Hey I ain't fat... i'm PHAT, baby!

Right. So here's another thing i'm obsessed with. Pretty much on a daily basis, i tell ya.


I bet there are people out there who shriek at the word 'diet'. Hell, I shriek at the word diet. But, unfortunately, I fall prey to the latest and the loudest trends out there quite regularly, always in the hope of achieving that ever-elusive svelte figure that we're told we should have. Being told I am 'Rubenesque*' by a would- be-suitor only sends me screaming in the other direction and into the open arms of another diet solution email....  Low calorie, low carb, low fat, cheat your way thin, cabbage soup, 6 meals a day, eat then don't eat...got my claws on every promising thing that came my way and tried them all. With varying degrees of success. Of course, that's just during the diet. What happens after is a whole other blog waiting to explode.




This obsession to look good is blatant amongst women, right? Even skinny girls call themselves fat and obsess over every morsel of food that goes past their lips saying 'choo! choo! that's got a one-way train ticket to my thighs!"


I mean c'mon, men, they don't really care what they look like. Maybe that's on account of the fake-o  mirror they've got propped up against the bedroom wall telling them all sorts of lies about how good they look. (Oh wait. That's my  mirror. Sorry, my bad.)


Or maybe it's simply intrinsic. A case of an ego inflated so big they just cant look at themselves with real honesty. Or their mamas brought them up with such high self-esteem that looks don't matter. Or maybe...just maybe...they really just don't care. So what if your belly flops over your belt, or if your underwear is the size of a wind sail...who cares, right? 


Geez, how i  wish i could be just like that. Wouldn't that be great, ladies? To just not care if the side profile of your ass looks like a heavy reflection of the letter P? Or how it blocks out the sun when you bend over? Or if your thighs are going to start a fire with every step you take? Or worse still, how they spread out with a vengeance over a teeny tiny high chair in a chic night club to the point that you're falling out of the seat despite attempts to hang on desperately while looking sexy? (skinny girls, you wouldn't know what i'm talkin about here)


What a liberation that would be.That's the new women's lib, i tell you.


Why can't we just face the fact that we are the way god intended us to be? Or maybe, god made us slightly deficient (and by us i mean me), armed with half a brain, the ability to read, internet access, supportive parents and a deluge of diet and exercise solutions so that we can take the 70-90 lease-hold years we've been given to mould our bodies the way we'd like it. Hmm. And along the way, god puts these stab-worthy pictures of physical perfection in our paths to let us know what we could have if we just ate right, worked out and all the rest of it. (God, if you're reading, i've been there, done that,and ain't getting nowhere anytime soon.) 


Or maybe, god's just saying we're all equal. No one's better than the other. Just different. And difference offers variety, keeps things interesting. And we should embrace that. Now there's a thought for ya. Sure, we've heard this mantra before but wait a minute, let's get all Nancy Drew on it for a moment and dig a little deeper.


Imagine a world where everyone was stick thin. (Okay okay i'm grossly exaggerating and obviously demonstrating some hint of sour grapes with that narrow description, i admit..) Okay imagine a world where everyone was slim and fit, carrying on with their lives with a happy, perky gait (since there's nothing to weigh them down ...) . There would be absolutely nothing that's immediately obvious to differentiate one person from another, except of course the colour of your eyes, hair, skin etc etc ...but those are things one can manipulate very quickly to achieve a desired outcome. Bottom line is, everyone's the same size and shape, pretty much. 


What's interesting about this picture?
Nothing much, really. 


When you have only good looks all around you, how do you differentiate from the bad? Will good be considered good per se, or will there be varying levels of good...since we humans simply need to differentiate? If there's anything i've learnt in life, it's that you appreciate the good mostly when there's bad in the picture.


Imagine having to describe a person in a conversation. Slim and fat wouldn't be antonyms in the dictionary, i tell you. You wouldn't be able to find the phrase 'pleasantly plump' either.


Ok, you're wondering , where's your point Papitse? Well, as usual, my rants are not pointed. 


However, here's a word to thin people out there. 


Fat people are harder on themselves. And on other fat people. So there's no need for you to be hard on them. 


They (and by they, i mean me) struggle with self image on a day to day basis. And work very hard to get thinner, healthier ...and everything else they've been told they should be. And along the way they've paved the way  for a multi-billion dollar diet, weight loss and fitness industry world wide, stimulating your economy in more ways than one, let me assure you. Not to mention the entire cereal industry. (That's another rant for another day)


I could go on and on with this. But here's the bottom line..again...we fat people have an important role to play in the world and we're important regardless of which spectrum of the scale we decide to sit on. We're more than our bodies, our physical manifestations. We are people, we contribute to society, we live life, have love in our lives, and make a difference in many different ways. We are souls who just happen to be carried around in a portly vehicle of flesh. If we spend 80% of our lives obsessed with the way we look, that's 72 years out of a 90 year expectancy (which is not the average, if you know what i mean...) - leaving very little time for enjoying life's wonderful pleasures. 


While i'm not condoning obesity (hell no!) and wholeheartedly support  people who make a strong decision to take charge of their lives and use the tools god's given to better themselves in any way, be it physically,physiologically, intellectually, mentally, financially etc , i also cheer on those who just want to take a chill pill and enjoy their lives and bodies just as they are. 


Let me know what you think. Comments, anyone?

* Rubenesque refers to fat, hearty, curvy female forms as depicted by Peter Paul Rubens the 16th Century Flemish painter...and really, by every other painter in that age. Guess they liked their girls phat.True story.