Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh (Post 505686)

...the main prob I have with my back holding all this up is like carying another human on my back...

Originally Posted by PinkieLee (Post 505723)

WOW, WOW, WOW seem to be the only words that come to my mind after reading June's post! It leaves me dumbfounded, that someone would have the NERVE to try & shame someone for making healthy choices for themselves! As for her betrayal of the "fat community"... I call bullshit! Whomever spewed such crap her way, has a lot to learn about "community".

Like Medusa, the dash site was a home that finally taught me to embrace & love every ounce of my being (heart, mind, body & soul). It was the first time, in my entire life, that I was finally able to be comfortable in my own skin. I thank the people that welcomed & loved me with open hearts & open minds... no matter what the scale said.

But within the last couple of years, when the scale kept climbing, and I noticed every little ache & pain become a daily occurance, I knew I had to do something. Not only was my physical health failing, my self esteem had finally hit an all time low.... no matter how big the fake smile was on my face.

We all started our personal healthy living journey at different times in our lives. Mostly, it was because we had a nice dose of reality (our failing health or a loved one's health) smack us in the face. Getting our bodies heathier, learning to move more & retraining our brain was what our focus was on... the losing weight part was just the added bonus.

Originally Posted by Miss Scarlett (Post 505695)

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh (Post 505870)

I do the same thing even theo I have lost over 50 pounds,gald I dont have it any more,but im working on loseing another 50 by the end of 2012.I was told at the wellness canter that I should work out 2 hours a day 5 days a week..well I tryed amd cratered my knee and back wich took three weeks to be close to normal after that,I no longer got there but use the equipment I have at home cause I can workout with out being badgered about it.I must say I have also looked into other weight loss ideas but they just seam to dramatic for me.

Originally Posted by Martina (Post 505894)

That's crazy. Very few people should work out two hours a day. Wow. That was some bad advice.

One hour a day and more daily activity -- as in cooking, cleaning, etc. That's what i hear.

Originally Posted by Miss Scarlett (Post 505587)

Originally Posted by Medusa (Post 505638)

I am trying to do some time-saving stuff for my food this week so this weekend I baked up 4 HUGE sweet potatoes and dug out the innards and slapped them in a huge bowl.
I have enough mashed sweet potatoes for all week and can use them a 1/2 cup or a cup at a time for side dishes on meals.

Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest veggies you can eat from what I've read. They are packed with fiber and tons of vitamins and have the lowest glycemic index of all of the root vegetables.

I like mine mashed or baked with a sprinkle of cinammon (no sugar or honey necessary since these are naturally sweet). If you are on WW, an entire cup of mashed sweet potato (with no sugar, butter, or other stuff) has only 5 points. That's a LOt of potato so I usually do 1/2 cup with dinner or lunch.

I've even had a 1/2c with cinammon for breakfast with a piece of turkey bacon. YUMMY.

Originally Posted by June (Post 505661)

I'm kind of fired up this morning.

Originally Posted by princessbelle (Post 505671)

Originally Posted by Medusa (Post 505684)

That is incredibly fucked up.

Let me say this, I think it is incredibly brave of Superwoman (I'm calling her that until she decides to out herself) to do her journey in a visible, authentic way with unabashed resolve. It's brave not because there are vile haters out there in the world who let their own self esteem issues keep them from celebrating someone's health success, but because she is brave enough to do it with an audience. That, my dear friends, takes giant ovaries and that, to me, makes her a fucking BAD ASS. [COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]Your'e a bad ass, too sister!! Your belief in me keeps me motivated! [/COLOR]

On another note:

This is something that June and I have talked about at length. Back on the Dash site, when I was first figuring out I was a Femme at the age of 22, I felt such an enormous sense of affiliation and love with all ofthe fat people there who loved their bodies in ways I had never been witness to before. I was able to shed much of my insecurity about my own size by witnessing a few people I deeply cared about at the time own their size and space and demand the kind of respect for it that I had always been afraid to ask for.
It was and is amazing.
I am a firm believer that sexy comes and any size. I am also a firm believer that love should come at any size (both self-love and love directed). I do not, however, believe that any of us should be fetishizing size in a way that supports food addiction or destructive eating habits. That may look like many different things to all of us but for me, it means that I don't keep telling myself I'm fine the way I am while I shove Twinkies in my face and can't walk up a flight of stairs or am having a stroke due to high blood pressure while still shoveling over 6000 calories a day into my body.[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"] You and I have talked in length about this as well. I think our community is beautiful with ALL of it's variations. Gender, weight, appearance. SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! Healthy? Another question.[/COLOR]

It's hard for me to even type this because it feels like such a betrayal of my fat politics. The politics I have put a LOT of effort into over the years. Don't get me wrong, I am not ever going to dismantle my fat politics or start being negative about fat bodies but this re-examination has definitely churned some muddy waters for me.[COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]This is so difficult for me as well. I have tried to be so fat positive for so long. But, how do I mingle the two????[/COLOR]

There's another thing that I am remiss to talk about but I think it's important. I think that some of the fat politics that were happening in other spaces made a nice soft bed for willing food addicts to become even more unhealthy under the guise of....fuck, I've written and rewritten this sentence 10 times and am trying to say it in a way that won't sound like an attack. Let me just say that I gained a significant amount of weight when I felt that my fat body was more accepted/desired/fetishized/celebritized/etc. That's what happened for me and I own it and it wasn't because anyone else made it happen. I still hear the echos of fatphobia in "I'm not usually attracted to big girls but I'd date Medusa in a heartbeat" or "Medusa dresses so well for someone her size!" or "I wish I had Medusa's confidence!" (as if a confident fat woman was such an anomaly..and maybe it is but it felt like a headpat more often than not like "Oh look at you, with all of your ADORABLE little self-esteem!") [COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"] I get this. To the core.[/COLOR]

Sometimes I still feel like a traitor for even daring to make my body smaller, for having a goal of a healthier body, for being so self-involved that I'd want to focus on me. I know some of that is just the old stuff talking. But I also know that some of it is because I am coming from a history and a specific Butch-femme culture where there were some people who I idolized who were severely overweight and who helped me to find the love within myself after a lifetime of hating, both by watching and witnessing them and by creating an atmosphere of acceptance and love. That's a hard thing to examine if it means I have to let go of my safety zone, and for me that's exactly what it means. [COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]You don't need me to tell you that you are not a traitor. If I am not than you are not. We are doing what is best to get our bodies healthy. We only have one body ya know? [/COLOR]

Sorry for the gush.

<3

Originally Posted by Gentle Tiger (Post 506052)

I walked today; not 5 miles but I walked. That's all I have.

Originally Posted by *Anya* (Post 505829)

I have read all the posts. I want to also state that I believe that we all have the right to lose weight for any reason we deem important to us!

Want to lose weigh for health? Terrific!
Want to lose weight to be able to move and navigate more easily through this world of ours? Terrific!
Want to lose weigh to help increase your own self-esteem?
Terrific!
Want to lose weight to get laid? Terrific!

No one has the right but me, to tell me that any reason I so chose for losing weight is wrong!

Why each of us chooses to go on this long and difficult journey is an individual and personal choice. Each of us has the right to select whichever reason best fits us.

My choice may not be yours and vice versa but I do not need to hate anyone to do the very best for me.