It took me a while to decide to lose weight again.  And even now it’s a totally utilitarian choice* & I feel the need to make that clear.

One: I am not giving in to the pressure that women must be thin to be beautiful.

Granted, many people look better thinner and I am admittedly one of them.  That is beside the point.  I find it sad that we’re judged on how we look.  I would like to be a good example of someone being more than how they look.

Two: I don’t necessarily buy into the myth that people must be thin to be healthy & fit. 

I think a heavy person can eat right & exercise & be perfectly healthy.  And there are skinny people that do neither & are definitely not fit.  I’m sure I’m not saying anything earth-shattering here.

Now, that said, I still don’t buy into the whole “fat-acceptance” movement.  I think it is dangerous to promote or even glamorize being heavy since being overweight is associated with many diseases – here’s a list of 20.

My opinion: Our health is our own issue, whether we’re skinny or fat.  You can’t look at someone & tell how healthy they are.  And why should someone in just normal life be judged on that anyway?

Bottom line: Why don’t we just work on “people-acceptance” and forget the weight, color, race, sex, sexual orientation and all the other things we judge people on?

*This post started as a post on WHY I finally decided to lose weight, not on the reasons I am not doing it for.  Another post to come soon on why I finally made the decision.