were completely oblivious to there being an issue. So much in fact that Chrissy's character finally had to say "we need a table because I can't fit into a booth." That scene crushed me because it happens a LOT to me, and subsequently to the people I am eating with. When I first go to a restaurant, I don't look at the décor first. I look at the booths. Will I be able to fit? I am bold enough now to ask for a table, but I hate to have to do that, because a booth is better for most people. It is more intimate. I will also try to sit at the head of a table, not because I think I am better than the other people, but because I want them to have room to sit and eat in comfort. In a movie theater, I will try to leave a seat in between. I have had people jokingly say "I don't bite," because they think I am trying to get away from them, but in truth, I am trying to give them space. I won't ride roller coasters because I am afraid I will get to the front of the line, and not be able to securely fit in the seat. I once made a joke to the attendant at Six Flags that I would have to pass riding Goliath, because I was "too big." He laughed and said "Nice try. Those seats are just fine for you. GET IN!" These are just a few issues I have faced being an obese individual. I am not looking for pity and I am especially not looking for judgment, because there is no way anyone could judge me worse than I judge myself. I am just putting this out there because I know there are others like me. My goal is to be able to go to any booth in any restaurant and enjoy a meal and conversation without first having to scope out the size first. I don't ever want to be a size 0. I just want to some breathing room between my stomach and the table.
I will pass on the roller coasters.
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