Can I just be honest and step on my little soapbox for a
moment?
The Biggest Loser.
Now, I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch much of this season, but
I do like keeping up with who wins. The Biggest Loser was a TV show we watched
at home, ironically I watched most of the episodes over bowls of popcorn and
ice cream with my mom. Is the show a bit extreme? Yes. But I don’t believe it’s
ever been unhealthy. The contestants are clearly followed by a medical team
throughout the show, which is more than most people who try to lose weight.
They’re surrounded by knowledgeable professionals whose goal is to teach and
equip them to maintain a balanced lifestyle at home. They aren’t responsible
for the individual’s results – no one can make you lose weight, and losing
weight isn’t as much the goal as becoming a healthier, whole person. As a
Christian, I don’t believe this is possible apart from the love of Jesus – true
transformation doesn’t happen apart from Him. But on the whole, I am a fan of
the show. Provide people an incentive, an opportunity, an education, a support system
and a community – meet them where they are and encourage them from there – and watch
them grow.
I’ve been really taken aback by the backlash from the latest
winner, Rachel. I’ll admit, she lost a
bunch of weight and she did look thin on the finale – but I didn’t expect her
to immediately be attacked and shamed for her weight loss. Suddenly, she has
been accused of “going too far,” “having an eating disorder,” and “being a disappointing
example for teen girls.” Seriously, ladies???
You want to know what’s disappointing. That thousands of
women immediately assume someone with a low BMI has an eating disorder and
unhealthy lifestyle. Equally disappointing is that these same women shame
themselves and others for being too fat. You’re either too fat or too thin, but
never okay, never healthy, never just beautiful. I spent most of my life weighing less than
100 pounds, but I’ve never had an eating disorder. In nursing school I jumped
up in weight and my BMI went from low to overweight, even though I was working
out. Now, I’m back to a normal BMI but my heart and mindset is still relatively
the same. The truth is, I felt insecure at every weight – because the weight
was never the issue. The issue is where my heart is – where my worth lies. I
struggle to accept the body God has given me, with its short, curvy stature as
beautiful and healthy every time bikini season rolls around, every time I step
on the scale, every time I slip into the shower or look in the mirror. You know what doesn’t help? How we are so
quick to judge one another and criticize one another.
I felt fat on my wedding day. I had two oral surgeries
during our engagement and I dropped down to my high school weight. I was frail,
weak and sick from narcotics. It was not pretty; it was not something I
recommend. By the time our wedding rolled around, I was back to my normal
weight which felt “fat”. But I was back to my healthy self. Why is it that we’re so quick to criticize a
woman who wins a weight loss competition but we praise the thousands of starving
brides as a society? Why is it that we can’t encourage each other to be
healthy? To believe and receive the truth of God’s word towards us as His
daughters – that we are beautiful, that we are loved, that we are accepted and
brilliantly crafted with purpose? Why do we have to be so harsh towards each
other? Perpetuating the lie that “if you’re
fat, you must be lazy and unhealthy; if you’re thin then you must struggle with
an eating disorder and be unhealthy.”
You want to know what a disappointing example for young
girls looks like – it looks like a bunch of grown women beating each other up with
comparisons and shallow judgments. The
newest Biggest Loser may have gone too far, she may struggle with self-worth
and perfectionism just like I do – but I don’t know that. For all I know, she’s
healthy and balanced and at peace with her body. So I choose to be happy for her, to celebrate
her pursuit of a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and to encourage her to
continue to believe that her self-worth is much greater than the number on the
scale. Because I need to preach the truth of God’s word to myself every time I see a
bikini and a brownie, every time I step on the scale, get in the shower, try on
new clothes, order a hamburger, order a salad, go to the gym, or hear my
husband tell me that I’m beautiful.
The reality is, it’s a struggle every day to choose where I
place my value and self-worth. I’m
pretty sure I’m not the only woman who struggles, so can we just stop with the
criticism and start to encourage one another in truth and love? I mean really,
can we leave the “Mean Girls” behavior back in middle school and high school
and encourage our daughters to be healthy, confident, and secure in who God
says they are?
Stepping off the soap box now.
-a
