In reply to a fabulous thread at the Shapely Prose community forum, I’ve made a list of some of the things that make me healthy, physically and mentally. It’s a great response to the “but you can’t be healthy if you’re overweight” paradigm. Actually, there are lots of indicators of health that are ignored in favour of a low BMI. I’m not ignoring them. Here are some of mine:
I called in sick to work today because I’m getting a bad cold and I’d rather head it off now.
I swim twice a week.
I walk and take public transit everywhere.
I try to get enough sleep (which for me is a lot).
I eat a variety of foods and like trying new ones.
I buy clothes that fit me.
I have not dieted since October 2007.
I bought a wore a bikini this past summer.
I have never tried a cigarette or any hard drug.
I am in a deliriously happy relationship with my fiance.
I will not diet to fit into my wedding dress.
I try to find the positive aspects of a job I’m not crazy about.
I get annual physical check-ups and Pap tests.
I rarely weigh myself.
I have a Master’s degree (they say higher education improves your mental health, I think).
I volunteer for two organizations that mean a great deal to me.
I’ve become more politically informed and active in the past year.
I’ve gotten much better at not beating myself up over my food and activity choices.
I ran a 5K charity run in June.
I took the “RealAge” online test and my age came up at 16.9. And yes, I gave my true weight (unashamed at 185!).
How do you take care of your physical and mental health?
December 28, 2008 at 2:16 am |
Is there some sort of moral imperative involved in taking care of your “health”? Why do you feel you have to make such a list other than to justify your “high” BMI? And who are you trying to justify it to, others or yourself?
All those things you do are fine if that is what you want to do. But are you doing them because they make you happy or because you think you have to do them in order to pursue this mandatory state of “health”?
What would happen if you didn’t do them? How would you feel about yourself (and your BMI) then? Would your self esteem still be intact? Or is your self worth reliant on undertaking these activities?
Lists like this simply feed into the “good fatty/bad fatty” dynamic and do no one any favours at all.
December 28, 2008 at 10:13 am |
No, there is no moral imperative to take care of your “health.”
I feel better, mentally and physically, when I do things that are good for my mental and physical health, by my own standards. I didn’t even think of these things as deliberate health-improving activities until I started making this list. Rather, I noticed that these things I was doing anyway, as a matter of course in my daily life, happen to be things which contribute to my mental and physical health.
I’m saying exactly the opposite of “good fatty/bad fatty” rules: no one defines your health but you. Many of the items on this list do not conform to “accepted” health strategies. They’re mine.