This Is Why Your Struggle With Weight Is Only Getting Worse
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There’s a reason why you constantly see social media posts talking about fit shaming and fat shaming. And there’s a reason why a new “miracle” diet pops up in the health industry virtually every week. We, as a people, have problems with food, weight and body image, and we just can’t stop talking circles around them. Our solutions really aren’t solutions at all. If anything, these issues are getting worse.
Obesity is no longer an American epidemic — it’s a global burden. And approximately 30 percent of the world’s population (or 2 billion people) struggle with their weight, making it one of the most challenging public health problems of our time.
And to make matters worse, the playing field today isn’t even with the one our parents’ generation walked on just a few decades ago. A 2015 study found that eating and exercising the exact same amount as people did 20 years ago will still leave us fatter, which is just infuriating. How can we dedicate so much time, money and energy to being the best versions of ourselves only to be told that even if we follow the blueprint our parents used to a T, we will still come up short?
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Sure, we can look at the physical environment mankind has created, stocked full of pesticides and hormone-altering substances lacing food packaging that could certainly impact the way we metabolize our food. We can also point fingers at the world of prescription drugs, commenting on how many popular pills these days share the common side effect of weight gain. And we can even look as microscopic as our gut bacteria and angrily explain how hormone and antibiotic-treated meats (and artificial sugars) cause irreparable damage to our microbiomes over time.
But none of these explanations put power back in our hands. They give us theories on which to place blame rather than a marker on a map that reads, “Okay, so this is where we go from here.”
Taryn Brumfitt, the founder of the Body Image Movement and author of Embrace, said it best: “It’s time to raise the white flag because we’ve officially lost the war on obesity. We need to look at ourselves and our health from another perspective. What the world doesn’t need is another slim-down shake or ‘diet expert;’ what the world needs is a self-love overhaul.”
We’re striving for the wrong things — lower numbers on the scale, smaller numbers in our pant sizes, a slimmer reflection in the mirror to share on Instagram. Instead, we just need to ask ourselves, “What makes me feel good?” more often, and follow the answers honestly. Does it feel good to nourish your body with good food? Does it feel good to dedicate an hour of your day to yourself in a yoga class? Does it feel good to connect with others around you focused on feeling good, too? Exactly. So if we lean into these things proactively and focus on these actions rather than trying to abide by old, predetermined measures of success that only guide us to failure, we will be much better off.
The power of change truly lies within each of us. We just have to be willing to redefine our problems and refocus our perspectives on real solutions.
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