“I’m happy being fat!
“No truly I am look, I’m happy and cheerful, life and soul of the party, so what if I’m overweight, fat doesn’t equal miserable and I’m here to show people that’s it’s ok to be fat and happy. I’m beautiful and fat. Look how much energy I’ve got! I’m happy being fat and I wouldn’t want to be miserable and thin.”
Yes I’m with you, I’m certainly not saying that fat and happy and energetic and beautiful isn’t possible but what if you could be healthier and happier and more energetic? This is not fat bashing, or judgemental, whatever size you wish to be that is up to you however after reading this if it makes you think you may want something different for your body then great, if you decide you want to stay where you are then that’s great too. I’m merely putting out options for people to either take or not.
Let’s start, firstly I’d like to ask if you believe it’s the fat that makes you happy? Obviously not. It might be the ability to eat and drink what you want, when you want that makes you happy, if it is this then how would you feel if you could get the same happiness from making healthier choices? So why are you keeping hold of the fat? Do you really believe it is the junk food that makes you happy? 
What if by being fat and happy you are going to lose 10 possibly 20 years of your life? Would that make you happy? What if being fat means that you can’t join in the activities with friends or family? Does that make you happy? What if fat means slower recovery time from illness, more time in hospital, more care required, less time with loved ones? Does that make you happy? What if it means you can’t run around the field with your kids or grandkids? Still happy? What if it means finding movement more difficult and day to day tasks more difficult, possibly depending on others who are more able. What happens if fat means as you age being less able? Still happy? Absolutely at this moment you might be happy but over time and the longer you stay putting additional pressure on organs, blood vessels, joints the more likely you are that your fatness is going to impact on your happiness and possibly the happiness of your loved ones that your health may impact.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/10/fat-pride-obesity-public-health-warnings-dangerous-weight-levels
Cancer Research point out that obesity is now the second leading cause of lifestyle-related cancers, a fact only 15% of the British public are aware of.
I am in now way saying we should all be a size 10 and gym bunnies or #instamodel in fact that is for a different article why we shouldn’t be aiming for perfection. What this blog is about is being the healthiest person you can whilst maintaining a lifestyle that keeps or increases your happiness. For some that might be a size 10, for others a 16, it is a balance that is individual but it is this balance that often has got out of kilter and needs to be readdressed. You have got a food addiction confused with happiness. Could this be a possibility?
What if you could be healthy and happy? The same cheerful life and soul of the party happy that you are now but you can spend an extra 10/20 years happy does that not sound great? Does it not appeal to be healthy and happy and be able to join in all the activities, to be able to keep up and show the kids and grandkids how it’s done? Does it not appeal to spend less time being poorly? What about spending more time living and loving? You may not be missing out now but trust me what you do now will impact on your future, the sooner you act the more you will benefit.
Don’t make this your future when you have a choice about it.
Happiness isn’t based on your size, on how fat or thin you are, it is the ability to take enjoyment from moments in your life. The level of happiness as we know can change in a heart beat. My children are really great at knowing what makes them happy in the moment, they know exactly what it is that will make them smile, ask them about how their behaviour could impact their future and it’s lost on them. That moment of “I don’t want to go to swimming lessons or I don’t want to read”. You know that their life will hold many opportunities like holidays or activities where the ability to swim will mean that they can really enjoy and experience happiness with friends or family or by themselves. You know that the ability to pick up a book or look something up and be able to read easily will make life so much easier that a large proportion of their time will become happier because of their actions now. My children know that they would be happy eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner; what they don’t see is that by doing that they would become poorly, sick and overweight resulting in running slower and not being able to keep up with peers and very unhappy quickly. They are also happy eating smoked salmon and eggs for breakfast, they see that as a treat or a fruit salad is a real treat for our eyes, taste buds and bodies. Now the salmon and eggs or fruit salad is going to have a really positive impact on their bodies and health but the chocolate would taste good to them. All three bring happiness in equal amounts.
You are not a child though, you are the adult and you should be able to take your situation and behaviours as they are and multiply them forward over time. Do that now, take your weight gain over the last 2 years and then multiply by 5 to see where you’ll be in 10 years. What does the future hold if you do nothing and stay with the same relationship to food and drink?
Do you not encourage loved ones to do things that you know long term are good for them? Increase the options open to them? Increase the amount of choice? Benefit their health? Increase their happiness? Know their life would be more enjoyable and full?
If we can encourage our children or our loved ones to see that certain things that may seem tough in the short term but will have fantastic consequences and what they think won’t be fun, actually can be even better than what they currently have then why do you not follow your own advice?
Losing weight doesn’t have to be difficult, it doesn’t have to be awful and restrictive. If you change your mindset from losing the ability to stuff your face with food or drink mindlessly to gaining the ability to enjoy the food and drink, to enjoy feeling more energetic, to feel more freedom, to feel more in control, to gain the desire to be kind to yourself and to put value on yourself and your body, to gain another 10 years of life, to gain days of feeling better and recovering quicker, to gaining the ability to do things for yourself, gaining better quality sleep, gain choices, gain opportunities, gaining your bodies ability to cope with stress, with menopause, with sugar, with injury. Gaining time with friends, gaining time in and improving relationships all this to be gained from improving your relationship with food and drink.
Now when you are ready to embrace change, and take control of your relationship with food and drink whilst maintaining or increasing happiness what is stopping you?
Whatever the reason if you need or would like support to start or maintain your journey then please contact me.
You only live once and your body can only take so much so why not treat your body so it can look after your happiness for as long as possible? If you can do this whilst being happy that’s got to be good!
You have options:
Option a: Take control, act now to get healthier and gain years of happiness
Option b: Lose control completely and put on more fat and experience a spiral of deterioration
Option c: Do nothing
The choice is yours. I’m here to support, not to judge, it is never to late to act and to awaken your body and mind. I do understand the many, many reasons for peoples relationships with food, experiencing many myself but it is my job to give you the power to take control back so you can get the most from your life and gain as much happiness from every moment and as many moments as possible.
Whatever your size, this should not impact how people treat you or your self worth. We are all people and variety is what makes us human. Hold your head up high and do what is right for you.
