Clearly I'm just trying to be provocative with the headline.... but in another form, I'm not. And that's because clearly the term "fat ass" is a pejorative ascribed onto someone who isn't "skinny". I put skinny in quotes simply because, while yes it's an adjective, the word carries so much weight. To certain people a "fat ass" is: not healthy; is sometimes automatically discounted to be an ugly person; is persistently being seen as a person who doesn't care about themselves and lacks any ability, or will power, to stop being a "fatty"; and is most of the times just seen as "gross".

On the other hand, a skinny, or thin person, tends to automatically be seen as attractive (or at the very least isn't completely marked as an "ugly" from the get-go). It's like an inherited cognitive idea for us that people who are thin are healthier, harder working individuals, caring, sexy, etc.

And to an extent, thinner people are healthier..... KINDA NOT SORTA BUT SOMETIMES YES.

I'm kind of just writing this post because I hope someone reads this because they might be trying to get their health back into order (obligatory New Years resolutions) and in many ways I'm just trying to make one point: skinny, or fat, your goal should not absorb into just losing weight. Because in reality, losing weight is never the hard part -- fuck, you can take pills, get surgery, and do a myriad of things to get it off BUT it's always the hardest to keep it off because weight is only indicative of your overall health.

And why does that matter? Because really a true well rounded goal would be something like: "I'm going to try to walk a mile at least each day" or  "I will try to drink less soda, and more water". Yes, any person who is overweight, including myself, SHOULD lose weight. I understand people are into chubbier people, and that being chubby or fat or whatever you wish to call it, can be attractive too -- the point is that any excess amount of weight on the body has a plethora of health risks that can be eliminated or reduced just by not being overweight.

When I was in Houston I was hanging out with two doctors and one of them basically said that he could easily tell when I was going to die. He did this with simple questions, and by looking at my body -- the main component that reduced my the years on my life are basically my obesity. And that literally shocked me to hear because he was just pointing out things I think many of us frivolously ignore. And I didn't tell him that I lost X amount of pounds or whatever because that wasn't the conversation. If anything, it just made me accept that being chubby is not an acceptable health form.

Skinny, or weighing what you're supposed to weigh, only reduces a plethora of health complications almost guaranteed for anyone with obesity. But it doesn't eradicate all health complications. This means the obvious: if you're thin but smoke, or eat horribly, or don't exercise, etc. You're not in the clear......and honestly, when I began to really address my health over four years, it seemed daunting the amount of hard work, and the amount of information that was starting to feel like an avalanche of worries. But that's because I was letting my ego get in the way of simple changes necessary to be able to fully maximize my efforts. And sure, you could slowly start, and that's fine. But the sooner one addresses their health, the quicker your body can begin to be able to reduce the diseases that living a "toxic" life brings on. And in reality, our health is like an open tab that begins to bill us as we get older.

And I'm not perfect, and nor will I ever be, and health doesn't have to be boring. Rather health is personal maintenance. It's a thing that only we can control. Now I understand some may say that this post is ableist and revokes any outstanding variable that prevents someone from losing weight -- and if that's the case, you figure it out. You figure your situation out and talk to your doctor, and ignore this post. I'm speaking to those of us who don't have those issues. And I'm asking us to let go of the idea that being thick and curvy isn't going to potentially give us diabetes, have bad blood pressure, etc.

Our society depends on capitalizing on our insecurities, and it capitalizes on our health. The biggest form of rebellion is to engage with yourself and try to be the best you -- and health truly can come between you and a full life. And if you're like me and hate the man, don't drink the kool-aid -- it's full of sugar anyways.






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