Fat "acceptance" - from the PoV of a fat person

[athena]

86. Please don't feel bad about your weight.

Your weight is just a physical feature, just like your height and your eye color. I firmly believe that you cannot change your weight, just as you cannot change your height or your real eye color.

I am not overweight myself, but my spouse is "obese". So I know about the guilt and self-loathing that overweight people feel on a daily basis. I have found, personally, that I can't really control my weight. Years ago, I had to go on some medication that caused me to lose about 20 pounds. I wasn't eating any differently or exercising any more than before. Some people congratulated me; others expressed concern. When I got off the medication, I gradually gained the weight back. Later, I had to have a shot of Depo Provera for a medical procedure, and that caused me to put on about 10 pounds, which also came off after six months or so. Again, I had not changed my behavior.

I once read about how Ella Fitzgerald used to wish she were thin. How sad that someone with such a beautiful voice, who continues to brighten people's lives to this day, couldn't be completely happy with herself. We need to love ourselves and each other for who we are, not for what we look like.

Please just focus on loving yourself. You are so much more than your weight. Some of us out there know that.