I’m not fat…I’m big boned!
My mother to this day will tell you that I was not fat growing up. There are pictures in my book that prove otherwise…Oh the love of a mother. Fat gene or skinny gene…it’s a roll of the genetic dice that I lost. I believe that it was my mother’s point of view that inevitably gave me mine. I have a very good friend that has struggled with her weight since childhood too but she has told me before how her mother would make negative comments about her weight rather than being supportive. I think she has bitter feelings about being fat directly related to this. I know that given the opportunity to be left alone with little Johnny who did not pick her for the kickball team in the fifth grade – because she was the “fat kid” – it could get a little messy….and not for her. My mother never harped at me about my weight or told me I was fat. According to her I was just “big-boned.” To me I was fat. Today I am fat. I am not angry about, mad at anybody because of it, and know that there are reasons for it but also know that even as I lose weight I will never be skinny. And I do not want to be skinny. I was not born to be a skinny chick even if my doctor tells me that at my height of 5’6” and large frame I should weigh something like 130. Sorry, that is never going to happen – it is a physical improbability!
In Making Light of Being Heavy there are pictures of me at around 170 my senior year in high school. I had dieted like mad to get into a dress that I bought for senior prom and I was “skinny.” I can remember my dad coming up beside me at the dinner table one night pointing out my shoulder bone and hip bone and telling me to stop with the dieting. But according to the weight guidelines I was obese!
People should find a comfortable weight for them and consider that their weight guideline and just smile politely at their doctor who whips out the chart that says otherwise. A person’s main focus should be that they are healthy. I may be fat but I am healthy. People will ask how that is possible… if I am fat I must automatically be unhealthy. I am 44 and even though I am considered in the medical field “obese,” I do not have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, varicose veins, joint problems, etc. Am I just lucky?
Hey! Check out my YouTube video – Fat Chicks and Unfriendly Chairs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQR5AC-r9qU
With a bunch of butt shots with measurements (yes I said measurements!) coming up to the slow rocking beat of stripper music, my video Fat Chicks and Unfriendly Chairs definitely has the market cornered on making light of being heavy 🙂 Making Light of Being Heavy is a comical book with opinions and observations from a fat chick’s point of view that puts an unexpected and funny spin on dealing with the fat gene!
Until next time, keep laughing!
Related Articles
- Fat, the F Word (thehungryfab.com)
- Finally, a little vindication for the fat chicks…. (makinglightofbeingheavy.com)
I love you Kandy! You are one of my all-time favorite friends and I am so grateful to God that we found each other after you were in Florida all those years! You are a bright, shining star in the dark times and a wonderful confidant to commiserate with. I love your take on living with obesity and how the world is so unaccommodating in so many places. By the way, my favorite chair in the house is the biggest chair, and when I go to get a new one for my living room, the new one will also be the biggest and comfiest chair in the house!
Thanks Marie!! It is hard to believe we have been friends for over 25 years 🙂 I truly appreciate your continuous support. You are an honest-to-goodness great person and I feel lucky to be part of your life.
I know exactly what you mean – I don’t think I’m particularly fat, but my clothing size is listed in the “larger sizes” area of shops, which I find quite insulting actually … I look at pictures of myself from when I was in high school and can hardly recognize myself – I was so thin. One photo in particular shows my collarbones jutting out – and literally, I had to ask my gran (the pic was in her house) who that person sitting next to my sister was. And yet I’d always thought I was fat. Makes me quite sad – I don’t know if my mom had anything to do with that, because I can’t really remember her saying anything to me. But I really wish I’d known that I was thin at the time, so that I could work on controlling my weight properly, instead of just letting myself go and now sitting in the position where I’m struggling to just maintain my weight!
Hi there, thanks for sharing!