Friday, April 22, 2016

Fat and Happy??

This week there was a "news" story about Fitness Trainer Michelle Bridges saying that she had "yet to have met someone who is morbidly obese and happy." Could this be true??? Are all fat people sad lumps who sit on the couch and eat their feelings?? It has to be because Michelle Bridges is an expert in behavioral psychology, right?? (she definitely is not BTW). NOPE! She is a fitness trainer, she makes her money putting the idea into people's heads that the only way to be happy is to be thin. That is just not true. I am fat. I am happy with my life, I am happy with my family, I am happy with my job, I am happy with myself. Could I be in better health? Well, yes, of course I could, but the size of my thighs does not determine my happiness. Now for some people, there are body dysmorphic issues. That is a psychological issue that stems from something more than just body image. And Michelle Bridges is NOT qualified to comment on those sorts of things. Being fat does not mean you are depressed or sad all the time. There could be someone who is just as unhappy with an optimal BMI of 21.5!! Why is everything always so focused on how BIG or small someone is? Why can't it be about health. Most people already know that the BMI chart is not very realistic. You could be classified as obese by the chart just for having an athletic body type, because the BMI does not take into consideration other things. In fact, according to the CDC and other qualified individuals, BMI doesn’t take body composition into consideration. This means that 200-pound six-foot tall athlete who is mostly muscle shares the same BMI with a 200-pound six-foot tall couch potato who has a high body fat percentage. Although it can be helpful when it comes to non-athletes, it’s easy to see how that can break down. “BMI is flawed because it’s not an actual measure of health,” says Jeff Hunger, from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “It’s a pretty poor proxy for actual clinical indicators of health.” (Rex, The problem with BMI, 2016). The CDC also recognizes the flaws in BMI calculations. They have published this statement on the CDC website: “Athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increased body fatness. In general, a person who has a high BMI is likely to have body fatness and would be considered to be overweight or obese, but this may not apply to athletes.” So who is more qualified to make statements on obesity?? Maybe Michelle Bridges should get out more, get educated, and, maybe, eat a sandwich. She is probably being so snarky because she is hungry! There is much more to life than focusing on how you look in a bathing suit. Why not focus on those things. And even if you are unhappy with your body, you can workout, change your eating habits, and drink more water. The weight will take care of itself if you put in the work to make a lifestyle change. But do it for you, not because some over exalted celebrity trainer says you can't be happy because you are fat! Take it from me, I have been on both sides of the weight battle. I was no happier skinny than I am now. The only difference now is that I want to be healthy for me. It is not about making everyone else around me want to desire me, it's about being healthy enough to play with my kid. Michelle Bridges, you, ma'am are a BULLY! Just remember, be the best you that you can be, and then you WILL inspire some one!

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