If you don’t already know this, it’s been about four months since I joined Weight Watchers.
I rejoined the program after seeing my father have such great success with it in the last 8 months. My first experiences with the program were when I was about 15 years old, and Dad and I did it together back then too, but we didn’t follow the “guidelines” as well as we should have.
This time has been different.
Four months in and I’m declaring myself as a certified loser! Woo hoo! 30+ lbs lost this summer, and let me tell you, I feel great!
I’m not just saying I feel great as in I feel better about myself or I feel happy that I “look good”. What I really mean is that I actually feel better. I feel healthier. I feel happier. I feel confident in my choices and I don’t feel upset about the adjustments I’ve made.
So having experienced this change of lifestyle for a second time, and deciding it’s a change that’s here to stay, I’d like to approach a somewhat “uncomfortable” topic that was recently brought to my attention at a meeting: stigma.
Stigmatization of everything from weight loss, to mental health challenges, seems to be a common topic on social media. Yet, regardless of attempts being made to increase awareness, stigmas seem to have developed their own stigmas, therefore creating something of a forcefield around healthy discussion of such topics in face-to-face scenarios.
I guess without getting too deep into a sensitive topic, I would like to say that whether it be an issue of fat shaming, thin shaming, insecurities about learning “dis”abilities, or mental health challenges, to name a few, I have found that one major effect of stigmatizing these topics is that we internalize the stigmas we see projected into the world.
While there are those out there who will judge someone for their personal struggles or identities, we also reflect those judgments back on ourselves, creating negative self images in our own minds as a result of these floating social stigmas.
What I would like is to invite you to be a loser with me. I’m not just talking about losing weight, because a shift in mindset is what’s truly necessary to change our views on such stigmas as previously mentioned. What I am suggesting is that you shed a few pounds of self-doubt, maybe a couple ounces of others’ hateful words, or a whole potato sacks’ weight of insecurities.
Hell! Maybe you and I could even gain a couple inches of confidence and a bit of love for others.
Don’t let stigmas beat you down.
Stand up, hold your head high, and aim to love yourself so that you can also love others.
#StandUpToStigma