"I'll Keep My Women Like Flo-Jo"

In awe of my badass (& toned) First Lady.

A couple weeks ago, I attended the "Endangered Species" conference at the New School and was immediately introduced to the "Fat Activist Movement" -- A grass-root, social movement for size acceptance.  

Men and women of all size -- fat, skinny, in between -- Cheered and  RAWRed, the overweight/obese advocates who protested against Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, rallied the elimination of the scale at the doctor's office and  ignored a critical issue: Health.

I sat there, opened, engaged and thought -- What the f-?!

They were so focused on the relationship of weight with image; and like so many of us, had a warped view on health.  Yet more importantly, these advocates were spreading a very dangerous and misguided ideal of health under the large umbrella of social equality.  

Jennifer Hudson on Oprah.

A month ago, I watched Oprah (don't judge, you love her too) grill Jennifer Hudson on admitting how much weight she lost.  Hudson, clearly struggled between sharing this high-five moment with the Queen of network television and the possibility of being reprimanded by her Weight Watchers' mentor.  (Apparently, Weight Watchers, despite its name, stresses the importance of not being so caught up on "weight".)

I found this very interesting.  Here she is -- The most influential and powerful woman in the media -- Unmasked as just another female obsessed with a number.  A number that not only encompasses fat but let's not forget, muscles, bones and water.  Holy crap, even Oprah needs to be reminded muscles weigh more than fat!

It's difficult for people to listen to a "normal-sized", Asian-American speak so candidly about body image issues -- Oh, whatchu know about body issues, girl -- but I've struggled just like any other female.  I have a "pear-shaped" body and when fit, I am the rare Asian with the apple-bottom booty.  (This is how the boys come to MY yard.)  Unfortunately, excessive fat, for my body, doesn't distribute as proportionally as I would like.  

I CAN'T identify with her --                                                          

Voluptuous is not in my body's vocabulary.

I CAN identify with it --

Me + Grimace: No boobs & big booty.

At 12, I became anorexic, lost an incredible amount of weight and according to my brother, was a raging bitch.  I went from a size 12 to a size 2, spent my birthday blacking in-and-out 6 times and came to the brilliant conclusion I may actually need food in order to live. 

Recently, I've become diligent with my eating habits (Eat real food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.) and started a work-out regimen which includes interval training and yoga 5-6X a week.  In a year, I lost 10 inches off my waist but more importantly, I cured my lower back pains; eliminated my annual struggles with SAD; minimized my seasonal allergies and have muscles in places I never knew existed.  I have no idea how much weight I lost; but  it's taken me a long time to really wrap my head around the concept of never using my weight (or rather body size 'cause let's get real - that's what we're really talking about) as a measurement of my health.  I'm changing my perception of "fat" from an adjective into a noun (adipocytes, adipose tissue, lipids).

As a student of health, when I look at an overweight/obese person I don't think:  Oh my God, she's sooo fat! 

I think:  Diabetes.  Stroke.  Heart attack.  Joint pain.  Muscle dystrophy.  Depression.  Neural disorder.

Alternatively, when I see an extremely thin person I think:  Wow, she looks awesome in those jeans.

Being totally honest here -- That's my initial thought (and I'd like to blame the media for that).   Then I smack myself across the face and look closely at the emaciated individual lacking muscle definition with bones protruding out of the skin.

I think:  Depletion of bone tissues.  Stroke.  Neural disorders.  Organ failure.  Muscle atrophy. 

I also don't look at a "normal-sized" person as healthy.  For all I know, he could have a host of health-related issues I can't see with my bare eyes like, Type II diabetes.

Reeling back to the conference:  I listened to a mother, a Fat Activist, pour her heart out on adamantly resisting against her daughter's doctor's advice to have her 12 year old lose weight.  Clearly, this mother loves her daughter but just like the mother who pressures her daughter to stay skinny, I felt she was harming her child's well-being because of her own personal struggles with weight.  I felt for her...  Until, she non-chalantly mentioned her daughter was put on hormonal contraceptives because her first period lasted eight weeks.

EIGHT.   WEEKS.

I was pissed.  The fact that the mother didn't and couldn't admit the wacky hormonal imbalance could possibly be a side-effect of excessive fat, enraged and saddened me.  However, her resistance reinforced critical health-related issued I have always believed:

1. Health issues, from disorders to diseases, are complicated and intertwined neuropsychologically.
2. Health issues are passed down genetically and/or psychologically to our kids.
3. Neuropsychological issues eventually manifests itself physically and only then -- When it's a real pain in the ass, a physical hinderance to our daily lives, do we finally pay attention to the disease; and ignore the notion the disease has been growing steadily for quite some time which only means it will take an even longer time to "cure it".