A post from Operation Beautiful

What is “Fat Talk”?

Fat Talk isn’t about being overweight. In fact, Fat Talk has nothing to do with your size at all.

Fat Talk is extremely triggering of unhealthy behaviors, whether the comments are consciously processed or not. Putting yourself down verbally creates reverse inertia in all aspects of your life. Instead of getting healthier, Fat Talk will motivate you to overeat, skip your workouts, and stay involved in toxic relationships. Additionally, even if you don’t ‘hear’ your own Fat Talk, your friends and family members will, and it harms them emotionally, spiritually, and physically as well. As Jillian Michaels said,"Fat talk is transcending…. It affects your reality and damages you professionally, personally, and physically."

How can we begin to stop Fat Talking?

• Consciously correct yourself if you Fat Talk. Replace those thoughts with something realistic and positive.
• Don’t compare your body to others.
• Appreciate your body for what it can do. If you feel down and are Fat Talking, try going for a walk and enjoy being outside.
• Turn a negative into a positive. Instead of "I’m stocky," try "I’m strong!"
• Never Fat Talk in front of your kids or friends.

What About Fat Talking to ourselves? Is it as bad if we don’t express it aloud?

Guilt is internal Fat Talk. It is shaming yourself for not meeting a perfectionist ideal that is unattainable and determined by the rigid standards our society has created! If you wouldn’t say it out loud to a friend, why would you say it to yourself?

Maybe right now you’re thinking: "But a little guilt can be a GOOD thing!" or "Guilt is a normal reaction to indulging!" But, if guilt was healthy or "normal," it would be PRODUCTIVE and it would make you HAPPY. Do you find yourself feeling guilty over food a lot? Well, then — you’re repeating the same actions over and over again, and clearly… Guilt isn’t productive, it doesn’t work, and it only serves to lower your self -esteem. Guilt is a waste of time and takes away from productive things you could be doing with your time — meditating, studying, sleeping, calling your friends on the phone, and more.

• You aren’t going to gain weight from one dessert.
• You aren’t a bad person for enjoying dinner.
• You aren’t weak because you were hungrier than normal.

How do you stop guilt? It’s so much harder to stop than Fat Talk — after all, we verbalize Fat Talk to others and it’s easier to "catch" ourselves in conversation. Guilt, on the other hand, is this weird, creeping feeling that takes over you, ruins your day, and triggers the blues. I would say I cut down on my guilt thinking by about 90%, which I consider to be a big accomplishment. I stopped guilting myself by really thinking about my eating in the grand scheme of life. Did that pizza make me gain weight? No. Did it actually hurt my health in any measurable way that I ate a bunch of French fries? No. Am I an awesome friend and hard worker who is so much more than the food she eats? Of course!

If there is something about your lifestyle that you want to change, be proactive and CHANGE IT. Guilting yourself about it does not work. Taking action to move onwards and upwards does. Every setback is an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve.

Join me on the quest to eliminate Fat Talk in all its nasty and evil forms from our lives! Remember, it starts now… and it starts with you.