Friday, June 8, 2012

On Being Fat




On Being Fat

When I was a child, I was skinny.  As I grew, that didn’t really change.  I was rail-thin until around my 40s.  Then I started gaining a little bit of weight, not much, but almost enough to bring me within 10 pounds of my ideal weight.  That took until my mid-50s.
At that point, the doc put me on some meds.  All of a sudden, I started gaining weight.  A lot of it!  And now I am officially fat.

I’m not sure it matters that much to me.  I don’t mind, except that I don’t like looking in the mirror and all my former clothes are useless.  Other than that, it doesn’t really make any difference to me (I should point out I am single, so I just have myself to consider).

Now, I have never cared about fat.  I never even noticed it when I chose my friends, so consequently my friends come in all colors, shapes and sizes.  But after a while, I admit, sometimes I looked at my larger friends with a certain amount of envy.  So I think it is time for me to come out of the closet and say a few things that I never said to anyone’s face.

My personal top 10 Reasons to like being Fat (Assuming the person likes themselves.  Nobody  looks good if they don’t like themselves.):

1.    Small children and animals prefer fat people.  We are more cuddly, softer, and comforting.  When we hold someone on our laps, they are enveloped in softness, reassuring them that all is well and that they are OK.   You don’t get that same reassurance from a bony person.

2.   Same is true for hugs, fat people are soft and comforting.  Bony people are not as nice an armful.  They have sharp edges and elbows.  Fat people are warm and welcoming.  Our hugs are wonderful!

3.   Small children tend to obey us quicker.

4.   Fat women have more variety in clothes. As a larger person, I tend to wear looser, more comfortable clothing.  I don’t much care what the going fashion is, I wear what I like and I look great in the Mother Earth –type clothing!

5.    When a fat woman puts on a dress or a tunic (my personal favorite), you can see the fabric.  All the pretty colors and designs are right there.  On a slender person, the cloth hangs in folds or else the area of cloth is so small that you cannot see the patterns or colors on a grand scale. 

6.   Larger women have curves.

7.   A large woman can wear large jewelry.  Personally, I am not a fan of small stones, like diamonds, etc.  I like the dramatic, one-of-a-kind jewelry.  And a thousand diamonds are too fussy for me compared to a sleek, well-designed modern piece of polymer clay or metal.  I also like the ‘ethnic’ jewelry, and that always looks best on a larger pallet.


8.   A large person has PRESENCE.  When we walk into a room, you know it.  When we speak, people tend to listen.  When we preach, with any luck at all, we will be believed (OK, so as a minister, I notice those things).

9.   If a larger person has any sort of self-esteem at all, we will be perceived as having authority or knowledge.  If a larger woman wear heels, her feet will hit the floor with a loud, authoritative “Clump”.

10.                 As a larger person, I tend to be a restful presence.  My laughter is highly contagious.  My words of reassurance are given weight.  My shoulders are strong enough to cry on.



Now, I invite you to share your favorite reasons.

4 comments:

  1. Ahahaha!! That's a great post! :) And reason #5 is sooo true!
    I'm not really fat, even if I'm 15 kilos above my ideal weight. I'm following a hormonal cure, and this made me grow some fat in the "wrong" places... I've not got used to that, yet, and I don't think I'll never do. I've always been superskinny and I don't like what I see when I look at my mirror.
    BUT, I'm not saying that I don't like fat people. I have many "large" friends, and I can agree with your reasons.
    As for now I'm not able to find my reasons to like being fat. I still have to metabolize it. :))

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  2. Your #1 is one of the best reasons of all.I have had several younger Grandchildren hug Me real tight and with much love and a great big smile say.."Grandma you are so chubby!!!"Wow,do I love that.Years ago My now 20 year old GC-when She was about 3 or 4,held My face in both her hands and said.." Oooooo Your so fat Grammy!" with more love in her voice than you can imagine.

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  3. What a thought-provoking post.

    I have never been "skinny", was always pleasantly plump and a curvy hourglass. Added ten pounds each winter, lost them in the spring. I never gave it much thought.

    Then, in 2002 I became house-bound and for a couple of years, bed-bound half the time. And the weight piled on. An extra hundred pounds of it.

    Around 2008 my "New-Normal" became manageable, still housebound but almost never bed-bound anymore. I lost 30 of those new hundred but am consistently 70 pounds heavier than I was in my old life.

    I never knew how confident and dependent I was on my body until I lost both. I never knew I had high self-esteem and body image until I lost them.

    Now, I am working to get it all back. I am able to see the good in my lack of mobility, but less able to see the good of the added weight.

    I have learned patience. [always a struggle in my old life].

    I notice more things in my surrounding environment because I have the time to be more observant.

    Small, shy, or needing-of-comfort beings gravitate to you when you sit still and quiet. Be they critters or kids, it is nice to be seen as approachable. I also think because I sit more, I'm not seen as so large and looming. Now I can add soft and comfy to that thought.

    But finding the good in being fat. hmmm.

    I do find the patterns-in-clothes resonates. In my old life I was a solid, monochromatic dresser but now I gravitate to prints and combo-colours.

    I've always been self-conscious hugging people since I got fat but will now meditate on your thoughts and flip my thinking on that one.

    A thought-provoking post.

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    Replies
    1. Your story is my story.

      I had to find the positive, because otherwise I would just be so unhappy and lacking self-esteem. Fortunately, I have a warped sense of humor which I can sometimes use to my advantage.

      Thank you for sharing.

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