A Different Beginning

Happy Friday to you all!  I am feeling better today; hurtful comments and PMS = big emotions!  I shared the story in detail like I did,(previous post) to show what a day in the life of many overweight people is like.  It is a struggle to make healthy choices for anyone, let alone when you have society, including complete strangers, putting you down and judging you...  You make an effort to take care of yourself, but the Medical Community, Insurance Companies, Media, and countless others are telling you - "You are a hopeless, worthless, cause."  And you must rise above in every moment, and refuse to believe the years of hurtful, ignorant comments.  You must believe that you are worth making choices that nurture, instead of punish yourself... Some days you win, some days you don't.
I have been feeling frustrated about something lately.  I started my business/blog to help others like myself, find health at ANY size.  It has been my goal to show people that size, and health, are not mutually exclusive.  There is so much more to health than diet and exercise.  In fact, I would even argue that "diets" are what is making me, and countless others feel stuck in a hopeless cycle.  I have had a lot of people approaching me to tell me about the latest food they are eating, the size they are, the pounds they've lost; and it makes me cringe a little.  I have clearly been sending the message that I am all about those things(and I am at times).  On this blog, I have talked mostly about my weight, and the food I am exploring.  As of today, I hope to change that.
I will be blogging about the food I eat, no more than one or two days a week.  The rest of the days will be spent trying to expand our conversation about health.  Topics like; Self- Care, Career Fulfillment, Relationships, Things to Do for Enjoyment, Spiritual Practice, Moving More, Alternative Health Care, Emotional Health, and Health at Every Size.  What other topics are you curious about?
I cannot be the change in the world that I want to see, by being just another blogger who perpetuates our culture's obsession with food, and weight.  I WILL NOT.  It is no one's fault but mine for getting distracted, and I promise to do my best to stay on the track of Health, not Size.  I must walk my talk, and clearly my talk has been centered too much on food, and weight - because that's what people assume I want to talk about.  I think it is a part of the conversation, but it is far from being the entire conversation. 
Am I alone in thinking the food/size obsession is what is keeping us stuck in our miserable patterns?  Who reading this right now has lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off for more than 5 years?  I lost 200lbs., and was still obsessed with the 15 more I "needed" to lose to reach a "healthy BMI".  WTF?  That is crazy!  I am not suggesting that we ignore the influence weight has on our health, but maybe - just maybe- our focus is on the the wrong thing.  How many of you have been dieting on and off, for your entire life?  I am 36, and I was on a diet plan, for the first time, at age 9.  As a well known TV doc would say, "And how's that workin' for ya'?"
I know how scary it is to think the answer isn't in dieting... after all - I did lose 200lbs.  And over the past few days I have craved going back to Weight Watchers... it's what I've done every fall since 2003.  Back to School for kids means back to counting points for me.  I have spent countless dollars, and hours talking about recipes, and obsessing about what that effing scale says.  And I am no better off, than I was in 2003 - actually some would argue that I have done my body harm by fluctuating so drastically.  So I am writing today, hoping that at least one person has been waiting to hear this message; you are beautiful right now, and your health can improve in a number of ways - the scale is simply one, of a million other measures out there.
If you are currently on a diet plan, by all means -find your path, and do what works for you - I mean that very sincerely.  In the mean time, I hope that you will open your mind to the possibility that there is life after counting calories, and stepping on the scale.  Life is full of people, and places that don't see gender, color, religious affiliation,age, size, cultural beliefs, or sexual orientation.  This space is one of those places, and I am one of those people.  I accept you just as you are right now - you are a human becoming worth more than you realize.  You deserve good health, in the broadest sense of the word - and today, right this minute ~ is a new beginning.
The government created BMI system, will not be my guideline to health - the slide show says more than a million words could say.