I’m not sure when it happened but the topic of weight has become a big part of out culture, a topic open for discussion, very recently making some waves in the news.
Growing up I had no idea what I weighed, we didn’t have family scales and schools didn’t ask. I only found out my weight once I joined my university gym and all the girls were having a go on the scales. I stood on, got a little printed ticket and didn’t think much of it afterwards… we were all different weights but we were all different people, all different heights in very different bodies.
That changed soon enough… When I learnt about weight classes in sports myself and a few others set out to drop a couple of kg. I made the decision to increase cardio and change my diet to just eat the small amount MyFitnessPal recommended. Even when I didn’t care about weight classes I was still concerned about my appearance. I bought my own bathroom scales, took pictures of my body often and picked myself apart in every way.
Some bad years followed…
Through the next few years I bought the lowest calorie breads, tried to tick myself to like zero calorie pastas and rice and ate only egg whites. I would split a banana in half because a whole one was too much and would reject my moms cooking in fear of what was inside. I’d say no to takeaways and leave the room when my family would eat. I would pick the pizza with a hole in the middle to save calories and would say I didn’t like dough balls so a starter wasn’t offered to me.
When commenting on someones weight I appreciate some people may be paying someone a compliment or at least not intentionally coming from a hurtful place but the effects of that comment can be intense and complicated. No one has any idea what another person is mentally battling with or what they have gone through to get where they are now. Heck, if someone brings up my weight today I still sometimes feel a sense of panic, even though it’s been a long time since I connected my weight to my self value the memories of years of binge-restrict flood back.
So please, don’t ask about weight!
I don’t like to discuss weight with the girls I work with unless they feel comfortable to do so. For one, weight isn’t the only way to measure progress but more importantly I have no idea what is going on in someones head. Sure perhaps they have no problem with discussing weight, maybe they have come from a background of disordered eating or maybe, possibly worse still they had never focused on their weight until something was said.
Let’s instead strive to feel healthy, strong and capable. Eat food you actually enjoy to fuel your body, enough to workout and walk around; to laugh with friends and dance in your kitchen.
Soph x
