Fat-Shaming Myself in Front of My Boys

The other day, as I walked into our living room to pick up some of the 250 toys that had been throw about that afternoon, my five-yearold looked at me and said “Look mom you should get that.” as he pointed to the television. When I realized it was some type of a weight-loss product commercial a lump formed in my throat.

“Honey, why would mommy need to get that?”

“Because it will help you lose fat and gain muscle. You know because you always say you feel fat.”

Suddenly that lump turned into a giant boulder. Instead of feeling fat I just felt like a big fat failure.

Before I could say anything else my husband chimed in from the kitchen, “Buddy mommy isn’t fat and it’s not nice to use that word when you describe someone.” Then I saw the look of confusion on my five-year-old’s face. After all he didn’t actually call me fat. He simply repeated the fact that I often call myself fat.

A wave of panic came over me. All this time I never thought about what my fat shaming or body issues could be doing to my children. Why? Why had I not considered that they may be soaking it in? Why had I not realized that they were listening to me? Why had I not noticed them in the room when I would say things like “Ugh if I don’t fit in a run soon I won’t fit in my pants.” Why had I not noticed them looking at me when I would ask my husband if the jeans I put on made my butt look big?

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I never thought about it because I have boys. I have often thought to myself that if I ever have a daughter I would really have to watch how much I complain about my body. The last thing I would want is for her to grow up with a warped body image. I never once thought about what it could be doing to my boys.

As a society we have become so used to constant chatter about diets, weight loss, good foods, bad foods, the best workouts for better butts, arms, legs, abs and on and on and on that it doesn’t seem anything but normal to us. BLEH!!! I dare you to turn on a news program in the morning and last a whole hour without hearing anything about diet tips, the best foods for weight loss, how to cut out sugar FOREVER, jeans that make you look skinnier, taller, richer, anything but bigger. Pull up Facebook at any given point in the day and try to avoid statuses about shakes, diet pills, powders, potions, new workouts, new workout gear, diets with no fat, diets with no carbs, no sugar, no solids, protein only diets, eating-protein-while-running-in-place-and-lifting-weights-above-your-head diets.

You can’t. You would have to actually look away not to read anything about these things in your newsfeed. Oh and you can just forget standing on line at the grocery store. Every single magazine has something about diet; get a butt like Celebrity A and legs like Celebrity B. Maybe you want your left toe to be just as skinny as Celebrity C in her last blockbuster. Learn the secrets to all of this and more!

Our kids are saturated by constant information about weight loss. CONSTANT! How do they stand a chance? We have become a society obsessed by what we eat, what we don’t eat and what we do in between eating. There are so many commercials all about weight-loss it’s absurd. The fat-loss industry has taken over, and I for, one am over it. I am over the fat talk. I am over using the word fat in my every day life.

I have boys. The last thing I want is for my boys to grow up with a mom who is constantly saying she feels fat. I run. I eat healthy and I should feel good about my body. I’m going to be 38 not 18. If I don’t embrace my body now I never will. I want my boys to know that there is so much more to a woman than her body. I do not want my boys to grow up calling people fat. I do not want my boys to be so superficial when it comes to picking a partner in life because I will never forgive myself.

I’m going to make an effort to talk about the positive instead of the negative. I’m going to set an example that I run because I enjoy it, which I do, rather than have them associate exercise as just a means to burn calories. I’m going to enjoy ice cream with them in the summer and pizza with them on a Friday. Oh, and on birthdays I’m going to have my cake and eat it too!

I’m going to allow my children to see me live life in moderation not in desperation. I’m going to start loving myself instead of constantly focusing on the negative. The phrase: “I feel fat” is officially banned from this house.

Before Jennifer had children being a stay-at-home mom sounded like a walk in the park. Now that she is doing it…it’s more like a run in the zoo (without cages for the animals). At the ripe ages of 5 and 2 her boys outsmart her and her husband on a daily basis, keeping them on their toes and laughing. You can read more about Jennifer and her family at Outsmarted Mommy. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.