I don’t normally post more than once in a day, but I saw this and just had to write about it.

Fat Rant

More Fat Rant: Confessions of the Compulsive

Then I went to Joy Nash’s blog.  That led me to Mia Tyler.

I’m in awe.

First, I have to say that I’m almost literally green with envy at Ms. Nash.  How dare she be bigger than I am and look 1000x hotter?  I nearly hit the floor when I watched the first Fat Rant video and heard how much she weighed!

But… I also envy her self-confidence.  And she makes a lot of sense.  Fat people ARE looked down upon simply because of the way they look.  And they do it to themselves, too.

I’m guilty of that.  I figure nobody will like me because they won’t see past my fat.  I’ve never told him this, but I don’t think my Hubby would have looked twice at me if we’d actually met in person first, instead of on the Internet like we did.  I’ve always thought that way, to be honest.  I never understood how I managed to have so many boyfriends in high school.  Even when I was with my “high school sweetheart,” I still had guys hitting on me.  I just didn’t get it.  Didn’t they SEE me?

But I really liked what she said about being fat AND healthy.  I’ve known some skinny people in my life that were worse off health-wise than I am.  And while I’m nowhere near the shape I was when I was in high school, I don’t actually have any health issues related to my weight.  For me, it’s all cosmetic.  I don’t deny that my weight could possibly CAUSE health issues, but right now, there aren’t any.

The thing is, though… I bet if fat people were to actually get to the point where they were comfortable with themselves, there wouldn’t BE as many fat people.  Many fat people comfort-eat, and it gets them into a downward spiral.  They feel bad about themselves, so they eat to feel better.  Then they feel bad about eating, so they eat some more.

If they were to feel comfortable with themselves, they wouldn’t need to comfort-eat.  And I’d be willing to bet money that a lot of fat people would end up losing weight without even trying.  They might never be “skinny,” but they certainly wouldn’t be what they are now.  They’d be happier and healthier – and if you ask me, that’s what REALLY matters.

I was also surprised to realize that Mia Tyler is a PLUS SIZED MODEL?!  I’d heard of her, of course.  How could I NOT, when I idolized her father for so many of my teenage years?   I knew she was a model, but not that she was plus sized.  I had no idea.  And, to be honest, I figured that what with her gene pool, she’d be a reed like her father and sisters.  But then I went and looked at her MySpace page, and the “Love Your Body Day” website.  I was gobsmacked!

I really like the ideas they’re trying to push.

Accept yourself as you are!

Your weight is not your worth!

EveryBODY is beautiful!

Quit hating yourself and your BODY!

It’s going to take a lot for people to start believing it, though.  I don’t believe it.  I know I should.  I wish I did.  But I don’t.  But I think if more people put out the same message, it’ll go a long way to disproving the myths that the media constantly put out there.  That size 0 is the ONLY size to be to be beautiful.

The fact is, for people such as myself, this only contributes to our low self-esteem and self-worth.  Which makes my depression even worse.  I see these size 0 models and I think to myself “I’ll never look like that.  I’ll always be ugly.”  Because let’s face it – women in general honestly think that if size 0 is the size to be, then anything OTHER than size 0 is ugly.  Even women who are size 2 – not 22 – think there’s something wrong with them because they’re not a size 0.

But Joy Nash defnitely has the right idea.  It’s definitely a step in the right direction.  Unfortunately, it’s a long, hard road.