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Thursday, March 1, 2012

TOO THIN

     I have encountered a handful of people lately who have taken their weight loss program too far. They have gone past trim and healthy and look too thin. They have lost vitality, and they look drawn and depleted, but they are so proud!
     As a culture, we have lost our intuitive ability to feed ourselves. Everything we see and hear in the media reinforces our own insecurity and tells us we can't be trusted to eat good foods in right-sized portions. We think we have to be regulated and restricted and watched like a hawk... or surely we will be fat and miserable.
     There is so much insanity surrounding American food consumption and body image. Let's make an effort to get happy with our bodies and to pay attention when we eat so that we enjoy our food, but know when we have had enough. We overshoot the satisfaction mark because of our self-deprecating cycles of restriction. Let's restore our balance and find a way to be ok with a little bit of fat. Our ideal is skewed. We want something that is un-natural and unhealthy and that strips us of joyful living energy.

I eat reasonably and do not obsess about food in either direction. It's ok to be the way I am.