Love your Body- Value Your Health

As feminists, part of our goal is to encourage women to be proud of their bodies, regardless of how they are built or how much “extra” weight they carry. I think that, too often, we actually disempower women by telling them to love their overweight bodies or accept the “fact” that they will never be thin.

All women SHOULD love their bodies, but it’s unwise to love your body at the expense of your health.

I personally became victim to this in my early adulthood. When I was eighteen, I weight 180 pounds at 5’6″. While this is not morbidly overweight, it was far too much for my own build. I was tired a lot, I couldn’t bike or walk very far, and I ate constantly.

Several of my well-meaning friends had tried to encourage me to love my body by urging me to accept the idea that I was built to be large. They told me that I was a naturally curvy, beautiful woman, and I believed them. I was beautiful, and I didn’t owe anyone any apologies for my weight– but I was continuing to harm my health by accepting the notion that a normal weight was out of my reach.

One day, I simply decided that I’d had enough of being overweight. I didn’t do it for anyone else. I didn’t do it because I loved my body– enough to make a dedication go getting healthier.

So I went vegetarian. I worked out for half an hour a day. I cut out all processed foods. I quit smoking pot, which gives me a terrible case of the munchies. I was down to 125 pounds within two years and I’ve maintained that weight for three years.

I now look and feel healthier than ever. At my last physical exam, I got a full blood workup, and my doctor said that she rarely sees anyone in as good of health as me. My blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate and iron levels are perfect.

I’m not going to say that losing weight was easy (it wasn’t). But I will say that it became significantly easier when I realized that I was hurting my body and my self-esteem by trying to “accept” my overweight body. I learned to value my health more than my appearance, and I viewed weight-loss as a PERSONAL goal, rather than any endeavor I was seeking to please our misogynistic society. I couldn’t continue to “accept” my weight at the expense

To any woman who is overweight and reading this message– LOVE your body with everything you’ve got. Don’t try to lose weight because your lover, or your parents, or the media tells you to lose weight. Don’t fall into fad diets or fasts or pills. Instead, pursue a healthy lifestyle because you care about your health. If you do so, you WILL be healthier– even if your BMI stays the same.