How long have you been contending with obesity?
For many, contending with obesity is a life-long battle. How long have you been living with it and what helps you cope best?
Life long battle for me for sure. In elementary, middle and High school (HS). I was always the over weight girl who couldn’t do what the others could do in gym class. I don’t think food became my crutch but maybe it did. I was active, played a lot outside was very involved in HS. Joined the studious programs and was the activities coordinator for programs at our school. I fight with my weight and always have, never have I been skinny but I work at it. I eat healthy, don’t go to fast food places and when I do go out I pick healthier choices. I think my age has caught up with me. I have Multiple Sclerosis and fight this battle daily, I sew for therapy, and enjoyment. My sedentary days don’t help, any suggestion? Thank everyone🫶
Gosh I can relate to almost everything you said here! You're definitely not alone in what your experience was like. Food was and still is a crutch for me. I love that you sew for therapy. That's really cool and I've learned that there is a real art to sewing something correctly. If I may ask, what do you lean towards when sewing? Is it clothes? Other textiles? In terms of sedentary days, do you find there is anything that helps you feel good in your body like simple stretching or maybe a gentle walk around the block? I don't know about you but sometimes I like to lay in bed and do some full body stretches. Gets my blood flowing and my body awake without too much exertion on my lower energy days. What do you like to you? 🧡
I remember first noticing that I was a bit bigger than my friends throughout middle school and high school. It was never really pointed out to me in an in-your-face kind of way, it was more subtle little things that made me realize that I looked a little different than most of my friends. Throughout my life, my weight has always fluctuated and for me, while it hasn't always been the focal point in my life, it has always, always been running in the background in my mind like an endless loop. It's an awareness that hasn't ever really gone away for me. I think it has just become something I'm so used to being aware of that I'm unaware of how much I think about it if that makes sense. As I've gotten older, and largely in part from going to therapy and being brutally honest with my therapist and myself, I've tried to restructure my way of thinking. I can be really hard on myself and say some pretty mean things to myself. Now if I catch myself thinking something unkind, I try to stop and think "Would I ever say that to someone else? No, never in a million years. So, why would it be ok to say it to myself and hurt myself like that?" Rather than criticize my body, I'm trying to give myself some grace, be grateful for it, and be kind to it. It's carried me throughout this life so far. It has done pretty much everything I've asked of it. I try to remember that my body is just one part of me, not the entirety of me. Trust me, there are still PLENTY of days where this doesn't happen and instead, I spiral but when those days happen when I catch myself and say something nice instead, man, those are some good days. Anyway, thanks for listening.💙
I get it, I was the same way and still feel scared from my teenage years. I don't know about you but sometimes those memories from my adolescence and teen years will randomly pop into my head at the most unexpected times... like a repressed memory or something. Thank you for commenting and sharing that you get it. It means a lot. How are you doing these days?
