Weighty Matters
Posted by Danielle Bean in Health on Wednesday, January 07, 2009 9:00 AM
It would appear that I struck a nerve with some of my fellow mom bloggers with my recent post about what I hate about diets.
I must admit, I am feeling a bit misunderstood here. It makes me very sad to think that anyone who struggles with weight loss felt judged by what I wrote.
I did not mean at all to say that diets are always a bad idea and never necessary. I thought I made that clear when I said that “diets can be good things” but, given the emotional baggage many women carry with regard to this topic, I should have been more explicit.
The point of my post had nothing to do with whether or not anyone should ever diet—for goodness sake, that’s not for me to decide! I’ve been on “diets” myself in the past with healthy results and I don’t rule out the use of a “diet” in the future. The point of my post was only to highlight some of the potential dangers of a “dieting” frame of mind.
Perhaps the way you understand my words will come down to your life experience and the kinds of people you know. For example, I began by mentioning a woman I know who was getting down on herself for needing to lose three pounds.
In the comments section of my original post, Michele Quigley said:
“I think the 3 pounds example is more the exception than the norm—at least it is in my experience.”
But it’s not at all my experience that this kind of thinking is the exception. I know many women who struggle with extra weight, but I know even more, big and small, who develop unhealthy attitudes toward their own bodies as a result of our culture’s obsession with thinness. In fact, after my original post, I heard from three different friends who wondered if they were the person I was quoting. None of them were.
I was not trying to say that every woman on a diet or beginning a diet has an unhealthy mentality—I was only trying to point out that the potential for developing an unhealthy mentality exists. And it does.
In the comments section of my original post, Kate Wicker shared a powerful story of her own struggles with an eating disorder:
“I despise when people (including myself, I’m afraid) label food as good or bad. I hate it that I still struggle with body image problems, even after being clinically “recovered.” I hate it that women who will never be diagnosed with an eating disorder don’t see that they still have a problem when they think about their weight/appearance constantly.”
I despise those things too, and I think women of all sizes and shapes have something important to contribute to this conversation. Kate’s article on body image at Catholic Exchange is definitely worth reading.
I applaud everyone who is making a commitment to work toward better health and fitness in 2009, whether it involves a “diet” or not. I pray that we all will succeed in achieving our goals.
But even more than that, I pray that every woman will recognize that, whatever her size, she is made in the image and likeness of God. I pray that small women, large women, and all the women in between will find peace with their bodies and a balanced approach to food.
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