_ It’s easy to submit to the fear, guilt, and abuse, and go on another diet. To believe that it’s our fault, that we’re doing it wrong, and that if only we had the secret knowledge, if only we were good enough, that our obedience and goodness would be rewarded, and we would be thin. It’s hard to develop insight and begin to see through the layers of lies and hypocrisy, even though the evidence is all around us. Even though we’ve done what we were told before, and it’s let us down time and time again. Even though we can see the truth, it’s easy to believe that the fault is our own. Because the manipulations are designed to exploit our fears. But what’s real? What you can see, and touch, or what you’ve been told? It’s hard to generate the will to stand up for ourselves, our bodies, and accept that we actually are okay just the way we are. That we are human, and our body does not need to be dominated. _ It’s hard to accept that the will to dominate ourselves might actually be a sign of weakness.
It’s hard to accept that one day, I’m going to die. Even if I’m good. And there’s nothing I can do to stop that. Fat acceptance comes down to the acceptance of mortality. No wonder it’s so hard, no wonder we feel the need to believe that it can be controlled, and no wonder we feel people are trying to rob us of our hope when they tell us we’re okay the way we are. Flawed as we are. Human as we are. That we don’t need to change, to make ourselves better somehow. Because the way I am – I’m mortal. How is that okay? Who’s into fat acceptance? Body acceptance? People who are sick of being lied to, of being deceived, of being rewarded and punished for the sake of... What exactly? It’s easy to live in fear that if we give ourselves permission to eat, to be hungry, to be satisfied, or simply to be, or if we give ourselves permission to rest, we will suddenly become fat. It’s easy to believe that although we aren’t getting any thinner, what little goodness we can muster is stopping us from getting fatter. It’s easy to believe that we can postpone death via obedience. That morality trumps mortality. It’s easy to believe that good things happen to good people, and one day you’ll be rewarded. It’s easy to believe that other people have conviction and knowledge on their side, it’s easy to believe that someone smarter, more educated, does actually understand physiology, and does have all the answers. It’s easy to believe fat is our fault; it’s easier to believe that we are failures, than it is to believe that the experts are charlatans. And it’s hard to walk our own path. It’s hard to trust ourselves. It’s hard to accept that all food prolongs life, and it’s hard to accept that more exercise is often a bad thing. It’s easier to tell people that we’re on a diet, than it is to say that we don’t diet. We’ve become so used to thinking we need to be made better, made thinner, made healthier, that nobody questions it any more. Now we question not being on a diet. But what’s more worthwhile? Think it's hard getting people to eat less? That’s easy. Try telling people they need to eat more. It’s hard to accept that we can judge, for ourselves, what’s best for us. It’s easy to fantasise that everything will be okay, as long as we do what we’re told. It’s what we’ve always been told. But I’m neither a dog, nor a child, so I don’t do obedience school. It’s easier to believe our body is our fault, to believe that we are wrong, broken, and the fitness gurus are right. But what’s more meaningful?
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