fat people need love too

I'm fat. No mincing words, I'm obese. Heavy. Big boned. Overweight. No matter how you put it,  I am still fat. There's no glossing over it. No denying. Just simple reality. I am not thin, I'm fat.

Before you think I'm degrading myself, let me tell you about who I am. I am 5 ft 5 in tall and 252 lbs. My ancestors were strong German and English stock. I inherited wide hips and large chest from my dad's side of the family and from my mother's side, I inherited strong muscled large calves.
And I love food. The taste and smell gives me comfort like nothing else. But I also enjoy being active. I love walking and swimming and bicycling. Growing up, my parents struggled to put food on the table and clothes on our backs, but we never went without. Growing up, playing outside was the best thing in the world. Even as I was an active little kid, I still struggled with weight issues. And it wasn't just beacause of eating habits or lack of self control. Being fat is also in my genes as I mentioned before some of what I inherited.
Could I have made better choices? Maybe. But the cause of my weight is not in just one problem or habit. It all adds up. Environmental, physically, emotionally, all play a part in forming an opinion of myself.

I get self conscious when I'm choosing clothes to wear because I'm afraid to show off my curves. I had been taught that fat girls aren't pretty and that no one wants to be with a fat girl. Talk about self esteem killer. It's all over the media that thin women are beautiful and if you're fat,  you need to hide it or lose it. Wrong. So wrong.

Although I haven't signed up at a gym or have a personal exercise routine down, I do stay active at my job and at home, even while running errands. I find that the true battle with weight issues is not a physical battle,  but rather is a battle of the mind. What you think you are isn't always the truth. Let me say that again. What you THINK you are isn't always the truth.

I have days where I feel so fat that I can't imagine why anyone would want to talk to me. I also have days where I don't think about it at all.

You know the scenario. Kids choosing teams for some game they want to play and there always is the kid who gets chosen last; the kid that no one obviously wants on their team.
That is how it feels to be fat in a society that shuns those who don't fit the criteria of everyone else. I'm not saying go out there and be fat, doing nothing healthy for yourself. I'm talking about viewing yourself differently than you did before and making choices that are healthy for you. Not because the goal is to lose weight. But because you want to live a healthy life and have a better confidence in yourself.

Fat people are just as deserving of love as anyone else. Fat people need love too.

Be that one person who steps in and claims someone for their team rather than letting them be chosen last.

Here's another tidbit, we all have our vices. Mine is chocolate milk. I try not to have it around much because that would be all I would drink.

Mind over matter.

If you think you are something, chances are you are going to believe that it is true and live your life accordingly.

I am not defined by my weight. I am not defined by my bad or good habits. I am not defined by the exercise I get. I am defined by God as a loving, beautiful, faithful and free woman. His opinion of me is greater than others opinions of me. And my opinion of myself is greater than others opinions of me.

I am fat. I struggle with weight issues. I am insecure when I think about my weight.

But I am alive and living with a greater purpose than to change the outside of me. I live to see the inside of me change first. The rest will follow.

Don't let fear and insecurity tell you who you are.