Kids,
One of you asked me today if you were fat….
Have I failed you?
It is the one question I don’t want you to ever want to ask.
I know my answer annoys you…
“You have fingernails – you are NOT fingernails.”
You will at parts of your life have body fat. Be it because you are hopelessly in love and eating happy meals out and gaining a few pounds. Be it because you have just had a baby. It may even be because life has been cruel and you seek solace in food.
But, do not let that number on the scales, that cuddle on your belly define you.
Please.
Don’t be the person who spends their life relating happiness to their jean size. If you say the words, ‘when I am slim, I will….’ I know I have gone wrong on this parenting path somehow.
Don’t waste your valuable words discussing fad diets, talking about losing a stone, gaining three.
Understand food is a balance.
Some foods will make you feel amazing, others will cause you to nod off mid afternoon.
Eat those that give you a fire in your belly in abundance, limit the ones that make you feel like crap.
But never let body fat stop you being happy. Because happiness is found in experiences not in scales and sizes.
I remember once being mortified when I jumped on a zip wire and the chap holding the release code yelled my weight into a walkie talkie so the whole crowd could hear.
I didn’t go on it next year – and regretted it for the whole of the summer.
Because I let a number stop me.
Don’t be me,
Don’t waste hours of your life queuing up for a stranger to weigh you, converting food to points, or syns. Don’t not eat avocado because it is full of fat – eat it because it will fill you with energy, and it tastes amazing.
Talk about life, experience it, taste it, lift heavy weights, exercise for fun not to be slim. Climb mountains, run marathons, enjoy everything, try it regardless of your size.
Because life is short to worry about having body fat. Channel those thoughts into being healthy – the rewards will be far more beneficial.
Be happy.
Mum