Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Able to Fix the World's Problems in a Single Bound


Today the kids wanted to be superheroes, and I read a blog post that kinda freaked me out. It was about body image. And the comments more than kinda freaked me out.

People need to get a dang grip.

Dontcha think that obsessing about not obsessing over our body image only makes us more obsessive?

If you want to eliminate a behavior/thought, you avoid doing/thinking it. Right?

To me, it seems like the whole "love your body" movement has only drawn more attention to the problem, and given women ANOTHER reason to feel bad about themselves:

I'm not skinny, and now I don't feel good enough about my body. I am worthless!
(and because I think I'm worthless just because of how I look, that means I am a shallow, horrible person!)

And round and round we go.

It's exhausting. I can't be the only one tired of this topic. It makes me want to roll my eyes (I already did, several times), and tell people to quit whining.

(I only advocate whining when I'm the one doing it)

If your life is so good and easy that your most-worried-about worry is your weight, then I think that's kind of ridiculous.

I know this is an oversimplification, but to me it seems so simple:

1. Quit buying/eating things that aren't nutritionally good for you.
2. Get a reasonable amount of exercise.
3. Sleep.
4. Don't get freaky with #1, #2, or #3. Be normal.
5. Don't talk about your body, diet and/or exercise plan to anyone for longer than 2 minutes/week. Because if you do, you are nearing the edge of obsession, AND because no one cares. And you don't want your kids to catch even a whiff of creepy-body-image-weirdness coming off you. Because you know that if they do, they will internalize it, magnify it, and use it to ruin their lives. Also, you might be getting healthy for the wrong reasons if you need everyone to know about it.
6. Enjoy.
7. If you aren't enjoying and feeling healthy/well, alter the details until you are. (which means, I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR THAT YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE A COOKIE! For heaven's sake, have a flippin' cookie and quit talking about it!) (and if you truly can't have a single bite of (insert treat here) and still "keep your figure", then you aren't at a healthy/natural weight/size).
8. After all that, if you can't achieve the weight/size you desire, consider the possibility that you're being unreasonable, practice what you preach (don't you tell your kids that people come in all shapes and sizes, and that we are all beloved children of God?), and move on.

For instance, have you noticed those tiny wrinkles around your eyes...?





Whew! Thank you for allowing me to get that off my chest. I fully realize the hypocrisy of this post, but sometimes things strike me as so obviously insignificant and, well, simple, and I want to remember why. Before they seem all blurry and super-important again (the next time I watch television).

10 comments:

Elisabeth (and Tyler) said...

Oh, Andrea. How I love you. Let me count the ways.. .

Lena said...

I feel privileged to be the first one to comment and to say Hurrah!

ps--why is moderation so hard? One Cookie...not twenty.

Lena said...

I guess I took too long to post my "first" comment. Rats.

Stephanie said...

Amen! I read your wonderful rant while eating a king size Reeses FastBreak and I enjoyed every bite! I have a friend who only talks to me about her health issues - it's exhausting, I tell you. I like your 2 minutes a week rule (if only there was a kind way to pass that on to her).

Mardee Rae said...

Only you can simplify things in this truly Orton way. It's like Grandma is telling it to me the way it is.

Love it.

Parley and Anna said...

Love it! Amen!

By the way...have I told you how fat my thighs are? And I can't eat a single thing all day, or it goes straight to them. Plus, those 4 hours a day of intense cardio, just aren't enough...
ohhhh...my life is ruined.

Michelle said...

AMEN!!!!! May I be so bold as to add:

#8 DON'T tell people about your trouble areas/"thunder thighs"/stomach/stretch marks/zit/wrinkles etc. None of us see those things until you (not you) point them out. If you say "my (fill in the blank) is huge" All I will do is stare at your (fill in the blank).

I think you pretty much said all that. So maybe my number should just be 7a or 5b or some such nonsense.

Now where is that cookie I shouldn't eat?

Emily said...

Seriously, I hate my body, but I am trying to accept the fact that I hate it and love it in spite of hating it. Did I get it right? Now excuse me while I go update my Facebook status with how much I just exercised/ate.

Unknown said...

amen. i'm really fat. i know it. and i eat my cookies and readily admit it. i don't get enough sleep or exercise and don't really intend to until my kids get bigger and aren't in my way (and bed). and, it is that simple. i choose my priorities. my weight just isn't worth stressing out or obsessing about. (I like obsessing about how cute my kids are though. That's fun.) now i'll go fix my valentine's dinner full of carbs, fat and red dye.

Terri Decker said...

Andrea, you are awesome. I love reading your posts. And Amen, Amen, Amen to everything you said in this post! :)