Society has given us an image for what we should strive to attain. I am not going to say that everyone should just embrace their weight/size and not change. Some of us are not healthy - whether you are skinny or big. The number on the scale certainly does not reflect someone's health. From the doctor's office to the magazines to the weight loss commercials/shows; everyone is telling us that to be healthy, acceptable and happy we HAVE to lose weight. I beg to differ. There are so many people that are so consumed with a number on a scale that they become addicted to it. They lose too much weight, they restrict their diets until their hair falls out, the skin sags and turns ashen in color, their eyes yellow and appear sunken - in all, they are not healthy. We've all seen the stories about the anorexics and the bulimics - they're not obese. They usually didn't even start out that way. Then there are the people that couldn't care less about the number on the scale. The obese people eat what they want (usually to fill a void of some sort or because they've just not been taught proper nutrition and just don't care) they suffer from obese related diseases, they sit when everyone around them stands, they struggle walking up a flight a stairs or putting on their shoes. Do you realize that there are people that look "normal" to you but are actually unhealthy? Maybe they are a size 4 or 8 or 10 and you think they are "normal." You strive to be like them, but they eat garbage, they aren't active, they don't do anything to better their health. To you, these people are just "lucky" because they don't have to work to be "normal." The problem with judging by outer appearance, is that they are not healthy either. Some of these "normal" people have body fat content that puts them in the obese category.
Now, I'm not saying, let's all just eat what we want and however our bodies turn out, that's just the way that God intended. Actually, what I'm saying is that to judge a person by their outward appearance can give us unrealistic goals and cause us much more harm than good. The Bible calls our bodies, "The Temple of the Lord." In my opinion, that means that we should care for our bodies. We should eat foods in moderation, we should be active as our bodies are intended and we should stay aware of what things we're allowing into our bodies.
In the photos that I was looking at, I weighed about 80-90 lbs less than I do now. I had dieted, in some cases to extremes, to achieve a particular number on the scale. I never got closer than 30 lbs over my goal weight, the number on the doctor's chart. However, today I feel healthier than I did then. I workout and make healthy choices. I do not let myself get drawn into the extremes that lower the number on the scale but reek havoc on the health and workings of the body, as God created them.
Some Christians maintain a strong stand against good self image as they feel it leads to pride (the self serving, arrogant nature opposite of the humility God desires from us), but I am learning that a healthy self image is not self serving or arrogant. We truly must be thankful for the bodies with which God has blessed us. Both arrogance or self promoting and self loathing can cause us harm. God created our bodies to be a blessing to Him and to those around us. If you hate the body that God has blessed you with, you are saying that He created something not worthy to serve Him and others. If you believe you are above all others because you weigh a certain number or you look a certain way, you are also saying that you are not worthy, or in this case lowly enough, to serve Him and others. Either way you are so consumed with your self that you cannot serve God and others around you. This, to me, is the wrong kind of self image.
Healthy self image comes from acknowledging that God created our bodies to run a certain way. To eat healthy foods, but to enjoy His blessing of food. He gave us taste buds so that we could enjoy food; if we were only to eat foods for nutrition, what was the point of taste buds? Our bodies are designed to be active, our joints and vascular, digestive and pulmonary systems all perform better when we engage in an active lifestyle. Do you think that's just a coincidence? I certainly do not. I believe that God created these earthly bodies to perform well when given proper nutrition and engaged in an active lifestyle.
I am working, not to be "skinny" or to fit someone else's mold for my body, but to Glorify God through the taking care of His temple, my body. Would I like to weigh a certain number? Sure. Will I fall apart if I never reach that number? Absolutely not. I will strive daily to eat properly and to lead an active lifestyle because I feel like God has turned on a light inside of me that shows me what caring for His temple, my body, really is.
Yes, I really did get all this from a silly photo of the not-so-big girl that I once was. I've included that photo at the end here, so you can see what started it all. Again, I know I wasn't "skinny," but I certainly wasn't ready for Biggest Loser like I remember feeling. It's funny that, today, I feel better about myself weighing nearly 100 lbs more than this. Accept your body, accept that you were created to be only what God Himself desires from you, but don't settle for "almost good enough." Eat right, stay active and thank God for blessing you with the body that He gave you. Remember, it's not the number on the scale that makes one healthy or unhealthy, it's what foods you choose and whether you're active or not.
June 2004 - 23 years old
Approximately 80-90 lbs less than I am today - embarrassed about being the "big girl"
June 2013 - 32 years old
Just finished my first 5k in under an hour.Standing tall for the world to see that I'm an "active girl" no matter my weight.
God Bless,
Melissa
Brilliant! I couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteVery well said. :)
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