Word of the Week

Consider this...

Are you fat and fearing health consequences because others tell you to? Replace fear with knowledge. Go to the doctor and learn about your health! Just like everyone else, your health deserves to be examined regardless of your size.

Our modern world continually provides us with reasons for fear. CNN reports missile tests in Asia, and we know about it. An epidemic is reported on a nearby continent, and some of us begin wearing masks.

Information technology has assisted in making a threat from the other side of the world enter people’s homes and give rise to stress and fear. The rise of technology has also made us perceive these threats as more real.

Scientists say fear is one of the most basic of human emotions. The emotion itself is not the problem, it can help us in many ways. It prompts us to run away from danger and protect ourselves from those who might hurt us (who hasn’t heard of fight or flight?). The problem is that people try to use our fear against us and make us believe certain things and evoke certain responses.

So what must we do? Take control of our fears. What’s the point of being afraid if we’re not to or can’t do anything about our fear? Thus, we must take control of our fears and be conscious of the people and things that cause them. How do we do that? Through knowledge.

A common fat-person fear is that being fat may have negative consequences for our health. The media and the diet industry spend billions of dollars each year augmenting the fear that if we are fat, we are in some great danger. Many of us spend years with the ever-growing terror that our health might be at risk from a few “extra” pounds. We think that as long as we are fat, we can’t possibly consider relinquishing this fear.

I propose a different approach. Take control of your fear and confront the (un)realities behind it. Are you healthy? Answering that question based on whether or not you’re fat certainly isn’t going to suffice as an answer. Find out! Go to a doctor and insist that you be examined for your health with a proper blood work-up in the same way a thin person’s health would be evaluated. See for yourself whether or not those telling you that you should fear bad things because of your size are correct. And should you discover a health hiccup, don’t let anyone scare you into believing that it’s because of your size or that changing your size will resolve your problem.

The best way to combat fear is with knowledge. When you learn, you can better formulate plans to begin acting in the right direction. Don’t be afraid of your size. Embrace it. Get informed about what it means to be fat. A great place to start is in our Resource Center. Happy learning!