What defines you?

I have made it a whole two days without eating meat! I downloaded several free vegetarian cookbooks from Amazon and also bought one that had great reviews.  Of course none of the vegetarian cookbooks are gluten free, but that is a pretty easy fix.  This also means that I have been two days without fast food! 

I am addicted to fast food.  It is delicious and you can judge me all you want, but when I eat a McDonald's cheeseburger, the joy I feel inside is wonderful.  I know that it is terrible for me and I know what gross chemical by-products are in it and I just don't care..I want that wonderful, greasy awesomeness in my hands and then I want to feel the shame and embarrassment over what I have just done because that is always what ends up happening.  I probably wouldn't feel so ashamed over eating fast food if I A) didn't eat it like, three times a week and B) wasn't such a goddamn soft fatty mcfat pants.  No one should feel like they are going to be judged for eating fast food, sometimes it is just that convenient and for people that don't take their health as serious as others, it is no big deal to eat it.  More importantly, no on should be afraid that their photo will end up on the internet and trolled by assholes who think that fat shaming is the new cat breading.  I searched Google using "fat girls in fast food restaurants" and "fat people in fast food restaurants" and found numerous photos of people who most likely had their photos unwittingly taken by other customers for the sole purpose of uploading them to the internet so that others could have a rousing game of fat shaming.

These are just a few of the photos that I found, I hate to re-blog them but I am not shaming anyone, but this is how easy it is to become the butt of an internet joke.  Additionally, the bottom photo is of two young girls, most likely pre-teens or early teens and it is doubtful that there was any consent for these photos to be taken of these two girls.  

Or what about these ads meant to highlight childhood obesity?  We view being fat as a moral failing, a lack of self-control and the inability to follow social norms and values.  You are not just a person, you are a FAT person.  You are not a doctor, but a fat doctor.  You are labeled and you will remain so, if you lose weight, you are not a thin person, you are a person who USED TO BE FAT.  In a college course on social deviance I read multiple studies that were conducted on people who are overweight and how they are viewed in society.  Most respondents felt that fat people were lazy, gross, unmotivated and more likely to be unemployed.  What is worse is that people who are overweight are more likely to unemployed because they are less likely to be hired in the first place based solely on their outward appearance.

Society seems to forget that obesity is caused by more than just personal choice.  While overeating is usually the culprit in obesity, there are legitimate medical conditions that cause obesity as well.  Thyroid conditions, Cushing's Syndrome, and multiple other endocrine disorders can cause obesity.  This is regardless of personal eating and exercise habits of the person suffering from the disorder.  For others, medications can cause obesity as well.  Our default is to immediately judge the person and call them fat and lazy and blame them for all their other failures in life, because as a fat person, they obviously deserve everything they get.  Fat people bring it on themselves by just being fat!  

Being fat is my fault.  I am admittedly lazy when it comes to working out and I have terrible eating habits.  I love fruits and vegetables and many other healthy foods.  I also love candy. LOVE. CANDY.  I love candy so much I am dedicating a half sleeve tattoo on my left arm to the wonder that is candy.  I also love ice cream.  I can eat ice cream all day, every day.  When I am not being lazy, I am adventurous and active.  I'm also lazy because I have an autoimmune disorder, suffer from debilitating migraines, and have a nerve disorder, so being active isn't always something I am interested in.  I realize and understand that losing weight will benefit me and help me gain control over the medical issues I have...it is just going to be a long road, it has been.  I have been wanting to lose weight for years and I have had to endure the up and down battle like many.  For me, success is finding the reasons I was fat, understanding them and moving forward.  It isn't about shaming myself into losing weight for someone else or for society.  It isn't about waking up and feeling terrible about who I am and hating what I look like.  It's about waking up and feeling good about how I am today and who I can be tomorrow.  

I am not a fat person.  I am a woman who is strong and proud of who she is.  I am not defined by my body or my looks.  I am defined by my strengths and weaknesses as a person, my accomplishments and my failings, and my ability to be strong in the face of adversity.

Poverty and Obesity

I'm trying to turn myself into a vegetable eater, a lover of greens, and a snacker of fruits. I'm sure I'll make it one day before I'm selling myself for a hit of McDonald's and a sip of that sweet, sweet nectar that is Diet Coke...it is addicting, and so unbelievable bad for you.

I recently found out that aspartame has a sordid and complicated history with Donald Rumsfeld.  Rumsfeld was the CEO of Searle, the company that discovered aspartame by accident.  It was initially banned because the studies on it showed that it could cause severe health issues, including brain tumors.  In 1981, when Reagan was sworn in as President, it just so happened that a cohort of Rumsfeld's was hand selected to be the commissioner of the FDA...Rumsfeld was also a part of Reagan's transition team.  The day after the inauguration an executive order was commissioned that allowed Searle to reapply for FDA approval. Presto!!! Aspartame was approved.  Lots of other conspiracy level crap happened and now aspartame is considered healthy and magically.  Except its not.  I don't normally buy into crap unless that crap happens to be the truth.  Thanks dear sister for bringing this to my attention.  Also, Rumsfeld is just an awful person in general.

While visiting my sister in Austin, Texas, I had the privilege of eating the delicious foods she cooked for me that were all vegetarian and crazy healthy, good for you. Her girlfriend and herself volunteer at a local community farm and are able to take home local and organic fruits and vegetables.  The farm also offers organic dairy as well...This is such a fantastic and amazing idea.  For a few hours of work during the week, individuals are able to take home free produce.  Community farming (gardening) needs to happen more often and at greater levels.  You can learn more about it at www.communitygarden.org and for Fargo locals, you can check out the community garden information at www.cityoffargo.com.  For low-income individuals and families, this is an excellent way to reduce budgets and promote healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle.

For those who come from low socioeconomic homes, eating healthy is incredibly difficult, even if you have government assistance in the form of SNAP benefits.  There is a thing called "food privilege" and it exists, in this world, in America, the land of obesity and excess.  There is also "food insecurity" which is just a nice way of saying children and adults in America are starving and what they can eat and can afford to eat is typically calorie and carbohydrate dense, long lasting (full of chemicals and preservatives), and as cheap as possible.  Health disparities among those who experience poverty has been correlated in multiple peer reviewed studies (Google poverty and obesity, you'll find plenty of scholarly articles) and show that there is a connection.  Judgment and shaming those who are impoverished is not an effective way in teaching healthy habits, educating them about meals, and most importantly, does nothing to lower the cost of healthy foods. 

Spreading lies like this upsetting and totally absurd:

Check out those prices, are they shopping retroactively in 1997?! This is shaming and judgmental.  As a society we criticize absolutely everything about people who do not fit the standards we want them too...but as an individual, why do YOUR standards have to be upheld by people you DO NOT know?  Why must we sit behind the anonymity of a computer and tear apart someone else's behavior and body when we know nothing about the person?  It is unfair and unnecessary; this behavior only exacerbates the problem.  We are so quick to judge and absolutely unable to help.  I work at a homeless shelter and we have a "Community Bread Shelf" not a "Community Produce Shelf" and it is because bread is cheap and can fill someone up quickly.  The food we serve is not always nutritious and is usually boxed, canned, or frozen.  There is little access to fresh fruits and vegetables but we do make every attempt possible to ensure that the people we serve receive healthy meals at every chance we have.  Being overweight or obese isn't always a choice bred from laziness or excess, it is sometimes the result of issues far beyond our control.