Saludos!!! Welcome back to my blog! This entry is going to be a lil different from my previous entries; I do feel that it’s probably the most important and most relevant thus far. So please if you have not invited a sister, a friend, a co- worker do so and encourage them to invite a sister, an auntie, a niece!
As the Academy Awards approach this weekend you can’t help but hear the name Gabourey Sidibe. For most of us we can’t help but be extremely proud of this young lady, I mean she beat the odds. A black collage student, with no formal acting training, walks into an open casting call, gets the lead role and blows everyone’s mind with her Precious Jones performance. Do I say she beat the odds because she is a NYC collage student? No………. Because she’s black? Not at all!........... Because she came to an open call without formal training? Eh, partly but mainly because Gabby is a “plus –size” to some, “heavy set” to a few, “over weight” to most and “fat” to the insensitive, woman.
This young lady who has a larger than life personality beat the odds in
I am proud that Gobourey, who is my same age, went into a situation where the odds were against her and came out victorious. I am proud that this young woman speaks with class and great diction. I am elated that even though she doesn’t look like most of the women in her industry, she doesn’t seem insecure. I love that fact that she says time and time again that she loves who she is. What I am not so proud of, elated or even in love with is, parading that she is happy with her size. I think it gives off the wrong message. That wrong message is: It’s alright to be over weight as long as you love yourself. Before ‘yall start blessin me out about how we should all love how God made us, or how dare I say something like that because I’m a big girl myself, hear me out. I am totally for us loving ourselves the way God made us. I’m all for you being your own #1 fan and I absolutely get that, we are not all supposed to be 120 lbs, which is the main reason I started the SistahtoSistah blog in the first place. We come in all shapes, sizes, heights and weight. So the reason I am against the celebration of “I’m over weight and I’m proud” movement is because it can be dangerous. This entry is NOT about Gabourey Sidibe. I don’t know what her health is or her weight, I just used her as an example. This is not meant to be insulting to anyone but to share awareness and my opinion.
Being over weight may lead to type2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, they find that 42% of breast and colon cancer are found in over weight individuals. High blood pressure and close to half of all gall bladder surgery is also related to being over weight. By no means am I saying that all over weight people have or are in jeopardy of poor health. There are plenty of “more to love” and “big boned” woman who are healthier than a lot of thin people. I’m just not sure how many of them are 350lbs. There is a difference between heavy and healthy and heavy and unhealthy.
A lot of times we try to get in shape or tone down because we don’t like how we look. I’m guilty of that myself, but how you look isn’t enough. I say it’s not enough because this past summer I was at my highest weight, a whopping 218lbs (5’2) and I “hated” how I looked. But because I have a cute face with pretty eyes, a beautiful smile, an awesome “rack”, I’m pretty smart and I have a great personality. How I thought I looked didn’t matter because men were still attracted to me.
It wasn’t until I walked up a hill that I walked up for years and not only did I get winded but my chest started to hurt, after a week of this I knew that I had to take action. In January I decided not lose weight or get sexy but to get healthy. According to www.healthdiscovery.net I should weigh 110-148lbs, I was about 100lbs over weight.
I want you to love yourself the way your are but I also want you to love yourself enough to do what’s right. I loved myself when I was 218lbs, I love myself now at 190lbs and when I get healthier I’m going to love myself a lot longer. I have a client who asked have I ever met a fat old person, I couldn’t answer her……….. Have you met many people over 75yrs who are over weight?
Please take everything that I said out of love.
Lift a sister up instead of bringing her down. Muah!
