Weight Gain Might Be Healthy
Somehow, some way, we've intertwined weight loss with health.
BUT....
Weight gain can be healthy. And it might even be healthy for you.
In order to convince you of this, I will start with the most obvious example I can think of: anorexia.
Is it bad to accept your body?
What if you decided to accept yourself?
I just recently went to go see Joy in the movie theatres. (SPOILER ALERT) The film was your standard Cinderella story. A young female entrepreneur overcomes the odds and becomes successful and rich and beautiful. It's the story of the American Dream. And, if you live in the United States of America, it's something we've all been taught to believe in.
I won't unpack that one. John Oliver has already very much unpacked that idea on his popular HBO show.
I think part of the appeal of the weight loss story is that many people see it as a viable American dream. It seems more realistic. It seems within reach. I mean, planet fitness is only like, what? $10/month?
You just go to the gym and eat vegetables and voila! Perfect body, right?
If that were true, the diet industry wouldn't be a billion dollar industry.
A Red Herring
Weight is a red herring.
It's the season of New Year's Resolutions. It's the time when a lot of people fixate on weight loss.
I've mentioned in previous posts how people talk as if losing weight were some kind of magic tonic. It's starting to really piss me off because it's not the best barometer of health. Health is measured in a million different ways.
You may want to be healthy. You may want to live a long time. But if you're focusing on the weight, you've caught a red herring.