Fat, Happy, and Healthy

Growing up in both a house of a fitness instructor and a house of a present day body builder, the idea of being “healthy” has been drilled into my head. And a sign of unhealthiness according to both of these households was the amount of chub I bestowed. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my homes and developed a great palate that included the love of fruits and vegetables and the way I was taught to be healthy was by eating veggies and other nutritious foods and getting appropriate amounts of exercise. But when I gained weight I would feel sad, depressed, and some of that may have been from lack of movement but I know part of it was because I felt like I was disappointing my mother and my stepmother. Every time I would eat more than one cookie, or eat chips while watching a movie I would feel guilty…but the fact of the matter is that even though I was not as thin as a large number of my friends, I was most definitely the healthiest out of them.

I think in America today we misconceive all fatness to signify unhealthiness. Amy Farrel talks about in her book about how the connotations that typically come with fat are lazy, gluttony, and unhealthy. When medical professionals talk about fatness, they discuss their concerns for the well being of fat people. They typically refer to it as the “obesity epidemic”. However, it is not always the case that fat people are unhealthy. Though weight and appearance of fat content of some may be “above the norm” this does not always mean unhealthy. Farrel says “the cultural stigma surrounding fatness inhibits our ability to think clearly about health issues, so that it is difficult for most people to recognize the difference between our aesthetic and our medical concerns (Farrel 11).

Who defines what healthy is? Is it the medical professionals or the critical and often mean view of the general public? With weight and fat content there are health risks considering cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, and so on…but how can you tell that about a person by simply looking at them? Simply looking at a person we cannot know their medical history, their weight, or even their happiness level.

There are many people whose BMIs are above the normal scale who live active, and healthy lives. According to my BMI I am overweight, but I can assure you that I am happy. Exercise is unavoidable with these hills, and my diet is not perfect by any means, but I typically consume healthy portions of healthy foods. My point is that one could not tell most of this by looking at me. When people make comments about people who appear to them as being fat, my question is why does it matter? I find peoples remarks about being concerned for the health of the person ignorant and, pardon my French, bullshit.

As I have grown and become comfortable with my body, and myself I have been able to disconnect the sense of happiness with my weight. But I can confidently say that even if I am see in the societal and medical eye as being fat, I sure as hell am happy and healthy.