fat – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Body Shaming

Me, Hiding My Fat

My gastroenterologist prescribed me a dietician for guidance doing the Low FODMAP’s diet to help with SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Normally, I would handle a diet plan myself, but I wanted to do it right, and every website seemed to differ on what low FODMAP’s meant. Also, I did not expect to wind up dealing with body shaming.

I made an appointment with a local dietician. It went terribly. Somewhat foolishly I made a follow-up appointment because I thought anyone could have a rough day. I didn’t want to judge someone based on one meeting. These are moments I look back on and get frustrated with myself. As I near forty, it’s time to learn that my time is valuable and I can usually trust my first impression. The woman was not having a difficult day; she is just not the right person to guide me in any direction.

Where Things Went Wrong

After listening to her story of Lyme disease and SIBO and how she saved herself, she put me on a scale and gave me the fat pinch test. I have not had a fat pinch test […]

Body ShamingMaggie Downie2019-07-10T17:01:21-04:00

Body Image of Young Girls

A few weeks ago I was swimming at the gym and a young girl (I’m guessing 8-years-old) stopped me and said, “If you want I can teach you how to swim so that you’ll actually lose weight.” After my initial embarrassment (because everyone in the pool heard), I laughed it off. I assumed that she thought I looked so awkward swimming that I was getting nothing out of it. And, I may be reading too much into it, but I think there is a valid discussion point here.

(Picture to left: Me, today with the body of someone an 8-year-old thinks should lose weight.)

I posted the comment on Facebook and told my classes about it. People had differing views but many were really upset. And it got me thinking about young girls and body image.

First of all, there is the good point that I wasn’t swimming to lose weight. I was training for a triathlon. And I swim because it’s good for my joints and keeps me running. Lots of people swim because they enjoy it. Losing weight is certainly not the […]

Body Image of Young GirlsMaggie Downie2017-10-25T15:49:51-04:00

Vilifying Food

My boyfriend, Matt, often laughs at me when I tell him what I’m eating is unhealthy. He thinks I’m a healthy eater. I think he is wrong. His perspective is skewed. He would happily eat pizza for every meal, every day. Granted, I almost never go for fast food and I don’t really like fried food, but carbs like pasta with sauce and cheese, pizza and chocolate are some of my favorite foods.

I’ll admit I’m pretty critical of what is healthy. If I make roast vegetables and put some shredded cheese on them I don’t think they are that healthy anymore. I tend to think only vegetables and grilled white meat is good for us. And even then there is a scale in my mind of which vegetables are the healthiest. For […]

Vilifying FoodMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:30-04:00

Waistline Measurement

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but quite frankly, I think you may probably already know what I’m about to write. New research reveals that belly fat can double the risk of death for patients with heart disease. It’s been known for years that belly fat is “worse” fat than extra weight put on in the hips and thighs. There seems to be an higher risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease for people with increased belly fat. But this recent research study was large (16,000 people) and it revealed a pretty significant figure—that belly fat can double your risk of death under the right circumstances (you have heart disease).

In an ideal world just reading that would inspire anyone at risk to try and lose weight, but I know it’s not that easy. Heck, I’ve been trying to lead a healthy lifestyle and get in the best shape of my life and it’s been slow going so far.

But if nothing else, if it doesn’t inspire you to lose weight or get in better health at least you can just make yourself aware. It’s a starting point. The research was done by the Mayo […]

Waistline MeasurementMaggie Downie2014-08-04T18:02:47-04:00