Fit Shaming
I love going to the gym, it is where I thrive, where I can be myself, let loose, blow off steam, grow and shape my body, and clear my mind from the day. Unlike the habit of stuffing my face with refined sugar every time I am upset, I hit a couple extra reps or I take a second trip to the gym for the day. I meditate to manage my demons inside, anxiety being at the forefront of that war on my mind. I take cold showers to help with inflammation, and I love hopping into a sauna whenever the situation presents itself.
I give myself a bedtime that begins with putting my phone down at night so that I can get my optimal 8 hours of rest, which rarely occurs, so a midday nap usually has a part in my routine. Intermittent fasting has given me control of my food cravings and helped me achieve my sub 9% body fat levels. I make sure to treat my gut with care, ingesting a probiotic daily.
I really make an effort at all aspects of my life and health to optimize them, to achieve a greater and deeper level than I did the day before. Incremental and compounding improvement each and everyday.
And yet...
There is a peculiar phenomena that seems to creeping up within society that resists the lifestyle I live, however. As the number of obese individuals increase within society, the rate of chronic disease and sickness following suit, it follows that the rarer it would be to find a normal and healthy individual. So much so that it is common to look in an elementary classroom only to leave in despair as one is hard pressed to find a child whom is not on the verge of type 2 diabetes. Resisting what is different is nothing new in human psychology, but it reaching a dangerous tipping point as the resistance of those who are unhealthy begin to shame those that are attempting to secure their health.
I like to call it Fit Shaming, the phenomena of someone that is unhealthy shaming an individual who goes to the gym and lives a healthy lifestyle. Admittedly, it is difficult to begin the journey of health, with so much information out there and everyone selling a product, it is hard to know which product is good for you or what information is useful. However, what I have begun to notice is that individuals are quicker to jump on someone who is healthy, attributing it to body image issues or an eating disorder that they are running from. Instead of making the right and healthy choice for themselves, as the power in numbers increases, those that are unhealthy attempt to dissuade others from achieving wellness and health.
I am all for loving yourself in whatever skin or situation one finds themselves in. In fact, that is step one to making lasting change, to love yourself first and forgive yourself of the maltreatment that you have shown your body and mind. However, that is where I stop, because once the problem is acknowledged, it must be pursued. Too often are people told they are perfect the way they are, to put the middle finger to the haters and to find happiness in the moment. I can get on board insofar that life is always about perspective and to find happiness can be as simple as relooking at a situation from another viewpoint. If someone is overweight and depressed, relooking at their situation can bring them happiness, but that does not fix the overweight part.
Just because you are comfortable in your skin does not mean you should be comfortable in your life. Comfort and complacency are the arch enemy to happiness, and when one decides that there is not any work to be done because they have found acceptance for the person in the mirror they begin the spiraling path towards ultimate despair and sickness. Flailing their arms and grasping to anyone they can, one will begin to drag others down with them. And that is what is happening at large within the population, each new health survey more disturbing than the last.
The silver lining is that this problem can be corrected with individual responsibility. Spreading love, not hate, that begins first with loving yourself. The next step is the vital part that seems to be overlooked, that being the action to take that is needed to express that love for yourself. If you truly love yourself, then you would want the best for your body, for your mind, and for your spirit, in the same way you may look to a significant other, a sibling, or a child and wish the same for them. When you love yourself, you provide the nourishment and exercise the bodily desperately craves, tend to the relationships that support you, chase the goals you have set, and continually work towards a betterment of the self.
Accept who you are at this moment, for the individual that reads this has been through so much and deserve some damn compassion. Forgive yourself of the mistakes that you have made while being unconscious to your actions and tell yourself that you will do better now that you have acknowledged your personal responsibility.
Part of that responsibility is found in attending to the dilemmas of one's own life before passing judgement on another. Maybe it is out of resentment for the other making a better choice than you did, maybe they worked harder than you, maybe they were born with four aces in their hand, or maybe they have it worse than you could ever fathom. But to drag others down to your level, overtime, only allows for society to grow as big as the limits and expectations placed on it, with a few unicorns scattered throughout, shamed for their dedication and courage in the journey of health.
“Why are you going to the gym?”
“Oh, are you too good to eat out with us?”
“Look at him getting a water.”
“I bet she throws up all her food.”
“I have a job to worry about where I make money, I can afford to treat my health and you can’t.”
Whatever form it takes, when one attempts to pull another away from health rather than encourage and optimally adjust their own behavior to match, we take a step back in society and set ourselves up for failure. We should be encouraging healthy habits and make the effort to save ourselves from the slopes of depression and obesity we are declining into. Taking shots at the people around you to tear them down from their mountain that they have put the effort in to climb only hurts in the long run, for they are the greatest sources of inspiration and motivation that one can have, to eliminate them only makes the personal journey that much more difficult.