Why is it time to stop giving weight loss compliments?
We equate weight loss to fitness. And we have been doing this wrong since the first time we were exposed to the pre-set beauty standards. We started idolizing thin bodies and fair skin to be the representation of beauty and grace because the ones before us did the same. We simply did not try to understand that, what is outside is because of what we have within us–genetics.
In the race of beauty, we forgot to look at our health. We were so engrossed in looking at the mirror that we forgot to self examine the devastated inner bio-system.
Weight loss brings on fitness but it somewhere ignites the sense of mockery, comparison, looked down at, and being judged.
Why is weight loss compliment problematic?
"You lost weight!! You look good" This is problematic! A person's weight does not hold the good or evil side of the individual. With the exchange of this compliment, we are actively participating in the society’s attempt of idolizing a thin body.
There can be instances where a huge bodied person can be malnourished or a thin bodied person may be having several underlying medical conditions.
"I have known and worked with people who had cancer or another reason why their bodies were small. For them, compliments are very uncomfortable because they know they have this horrible illness, and yet people are complimenting them on this weight loss that they would give everything not to have," Joann Hendelman, the clinical director of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders told a leading health journal.
If you don't get that compliment, then it becomes, "There's something wrong with me. I'm not good enough," Hendelman also said.
Health is wealth
The old adage "health is wealth" is relevant till date.
Instead of pushing yourself to attain a set beauty standard, what one needs to focus on is being healthy.
Weight loss and gaining of weight is a regular occurrence in the human body given the circumstances we live in, the type of lifestyle we follow, the breaks and vacations we take, and also the indulgements and addictions we have on a daily basis.
Instead of gladly accepting a weight loss compliment one should understand why it is not a healthy thing to do.
One should understand the biological composition and the necessity to be healthy.
"If we could all accept that our bodies get us from this position to the next position and that it's not about the way our bodies look, but what's inside -- it's amazing how much our bodies can give us back. It's important to accept who we are and our uniqueness. We have to accept our genetics. The more we can accept our bodies, the healthier we are likely to be. Believe that our bodies know best," the expert adds
