Weight Stigma Awareness Week is here!
Throughout September 26th- October 5th, keep your eye out for podcasts, blogs like this one, TV appearances, and more focusing on celebrating the magnificent bodies we have, especially the beauty in our difference
Why do we need a week to remind us to be kinder to our bodies and the bodies of those we love, and even those we don't know? Weight stigma, or weight bias, affects everyone. Kids, Teens, young adults, adults, grandparents - grandparents, really? You bet. People of all ages and sizes can experience judgment about their weight and appearance. In fact, on social media, a person’s weight is one of the first topics that people comment on, whether it’s a celebrity in a magazine or a stranger in a coffee shop.
Try this instead. During this awareness week practice something different - do and say things that will lift ourselves up, not tear ourselves down right from the moment we get up till the time we tuck in at night. Notice how many times you self-corrected and pat yourself on the back. Through these acts of self-care and awareness at home, in school, and at work, we have a fighting chance to live more freely within our own bodies. Allowing us quality time we spend with others, reducing stress and judgment.
If enough of us become more aware of HOW we speak to ourselves and others in our lives, we can begin to eliminate our own stigmas and learn to thank our body for everything it does for us, every day, hour, week, month, year after year.
If you put yourself out there, people will most likely have a comment to share. By building one’s self-confidence and self-care practice helps buffer the sting. However, what many of us forget a person’s weight is a personal matter and can be affected by many things outside of one’s diet or lifestyle. Without this understanding and sensitivity, herein lies the damaging effect: There are approximately 10,200 deaths every year directly related to eating disorders which weight stigmas and body image-related issues fall under. Bullying a leading cause of school kids needing to be homeschooled is the most unkind form of weight stigma and usually has much less to do with the victim but so much more about the bully's lack of familial support and kindness shown to them. Nevertheless, bullying is never helpful and needs to be addressed immediately.
In all, being confident in your body starts with YOU and definitely should not be based on what others say. There’s no way around it, inner confidence is an inside job.
You've got this and I encourage you to check out all the links here. Please share in the comments below how your newfound awareness during this week made you feel and if so inclined, Please share with a friend!
Here are a few of the best ways to de-stigmatize weight in your own head:
Appreciate the things that our bodies can do for us, our heartbeats every single second of every single day, year in and year out for decades, our lungs breathe in air to fill our cells with life-giving elements, we feel emotions in order to laugh and cry, and remember- our bodies take us wherever we want to go, so don’t be afraid to thank it frequently with lots of self-affirming, uplifting affirmations!
Use affirmations to keep our minds on the positive side of things so we don’t drown in the negative thoughts. For example, “I deserve to love my body,”, “My body allows me to live this life,”, “I am so much more than my body,”, “my body is my best friend,” can all help us gain the mindset to help us through a mentally hard time.
Wear clothes that make us feel comfortable. At the end of the day, the number on a tag is only something we can see, so don’t mind the size tag when buying clothes, if we feel good, we automatically look good.
Give your closet a good healthy edit. Remove all clothing that doesn’t fit you well, right now. You never know how important and the positive impact your donated clothes will have on another person!
Here are some helpful tips for managing social media and technology:
Don’t be afraid to turn off your notifications for 2-3 hours every day
Use an alarm clock instead of being reliant on your phone
Be aware of your usage, set boundaries and rewards when you’re successful
For additional information:
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
https://www.center4research.org/social-media-affects-mental-health/
https://www.chatsinthelivingroom.com/
https://anad.org/get-informed/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/
A special thank you Wendy Oliver-Pyatt for founding this much-needed Weight Stigma Awareness Week. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, MD, FAED, F.IAEDP, is the founder of the Oliver-Pyatt Centers and Clementine. She is the author of Questions and Answers about Binge Eating Disorder, A Guide for Clinicians (Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2017). Wendy is in private practice in Miami, Florida, and is available for consultation, supervision, and treatment throughout the country via telemedicine. For more information, please visit www.wendyoliverpyatt.com.
Many thanks to our intern Hailey Tedesco for editing + research for this blog!