Fat Talk

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Did you know that Fat Talk can actually make you fat? 

What the heck do I mean by Fat Talk?

"My butt is so fat." 

"You think you're fat? No! I'm fat!"

"Oh. My. God! I (look, feel, am) so fat!"


Sound familiar?

Someone recently took a photo of me. I looked just like Jabba-the-Hut!  At least that's what I saw.  No one else did. I was dressed in a black sweater, black yoga pants and I was stretched out on a black sofa. The sofa and I were one. All I saw was a big black blob in really bad lighting. Now I see it differently; after I silenced the Fat Talk. 

I was so upset by that photo. It was just a photo and really bad one.  Fat Talk can be a big fat liar. It only sees the negative and rarely makes exceptions.  I allowed the Fat Talk to chatter on for several days; whispering nasty comments about how just a few weeks of sedentary life had turned me into a real porker. I was so frustrated that I called my son and asked him to bring home a gallon of ice cream. I never eat ice cream! I took one spoonful and finally realized what was happening. Okay. That's a lie. I helped myself to a huge bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce and then I told the Fat Talk to shut the hell up! 

I come from a long history of Fat Talkers. It's in my blood. All my family ever talks about is how fat they are! One would think they'd be motivated to actually do something about it. Nope. They're still overweight and getting larger by the minute. It's a trap! I've learned how to turn off my own personal Fat Talk, but every once in awhile, it has the audacity to speak and when it does, it's never a good thing.  

I am not fat; far from it, but I love to eat so I absolutely must exercise to stay thin and fit. I recently broke my foot so I am in a bit of a panic because I can't really exercise right now.  Over the past several weeks I've been doing nothing but lying in bed with my foot elevated and reading, writing, and catching up on all those movies I finally have time to watch. Cooking is really difficult in this state, so I haven't been eating as much.  I've actually lost weight but Fat Talk refused to allow me to see it. 

Fact: If we keep engaging in Fat Talk; we will be fat! And we'll keep growing fatter! 

The reason I am sharing this is because I want you to see the big picture. I looked fat in a photo. Big deal. Name one person who hasn't looked fat in a picture at least once in their life time? I saw a rare photo of Betty Grable and her thighs looked really chunky. Betty Grable! The ultimate pin-up girl.  Her legs were so gorgeous they were insured for a million bucks. It was just a bad photo on a bad day. If she engaged in Fat Talk, she would've never posed for another photo.


The Pitfalls of Fat Talk:

I gave Fat Talk free reign for just a few days and what happened?  I served myself a bowl of ice cream. With chocolate sauce. Ice cream with chocolate sauce isn't bad.  It's perfectly fine but not when I am in that frame of mind. I was punishing myself.  I look fat, which means I must be fat, so let's get even fatter!   It's quite possible that if I hadn't silenced the Fat Talk, I would have eaten the entire gallon of ice cream. After that, who knows? A whole pie, a dozen brownies, bags of chips? You know what would've happened. Weight gain! Do you see the cycle of sabotage here?

Fat Talk. It's so dangerous. It will completely destroy all your efforts if you allow it to keep talking.

Shut it up! Fat Talk will only bring about a feeling of helplessness and you will be tempted to give up. The only way to silence it is to overcome each negative thought with something positive. That so-called fat photo of myself? My hair looked really good that day. See what I mean?

How we do silence the Fat Talk?  Here are a few suggestions:

1. You know all those catalogs and magazines filled with skinny, perfect, gorgeous models? Throw them away!  No one looks that good in real life and those pictures aren't real! They are airbrushed, photo-shopped, and taken by the best photographers in the world. You will never look like those models. NEVER!  If you feel fat after comparing yourself to those professionally made-up, size zero models in magazines, toss them in the trash. In fact, don't compare yourself to anyone. Fat Talk loves when you punish yourself for not looking like somebody else. You are you! Accept it.

2. Keep telling yourself what looks good instead of what doesn't.  You might not be able to strut around in a teeny, tiny bikini, but you can totally rock on the beach in a bikini top and a sexy sarong that hides the fact your thighs and butt are a bit too big. Focus on the good and go with it! Play up your assets and no one will notice the flaws. Trust me!

3.  Fat Talk is always negative, depressing and degrading. Would you speak to anyone that way? Would you allow anyone to speak to you in that manner? Would you really tell someone their butt was huge? I certainly hope not. You shouldn't talk to yourself that way, either. EVER. When the Fat Talk starts, silence it with something positive. You have wonderful, amazing assets, qualities, and talents. Overcome every negative thought about yourself with something good. It doesn't matter what it is.  Just do it!

4. Stop engaging in conversations about fat. Don't talk about it. Eliminate the word from your vocabulary. Try to shift to a different topic when your friends start talking about it. And don't joke it about it either. Have you ever noticed that some overweight people constantly joke about how fat they are? This is how they protect themselves. They're simply beating someone else to the punch. Don't do it.

5. Stop punishing yourself.  If you need to lose weight, lose it. The worst thing you can you do is emotionally beat yourself up for gaining weight. Fat Talk loves when you do that and it will lie to you. It will tell you how  lazy you are and that you're destined to be fat forever. Not true. There are always reasons why we gain weight: stress, boredom, menopause, poor eating habits, fatigue, depression, illness, medication.  These are just are a few causes of weight gain.  Get to the root of the problem and then heal it. Talk to a professional if you  cannot do it on your own. Join a support group. Start a healthy eating plan that is sensible and easy to follow. Avoid crash dieting, pills, and so-called miracle cures. If you slip up, that's okay. Forgive yourself and move on.