I want to start this post by just saying that I am not writing this to offend or hurt anyone, I am literally just making a point on something that I feel quite strongly about.
I have never known what it's like to be "fat" or over weight.
Yes you are reading this either in the same position or shaking your head saying "Well lucky you".
Being judged for my size has been a huge deal since birth!
Fat Shaming is a huge NO NO and we all know that, Weight is something that no person should be judged about. What about Skinny Shaming? Is that okay? Well No, No its not.
From experience I have learned that this is actually a huge issue.
As I mentioned before, I have struggled with being underweight for a very long time. I am not an unhealthy weight but I am not what I should be. As a child I was always tiny, I would hear my relatives saying to my parents "God Kayleigh eats nothing" or "Why does Kayleigh take so long to eat her dinner, she's such a slow eater." My relatives didn't realise that I was aware of what they were saying as I listened to everything as a child and was mature before my time. I was a slow eater because my body was small so my belly would fill up quite quickly and I would take my time so I wasn't making myself feel sick. I was never a fussy child I did & still do eat most foods besides a yukky sprout or a bit of turnip. I was quite lucky to be introduced to world wide foods from a young age so fussy was not something that would describe me. People just could not understand that wolfing my dinner down was not an option, they didn't understand that my body worked in its own way, that everyones metabolism is different, my metabolism being ridiculously fast.
Comments such as "There's more meat on a butchers pencil" or "Sure Your only a skinny little thing" are all looked upon as acceptable to say.
Turn the page over...
It is so frowned upon to call someone fat or overweight. If I were to say to someone "You could lose a few pounds" or "Sure you're a bit fat" that would be completely out of order.
Now I know you are reading this thinking wow this girl should watch what she's saying. Yes I am skating on thin ice but just think for a moment how you would describe someone who is a small, thin frame; Words like Skinny, Boney, Sick, Anorexic or Twig would probably come to mind. Society sees these words as acceptable. But yet Fat, Chunky, Obese, Hefty or Large would be all the last things you would call someone who has a few extra pounds on.
To me the word Skinny is offensive but of course people will laugh and roll their eyes because of course I'm so lucky to be Skinny.
Most of you know I am currently training in the Fit Factory and slowly gaining weight which is super tough. I didn't realise how much work I actually have to put in from drinking protein shakes to constantly eating and thats tough as I have to eat more than what I already stuff my belly with.
People will laugh and say "You don't need to go to the gym" but there we go again, You don't need to go to the gym because you're skinny, but imagine me telling someone overweight that they should go to the gym? I think that would be a bitter pill to swallow.
Society has taught us that no matter what size you are you will probably never be the perfect person, you are either too fat, too skinny, too muscly, too tall, too small and the list goes on and on.
So to finish off on my very open topic I just want you all to know that Its not ok to "Skinny Shame" a person just like its not ok to "Fat Shame" a person.
I hope you can all see where I am coming from with this post. I wanted to write this for a while but could never come up with the right words to write down.
At the end of the day everyone should be comfortable with their own bodies and everyone around them should be able to accept that.
"Place your value as a person above your size, shape or weight, Your dress size is no more important than your shoe size", - Julie Parker.
Much Love,
Kayleigh. xx
