As a fitness professional I see people in a very different filter. I look at them and then look at their body. Many people think that I look to see if they are fit or not. That is not what I do.

I have learned to appreciate that we all come in different shapes and size. There is no one type that is perfect.

When I look at someone I take in the ‘entire visual.’ I look at their build, the way they carry their body, the way they treat others and the way they treat themselves.

You may think, well that’s odd. But I believe that your body, tells your life story.

It explains who your family is: as we genetically inherit body types.

If you are fit, I can figure out that you invest the time in your body through fitness exercise and nutrition.

If you are unfit, then I know that there are other things that are more important to you. That you are investing your time in other areas of your life that need your attention. Maybe you have been struggling with a disease?

That is how I look at people.

 

But over the past year we have been introduced to the concept of body shaming.

I believe that body shaming has resulted from expectations that we develop personally, then push to others.

There has been a concentrated effort to break down the barriers of bullying and body shaming by promoting larger sized models. The idea is that if you post a larger size model, and explain that she is happy the way she is, others shouldn’t and don’t have the right to judge her.

I agree with this concept. We live in a society and culture where we set expectations and judge others because they don’t meet those expectations. We do it everywhere, think about it: Where did you go to school? What degree did you get? How much money do you make? What car do you drive? What city do you live in? What neighborhood to do you live in? What clothing line do you wear? The list is endless. It seems that we are judged on everything we do.

Imagine if we took away the ability to judge others? What would life be like? So let’s imagine what this would be like in the world of health and fitness.

Imagine if people were to eat and exercise because it was good for them. They did it because it improved their health, made them stronger and they could live longer.

There aren’t any expectations on what they SHOULD look like. Just imagine that life for a minute.

There wouldn’t be any fat shaming or judging because there aren’t any standards we have set. This would mean not placing 2% or 40% body fat women on the front of magazines.

In my opinion, in order for the body shaming to stop, we, as a society need to stop the expectations of what we SHOULD look like.

We should change the focus to health and wellness. Being healthy means, feeding your body, good unprocessed food. Being healthy means exercising so your lungs and heart stay healthy. Our bodies are the result of what we eat and how much of that food we burn off.

The overall concept of being healthy will change. So if we have females that eat properly, and exercise and still have 2% or 40% body fat, then there aren’t any problems.

The medical association sets standards for us such as blood pressure, heart rate and body mass index. If we were to live our life within those average standards, then in reality we wouldn’t be dealing with anorexia or obesity. (Anorexia and Obesity as both being connected to control and emotion issues in our lives that stem from expectations of others that affect our weight)

Then we could all stop judging people on how they look, too skinny or too fat.

That is why when I look at people I don’t judge them on their size. Rather try to understand their story. We become very understanding when we learn that someone has been struggling with a disease.  What right do we have to judge others? We don’t. Our bodies are our lives stories.

 

What are your thoughts?