Is being fat okay?

I've seen a lot of stories and blogs over the past few months about "fat-acceptance", and I have to say, I'm really torn about how to handle the issue. I've been shunned and bullied because of my weight in the past, and still deal with the scar tissue from that, but is making obesity okay or the norm really the best way to handle the issue?

In my ever-so-humble-opinion, no.

I don't think obesity should ever be touted as an acceptable, alternative lifestyle. The health risks involved affect, not only the obese person, but the people around them. The human body was not designed to carry so much excess body fat.

That being said, people should never EVER treat an overweight or obese person as less than a person. Snide comments are never acceptable, and also, fat jokes, are NEVER funny! (Trust me, I've been on the receiving side of them more times than I care to count, and even when fat-jokes are made about someone else, or even in general, they're not funny. Don't use them!)

Furthermore, I can tell you from personal experience, that healthy changes and lifestyle improvements are NEVER birthed from self-loathing. Those who are overweight and obese shouldn't hate themselves, and shouldn't be made to feel like they should by others. A person needs to see themselves as Christ sees them - and love themselves - enough to want to make the changes themselves. Not everyone comes to this realization at the same time, but they need to come to it on their own terms.

Just to be clear, loving yourself does not always equate being okay with being overweight - although sometimes it will. Loving yourself enough to improve your physical health, is what I mean.

This is kind of a hard post to write because I've been on the receiving end of fat-jokes and been made to feel less of a person because of my weight. I don't think, however, that the answer is to make obesity perfectly acceptable. It's my opinion that we should strive to be as healthy as possible, and that's exactly what I'm trying to do, but if someone is overweight and is completely fine with that, other people shouldn't demean them. I can say from personal experience that most overweight people DON'T want to stay that way but they're either too afraid to say anything, or too afraid to make the change themselves.

In closing, there are many reasons why I struggled with this post, but I'm going to keep it to this: Fat-shaming and fat-acceptance are essentially the same thing. Focusing on something that's not healthy. We should focus on feeling well, and being fit.