Dooley Noted: 5/13/2016
Take a long look at these pictures.
They include me at age 21 – the girl in blue.
Did you form an opinion?
Let’s see if you are a shamer.
Here are some options:
1. You fit-shamed me. You saw visible muscles.
2. You fat-shamed me, because you are thinner or leaner. You saw a belly or a double chin.
3. You saw glowing skin and a bright smile, and made your opinion I was happy and healthy.
These are the dangers of judging a book by its cover.
What’s fat to one person is fit to another.
What seems like a fit person can actually be someone who is in danger.
A few hours before these pictures were taken, I had exercised for about three hours after puking up everything I ate for the day.
That glow you see in my cheeks is from vomiting.
That beautiful hairdo is curls to hide the clumps of hair falling out in my hands after brushing it.
The heavy make-up hides my troubled, stressed skin.
And though I was a size 4, I spent the evening sucking in my stomach so hard it would make my abdomen cramp.
I was fat-shaming myself, while other people at that bar were fit-shaming me for my strong arms and thighs.
I didn’t touch food, only consuming Diet Coke.
And despite all these efforts, I looked in the mirror and saw someone who was fat.
This has to stop.
Do yourself – and everyone else – a favor.
Don’t shame anyone.
This includes yourself.
Don’t look at them and make judgments about their health.
I have a cute little belly pooch, from no longer sucking in my gut and allowing myself to build Intra-abdominal pressure to stabilize me and make me strong.
I eat food that gives me nutrition to fuel my body and pull it forward. I don’t punish myself for the food choices I make, even if they aren’t always the cleanest ones.
While I may be missing that dewy, emetic glow, my blood work and general health markers are near perfect. And I feel consistent, sustained energy and mental focus from the moment I wake up until the moment I lay down my head to sleep.
I spent 10 years redefining what being fit meant to me.
And I can guarantee you this: it doesn’t have a look.
The next time you want to shame someone, imagine that’s your sister, or child, or mother, or beloved friend.
And remember how wrong you were about my pictures.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley