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Yesterday, I found this post via a Twitter comment. In the name of awareness - FB color meme. What a powerful post! It has been running through my head all night and I realized its because it socked me right in the core of my being. I immediately posted a link to the story on my facebook and removed my color. But where it got me thinking, is about my own journey with weight issues. I feel the same as Susan every day, but my cancer is my weight. Yes, there are a lot of difference, it is not a foreign matter that takes over, and I certainly do not want to appear to be minimizing the battle that ALL people go through with cancer or any other life threatening disease.
That being said, Weight issues can be just as cancerous to our bodies, our minds and our souls. People view us differently, form their judgments and prejudice, based solely on their perception of weight issues. I feel exactly the way Susan did about going to the pool, getting invited places, watching VIctoria Secret commercials, and about friends rallying around for a short while. We are more often than not, viewed by our size rather than our substance.
Sadly, that seems to affect women much more, cuts more deeply to the core, and we put our bodies through torture trying to be accepted. Everyone has an awareness of the epidemic of being overweight and obese. But that doesn't matter. It is considered a personal issue that you can do something about.
A Doctor's advise or prescription is uaually just stating the diagnosis. You need to lose weight. Wouldn't that be like telling a cancer patient to "fight your cancer". They leave you with the prescription of eat healthier and exercise. Obviously, if it were that simple, it wouldn't be an epidemic. Their are many, many layers to weight. The fat cells take over similar to the cancer cells growing. The mind set and the attitude helps in the battle against cancer as much as it does weight.
I say, put yourself, in someone else's shoes. There is a member in my primary Weight Watcher's meeting, that shared her story of her battle with cancer. She gained 40 lbs during her treatments and feels that the cancer is not gone until the weight is. I overheard her talking to the leader after the group that she would have to quit the meetings for awhile do to financial issues. I thought about that a lot after my meeting. I contacted the leader and offered to pay, anonymously, for her meetings for a couple of months. I viewed that as my support and donation to the fight against cancer. At the same time, I was struggle with my own decision to stay with WW. I changed my attitude immediately.
That is how I came to be a little more motivated for my own weight loss efforts. I put myself in her shoes. I started to think of my own weight issues as my cancer. The treatment plan will be a couple of years. It will be a long battle. But one I want to win.
As with what I have always heard from my friends that have gone through their breast cancer battles it was the support of friends and loved ones that helped them through all the grueling and painful hours of all that they had to endure. That is what I want to build around me. Support. That seems a little more difficult with weight than cancer because of how others view it. People are unaware just how much their comments and their actions feed the cancer of weight issues. There is some innocent reminder every day of how people judge weight.
We are treated different. Plain and simple. Most of us, have struggled with our weight. But do we know the persons background, their struggles, how they got there, how hard they work to try and rid themselves of it, or just how damn hard the battle is.
It is not just about awareness or even empathy. We can't change how other people think. We can only change ourselves and how we think about our weight. I am on a personal crusade to change how I think about it and hope to share some of that with others. I want to particpate in finding a cure for weight issues. It takes each and every person to join in and support those crusades. Join me in my
