firstclassdream:stophatingyourbody:
Hi there. I’m Amber. It’s been a while since I’ve posted. The last time I did, I got some major backlash. Apparently I’m promoting obesity by existing. Apparently people are able to judge exactly what I eat, when I exercise, and what my health is, just by looking at a picture of me in my underwear. WOW. Isn’t that amazing! The things you learn from the internet!
All sarcasm aside, this is me. I am 5’7. I am obese. And EVERY INCH of me is gorgeous. What’s more important than that, is that I am happy.
We are bombarded by hundreds of ads every single day. Television, radio, internet, magazines. All telling us who we should be, what we should look like. Buy this product! Wear these clothes! Drink this health shake! It’ll make you skinny enough! Pretty enough! Perfect enough! Just…enough!
All of it, every single thing that you read, is A LIE. Do not listen to it. Turn off the media influences in your life, because it’s only out there to make money by preying on your insecurities.
You are beautiful. Exactly as you are. It doesn’t matter if you go to the gym three times a week. It doesn’t matter if you eat completely healthy, or if you slip up and eat too many cookies sometimes. It doesn’t matter if you have stretch marks, or if your boobs sag. It doesn’t matter if you have scars, or acne, or if you pull your hair out, or if you’re wheelchair bound or have to wear a wig. You are a person, surviving day to day in a harsh environment, with too many people telling you you’re not enough, and not enough appreciating you for all you are.
Do what makes your body happy. Do what makes your mind happy. You have the right to make whatever choices you want, and NO one should be able to judge you for them. They will, don’t get me wrong. People will judge. People will sneer, and say disgusting things. But you have to believe me when I say that it DOESN’T MATTER. Just be you. Be fabulous. Life is too short to worry about reaching some social ‘norm’ or idea of ‘perfection’.
Don’t be afraid to be happy. Don’t be afraid to love yourself exactly as you are. Don’t be afraid.
NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!! This pushed and pulled me through different kinds of emotions while I was reading this last night…. just.. NO!
From this post, YES you are promoting obesity (as long as you are happy).
So she should never be happy, just because of her weight?
I am all for the movement and I agree with all your points EXCLUDING all things related to obesity and yourself. I can be more heavily moved and supportive if maybe there was another “spokesperson” for the job.
So the only way you can get behind the “love your body no matter what” movement is if someone with a more socially acceptable BMI heads it up?
This message that you’re trying to send out are for the people who aren’t lucky enough to be born with what society views as attractive qualities. Are ya short? Small lips? Big nose? Two left feet? You, on the other hand, are overweight by choice. I was hoping you were gonna say that you had some eating disorder or a condition but you didn’t. You basically had a few too many cookies and you refuse to listen to the media about being a model size rarity. You ain’t gotta be a size 1.. 4.. whatever. But you should at least be able to fit in the damn seat of an airplane! (That is your goal.)
There are a whole range of factors, including simple genetic predisposition, which affect one’s weight, none of which, btw, are any of your goddamn business.
But then, it’s none of your goddamn business what she eats, what her health is like, or what she weighs, either. It’s also none of your goddamn business to judge someone on the basis of exactly 1 factor—of which you have and deserve no knowledge of beyond the completely superficial—which is her appearance.
Why on earth should fitting in an airplane seat be her goal? I thought the goal, Miss Concern Troll, was her health. And what the hell qualifies you to tell her what her goals should be? Because you were fortunate enough to be born with a metabolism that enables you to have a BMI that is considered socially acceptable, and therefore to be an absolutely judgmental douche to every overweight person you meet?
I am no way trying to be mean or offensive.
Really? You’re really going to say that after “you shouldn’t be happy” and “you eat too many cookies”? Wow. Self-awareness is not your strong suit, is it?
Let’s be realistic. Happy? “As long as you’re happy?” Are you still gonna be happy when you die of an early death from multiple problems that obesity alone causes?
Actually, new studies show that people who are slightly overweight live the longest, and people who are underweight fare little better than people who are obese…so why do we only shout at the obese about their “health” when the very thin are not much better off and most of the rest of us with “ideal” BMI’s could probably do ourselves a favor by putting on a few pounds?
Hint: it has more to do with aesthetics than it does any genuine concern over someone’s health.
I’m glad you have such a highly, yet questionable, self esteem about yourself but I only see it as pure ignorance and in denial.
So does this mean people who are unhealthy in general should not be happy with themselves, have low self-esteem, and be disgusted by themselves? Every person who has a health issue that impacts their longevity, inhibits their mobility, may cause them to suffer from medical problems—whether from their own doing or not—should they all just hate themselves because they aren’t healthy like you?
If I saw you in person, I’m not gonna notice how cheerful of a person you are. You are hundreds of pounds overweight and I will worry for you. All I see is a girl who didn’t make the right choices, someone who doesn’t value her family, her friends and herself.
Oh, sweetie. It’s not that you see a girl who doesn’t value her family, her friends and herself. It’s that you see a girl who doesn’t value your oh so precious opinion on how people should look, a girl who grosses you out and therefore deserves your scorn.
Please. Stop pretending your concern has anything to do with her health, because, 1) obesity and health are two entirely separate things, 2) I don’t see you shouting at people who post copious amounts of desserts on their tumblrs for promoting an unhealthy lifestyle, 3) you’ve stated you think her goal should be fitting into an airplane seat which, let’s be honest, is more about how her weight is an inconvenience to you than to her, and 4) if you were actually interested in her health, you’d realize this is completely the wrong way to go about doing it. I mean, I get that people delude themselves all the time about their true motives in order to make them feel better about doing, saying and thinking things that are often completely horrible (like telling a person she should NEVER BE HAPPY because it might make other people think her weight is okay—HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?!), but seriously? Just be fucking honest. You’re one “cookie” comment away from saying you can’t even stand to look at her because it gives you the heebies.
If you love yourself the way you say you do, then you need to start shedding pounds off your weight and make more healthy life choices.
Why? Why the hell should trying to be thinner be the way she should love herself? I mean…seriously, darling. You don’t spend all your life—at least, I hope you don’t, and if you do, that says many, many sad things about you—predicating your happiness on your BMI. So why the fuck should she?
You know, I’m 5’1”, I weigh 115 lbs. (thanks to a ridiculous metabolism), and no one ever criticizes me because I don’t work out 3 times a week (or at all) or because I eat hamburgers and cookies or devour entire tins of chocolates all by myself in an afternoon (just happened!) No one ever tells me that I shouldn’t be happy if I don’t spend all of my time obsessing over what I put in my mouth and whether I fit into an airplane seat or a certain size of clothing or someone else’s vision of how I should look. No one ever lectures me on the state of my health (which isn’t all that great) or tells me I don’t care about my family or tells me I should be ashamed of my body or that I shouldn’t be happy because of how I choose to live.
That’s because I’m thin. And it’s not because I’ve made better choices than Amber or because I’ve made health my priority or anything like that. It’s just that my body doesn’t offend anyone so no one feels the need to say utterly terrible things to me and about me in order to disabuse me of my sense of happiness with myself, of which, notably, there are many things to love that have absolutely nothing to do with my appearance.
You know, the only person here who should feel ashamed of herself, who should reconsider whether she is promoting something that is good for humanity or not, is you, darling. Because it’s rare to see so much rotten, hateful, nasty commentary in a single place, all under the false guise of concern for another human being. No human being who is actually concerned for another human being would tell them they shouldn’t be happy. That is fucked the fuckity fuck up, my dear. Deeply and profoundly cruel.