Darn you, Special K

You know what really bugged me the most about the Olympics?

The Special K commercials.  The ones where lots of perfectly healthy looking women act all appalled and scared to step on a scale in Times Square.  And then the scale tells them self-fulfilling words instead of that horrific number.  And they laugh nervously and say things like, "Someday I hope to be my true self", implying that it is their WEIGHT holding them back.  These are not obese people, whose lives are drastically altered by problems stemming from their over-weightness.  These are simply average people who do not look like Victoria Beckham and want to.

I literally yelled at the tv every time it came on.  We should not be scared to step on a scale in front of people.  Will there really be a big surprise?  We all know what a person around 100 pounds looks like...140 pounds...190 pounds...  Except we don't.  Because everyone's build and height is different.  So basically, the number is meaningless to anyone other than ourselves.

And if you aren't happy about your weight, sometimes you can't do anything about it.  Eating Special K will never get me to weigh 120 pounds.  Never.  Unless I eat one flake a day.  It certainly won't help perfectly average people fulfill their lives and make them happier.  This commercial just serves to perpetuate the belief that we should be embarrassed and ashamed to have less than perfect bodies.  Even if we aren't that far off the mark.

I hate stuff like this.  HATE.  How am I supposed to raise my daughter to love her body?  We never talk about weight in this house.  I go to the gym to get stronger.  I run to make my heart healthy.  I need new clothes because my body has so many new muscles and is trimmer because of it.  I am trying to make this Lily's motivation...her gauge of her body image.  I tell anyone and everyone my weight (160) and pants size (12).  I always did.  I feel a glimmer of success when I sign her up for gymnastics and she tells her brother, "Do you know why I'm taking gym?  To get stronger."

But then...media...celebrities...people everywhere talking about how much they hate their bodies and how they look.  Ugh.  I feel like I'm fighting an unfair fight.  I over hear the kids playing, and the bad guy always says, "You are stupid Mario.  And fat."  It hurts my ears.  Why is fat so awful?  Who made it so for them?  I even asked them one time why they think it is so bad to be fat.  Does being fat make you mean?  Unhelpful?  Does it make you not have fun?  They couldn't give me an answer...it just is in their list of "bad things".  And it is now on our forbidden word list...  which also makes me sad.  Some people are fat.  That shouldn't be a negative or a positive in their minds.  Losing battle.

I know what I need to do...what I can do.  I can emulate my own mother, who raised 3 girls that don't measure their worth based on physical attributes.  I can tell her I love her no matter what.  I can tell her she is the most beautiful girl in the world despite her protests.  I can be satisfied with my own physical appearance.

It's just all so scary...