Our Body Weight. Are We Missing The Point?

A few years ago there was uproar over size zero models, and rightly so, especially as our teenager children were most likely watching this on social media, and could of easily start to believe that it is perfectly normal to be so underweight, which of course it’s not.

We have since come full circle and now it seems just like society was trying to normalise being underweight, people are now trying to normalise being obese, because let’s be honest that’s what it is, morbidly obese. I hear and read the same old statement: “I’m happy with the way I am”.

Well, that may well be case. You are happy with your look and walking around with far too much excess weight, but honestly it’s not healthy.

Maybe in your twenties or thirties you can get away with it, but what happens in ten years time when you have even more weight to carry around? It’s a proven fact that the older you get the harder it is to lose weight. The consequences are really simple. How will you feel when your kids want to play, and after 5 minutes you are out of breath because of all this extra weight you are carrying. Also because of the extra weight you are more likely to suffer health issues. If you’re carrying more weight than you should be you are leaving yourself open to a heart attack, blood pressure issues, diabetes etc, and there is a greater chance of having a stroke and numerous other health issues.

How would you feel if you had a heart attack in your forties and left your children to grow up without a mother or father? I’m pretty sure you would have made an effort to lose weight then. Sadly it would be too late.

I would like to make one thing very clear at this point. I am not saying that this is all about image. I believe there is a bigger picture that people are simply ignoring and going on social media half dressed saying that I feel good about myself is in my opinion sending out completely the wrong message to our children. The power of social media is huge and when we post images we should be more responsible to make sure the message is a positive one for our children.

I would also like to make it clear, that I am not judging people for their lifestyle and their body types. If you want to be overweight and obese, well, that’s your choice, and it’s up to you to live your life exactly as you want, and face the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle, what I don’t want is our children being subjected to social media depicting size zero or obesity as a healthy lifestyle, because it’s not.

So let’s look at what is normal. It’s really very simple to have your weight that is suitable for your height, and your build. Of course we all carry a little extra weight, or we could be a little underweight, and of course we don’t all need to have a six-pack or flat tummy. If you are overweight the chances are you are not exercising or eating healthy foods that constitute a good well balanced diet.

For me we need to encourage and teach our children exercise and healthy eating which in turn will help them have healthy bodies and a reasonable level of fitness.

So are we missing the point about body weight? Yes, we are. Let’s stop normalising obesity and size zero. It’s not the example we should be showing to our children.

I’m not naive to believe that obviously there are medical conditions and disorders that can cause weight loss or gain, but that is a small percentage of the problem. One of the biggest issues in weight gain is laziness and the desire to do something about it. Which could be something as simple as a diet change or a little exercise. Which I am sure we can all find the time to do.

When size zero was highlighted a few years ago the uproar was immense and of course that is rightly so, but as a society we are almost embracing obesity as ok which is totally unacceptable, and in my humble opinion it is sadly misplaced, and that mindset needs to be changed. If you underweight or overweight neither is normal and both has massive health implications. We all need to wake up and smell the coffee and stop burying our heads in the sand.

As a society we need to stop trying to normalise everything just because it suits us.

If you are underweight or overweight, are you really happy, or are you just kidding yourself. I would love to hear your thoughts.