Ok, before I dive in I realize not everyone will agree with me on this topic. Frankly, it’s likely to piss some people off and make them think I’m a terrible person.

And that’s ok.

This is an opinion piece after all. I have my right to it and I do mean well as I hope you all see after reading this.

Over the past 5 or so years I’ve noticed a trend. You’ve likely also noticed this trend. It has to do with our weight. Yep, it’s still ticking up at an alarming rate and we don’t seem to be able to figure out how to curb that. But you already knew that, didn’t you? I won’t bore you with paragraph after paragraph of how to solve the issue or with color coded maps of the United States that show how each state is getting more and more overweight and obese every year. And I won’t go on and on about how 2/3 of Americans are considered overweight or obese. And really if you look at it that way… and this is sad… that means that being overweight or obese is the norm. If you are of a healthy or “normal” weight, you’re an outsider.

That’s messed up.

But again, since you already know that, I’m going to touch on the topics of fat shaming and body image.

First up is fat shaming. Fat shaming sucks. If you fat shame you’re an asshole. Period. Telling someone to stop being fat is like telling a depressed person to stop being so damn depressed. You are not helping the situation. You are, in fact, a true asshole in every sense of the word.

Hopefully that’s not the part that people have an issue with about this post.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way I want to talk about the trend that I eluded to at the beginning of this post. The trend I’m referring to has to do with “loving” your body for what it is. You’ve probably seen it on a talk show. I know I did. It was on “The Doctors”. There was this mom/fitness blogger. She posted a photo online of her with her two young children, 6 pack abs, and the caption “what’s your excuse?” Of course this caused a lot of butt hurt. Folks were opinionated to say the least. So who’s side did I take?

Well, here’s where the line gets thin. I absolutely agree that we should be comfortable in our own skin. People should be happy with who they are.

Pobody’s nerfect, right?

But here’s where I take issue. It’s also a cop out. Let me explain.

Saying “I love my curves” is fine. Again, comfortable in your own skin is cool. But that can be taken too far. Being technically morbidly obese and loving your curves isn’t. What it is, is unhealthy and it’s killing us. It’s also costing billions of dollars every year.

Here is what I’m afraid of. With everyone being so damn sensitive these days, I’m afraid this isn’t going to stop. It’s as if we’ve just given up. “Hey, I’m overweight and unhealthy, but so are a lot of other people so, you know, oh well.”

But we can’t let that happen. Look I know it’s tough to tell just by reading, but I mean well here. This is NOT fat shaming. Part of my business is helping people deal with weight management. And I do that because I care about them. I want them to live longer, healthier, happier lives. It’s the best feeling in the world for me to help someone reach their goals. People gain weight for all kinds of reasons, including several factors that can be outside of their control. I myself was the heaviest I’ve ever been about 6 or so months ago. That was on me. Oops.

And because I can sense a few of you attempting to blurt it out, I’ll just say it. Yes, I’m well aware that being at a “healthy” weight doesn’t mean that you are actually healthy. And yes I’m aware that having some extra Ell bees laying around but eating well most of the time and exercising regularly is light years better than being at a healthy weight but eating like crap, not exercising, smoking, etc.

The bottom line is that we can’t allow ourselves to be complacent and too accepting of the fact that becoming healthier and getting our weight down is futile. We can’t accept that unhealthy is healthy. Our futures literally depend on it.

Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts?