I wrote this post to help you better understand obesity as well to share my lifelong struggles with weight, self-acceptance & how I learned to embrace my body in a positive way
I was compensated by Med-IQ through an educational grant from Novo Nordisk, Inc. to write about the realities of obesity as a chronic disease. All opinions are my own.
During these challenging times of the COVID-19 global pandemic, I have struggled with what kind of content I want to publish that is meaningful, relevant, helpful and socially sensitive. So I was delighted when Med-IQ, an accredited medical education company that provides top notch educational resources for healthcare professionals, reached out to me and asked if I would like to be part of their obesity awareness campaign. As many of you know, I am truly passionate about raising awareness about health topics that can impact women’s lives in a positive way, and my hope in writing this post is to candidly share my own struggles with weight, self-esteem and how I learned how to create a positive body image as well as to help you better understand the disease of obesity and resources that can help.
For the majority of my life, I have struggled with being overweight. Ever since I was a young teen, I always remember having a bit of a tummy, fuller thighs and big butt. When I was younger, my mother was also severely overweight herself and she vacillated from being very skinny to very large and she was even a Weight Watchers leader. So as you can imagine, being hyper-focused on healthy eating and weight loss was definitely a significant theme of my childhood.
However, here’s the plot twist, even though my weight has been an issue most of my life and I have frequently felt big/always wanted to lose weight, I always had a positive self-perception, a deep love of myself and I always felt extremely comfortable in my own body thanks to the positive and accepting attitude of my fabulous mother. You see before body positivity was a social media trend, my forward-thinking mother emulated this incredible self-love and unconditional body acceptance before it was cool to do so.
Throughout my life, I have definitely struggled with loving my curvy body, embracing the number on the scale, letting go of the significance of clothing size as well as coming to terms with my predisposition to gain weight. However, when I finally entered midlife at age 40ish, I began to FULLY appreciate and accept myself and my body, excess weight and all. My midlife awakening also came around the same time that I started this blog and I have definitely made body positivity a message/mantra that I continue to emphasize on all of my digital platforms. It is my mission to help midlife women embrace and celebrate who they are no matter what age, how many wrinkles or what size they are.
While I love that the body positivity/fat acceptance movement is having a moment right now, I don’t want women to lose sight of the the fact that in the United States, it is estimated that 93 million Americans are affected by obesity. Obesity is a disease that is associated with having an excess amount of body fat that can harm your health. Obesity is caused by genetic and environmental factors that can be difficult to control through dieting alone and unfortunately a lot of misconceptions continue to exist about this disease.
I think it’s important for us to re-frame the blaming mentality and let people know that obesity is not their ‘fault’, that it is not just about the food and that it is not cured by a miracle treatment. It’s not really sensitive or appropriate to label people based on their health conditions and I think that we need to start making an effort to stop referring to people as ‘being obese’ which makes it seem like someone causes this to happen to themselves. Instead, I want to encourage all of us to use People First Language and more accurately describe it as someone ‘having obesity’ the same way that people HAVE diabetes or autism (rather than being “a diabetic” or “an autistic” person.) This is a subtle, but important shift in how we perceive obesity.
I also feel that this discussion about obesity is very timely right now because we are in the midst of a serious global pandemic and maintaining overall health and wellness is at the top of everyone’s minds at the moment. Given this crisis, a lot of us are likely to be experiencing increased levels of stress and turning towards more sugary high fat foods to provide comfort but unfortunately these less healthy choices can also lead to weight gain. With all of this in mind, It is important to remember that when we are affected but another disease like obesity, we are potentially at higher risk for experiencing more severe symptoms of COVID-19.
So during this time, those of us that are overweight or have obesity should be more diligent about making healthy food choices, finding creative ways to stay active (I’ve started doing online yoga!) and taking the time to nurture and take care of yourself with at home spa treatments or meditation. The overall point that I am trying to make is to remind you not to neglect your overall health during this crisis and that little steps can make a big difference.
In summary, I hope this post raised your awareness about obesity and that it helps make you more sensitive to seeing obesity as a disease rather than self-inflicted behavior. I also hope that hearing about my journey towards self-acceptance and body positivity inspires you to take steps towards loving your beautiful body flaws and all.
One last thing that I would love your help with, Med-IQ is conducting an anonymous survey and would appreciate your input. The survey, which includes additional education on this topic, will take less than 15 minutes to complete. Survey responses are shared only in aggregate. Your responses to these survey questions will provide Med-IQ with important information about your experiences with obesity and your care team, which will help us develop future educational initiatives. Once you’ve completed the survey, you will have the option of providing your email address to be entered into a drawing administered by SOMA Strategies to win 1 of 10 $100 VISA gift cards. If you choose to enter, your email address will be used only to randomly draw the winners and notify them of their prize and to send a follow-up survey as part of this same initiative. Take the survey HERE
For additional up-to-date and accurate information about obesity, I encourage you to visit the Obesity Action website HERE.
Links to external sites are provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only. They are not intended and should not be construed as legal or medical advice, nor are they endorsements of any organization. Med-IQ bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of any external site. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.
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You look amazing!! I love that swimsuit, and am going to shop for that now! 🙂
Awwww thanks, Miraclesuit never disappoints!
There could not be a better spokesperson than you on self-confidence for all kinds of women’s body types! No matter what you wear you always look fantastic and your forever smile and joyful outlook always inspires me.
Janis, that means the world to me! My mom truly gave me a gift by teaching me to love myself 🙂
Embracing body positivity is really important and we should stop body shaming. We must understand other people who suffer obesity. Lets remind our self that “Obesity is not their fault”.
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Yes you are right overweight or obesity should make healthy food choices. Also doing yoga regularly help to reduce weight.
With everyone trying to reduce or gain weight during the pandemic, we have to celebrate our own body despite how others will judge it. It depends on which we are comfortable with. Never be sorry for it but celebrate it!
Celebrate indeed!
This is a really great post. I’ve often thought that body positivity and wanting to improve your health are not mutually exclusive things. Loving yourself includes keeping yourself healthy.
The key to all of this is a healthy mind and body
You look fabulous girl! I love that you are sharing this empowering article. Hugs to you!
Thank you for your support doll!
Everyone is unique and comes in different shapes and sizes. We are all about body positivity and spreading good vibes.
Thank you for discussing this balance between embracing who we are while understanding the risks of obesity. I struggle to lose weight and found this inspiring.
I am so glad that I inspired you Jessie, that’s why I do what I do!
Every time I visit your blog, I learn something new and this is no exception. This time the body. I can’t wait to read more!
Keep coming back for more!
I totally agree with you. Body positivity is crucial. Its all linked to our mental health and wellbeing.
This is exactly my point!
You are awesome girl! I love this blog post you shared. Sending hugs your way. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Body positivity is so important. We need to prioritize our health and wellness! Thanks for sharing this information.
I couldn’t agree more, thanks for stopping by!
I love how you suggest that we think of obesity, medical issue not choice! I am going to try and spread awareness about this too!
That’s awesome, the more of us that raise awareness the better
This post just made so much sense and I could relate to your experience. I particularly love the idea to move people’s language from ‘being obese’ to ‘having obesity’ which although a subtle difference, shifts the thinking in a far more positive and helpful way. Any mental stigmas aside, to focus on this as a physical disease is a far more practical approach to help and protect the health of those that suffer from obesity. The suggestions you have made here in relation to the current pandemic situation is really helpful.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment
I heard that Americans on average will gain 20 pounds during the COVID-19 global pandemic. This post brings some very interesting opinions to what you can do.
Yes many people are struggle with weight gain now more than ever
weight is such a tough one – especially for women. as someone who had never been overweight, when i got sick in 2014 suddenly things changed w/ medications and lack of ability to exercise and comfort eating. so i totally can relate to this post and think you’re right on.. disease AND self-inflicted. great bathing suit too.
Thanks for sharing your candid thoughts
Such important information on such an important topic. Thank you for covering this with such grace!
Awww so sweet of you to say!
You look fabulous on all photos, what a perfect model. I think that all models should be just like you – happy and smiling. Weight management seem to be quite an issue for many people during the lockdown, hopefully everyone find some sort of balance and won’t overeat too much.
Lovely article on creating such awareness on obesity and weight issues. I think self love is very important!! Keep inspiring and you are a very beautiful woman 🤗
It is my joy to inspire and motivate women to look and feel their best
Thank you for sharing your storing and helpful information about obesity and embracing our own body types. I wish there were less rude people in the world, especially body shamers. It is not always easy to let the remarks bounce off of us. If everyone was a bit nice on social media, imagine how much better the world would be.
Wouldn’t that be amazing!!
I like your way of thinking. It is so important to embrace ourselves and accept it the way it is. It doesn’t mean you can’t improve it.
Thank you for this beautifully written and amazing story and love how honest and real you are about it all. I have to say I id not always have an issue but in my 40’s everything changed and for a while I did not want to go anywhere but now I am embracing my new body….changes and all and I have lost 30 pounds which puts me at a healthier weight…. not small and thin like my earlier years but nice and healthy looking. I am loving that gorgeous swimsuit on you too 🙂 Will be back and signing up for your emails!
Thanks for stopping by Melissa and so glad you have learned to love and appreciate your fabulous self. Good for you!
I totally agree about embracing body positivity as this is something so many woman out there are struggling to accept whilst still eating healthily
This is fantastic for raising awareness about obesity especially during the current pandemic – I hope your online yoga classes go well
I had to take a break form yoga cause I hurt my knee but I will be back
You look so gorgeous and this post is so empowering. I have been struggling with my diet now during this lockdown. I have been eating a lot more sweets and doing minimal exercise
You and so many of us are dealing with this same struggle, you are not alone!
I have struggled with this my whole life because I was teased as young as 8 years old. I still struggle to this day.
So sorry to hear this Marie, feel free to stop by any time for some support and inspo
Having a positive self-perception can make all the difference. It’s great that you had that positive perception from the start.
I love this article, I’m struggling right now with my weight. Ever since we’ve been home bound I’ve gained 15 pounds and need to loose it, it’s out of control. Food has been my comfort and I need to truly figure this out.
I am happy to support you in any way I can!
This is seriously such a great post. So important for women nowadays to embrace themselves. Thank you for such a powerful message and sharing your story!
Romy Raves: Awesome job framing the two sides of this “coin” out for all of us. Thoroughly thought provoking.
I have struggled with body positivity since I had my oldest daughter. I think you look great though and I wish I had half of your confidence!
It takes constant effort to stay positive but I never give up!