Plus Size Models are Not the Problem

"You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
-Lucille Ball

I try to avoid sounding preachy in my writing but I have some ideas that I'd like to put out there.  This blog isn't directly about fooding, so forgive me.  But in trying to become more informed and enthusiastic about my own health, I've been noticing some less than healthy messages being portrayed.

Part of being a vegan (or maybe just a socially-driven nineteen year old vegan) is searching the internet for other vegans and spending too much time paying attention to them.  I learn a lot, it helps me to feel less crazy for making these choices, and it gives me the confidence to continue my healthy lifestyle.  It has also forced me to observe the trends and tendencies of the health-food world on a broader level.

Today, for example, I watched this video.   Freelee the Banana Girl has a strong message and dedicates a lot of her time to helping people.  I've watched many of her videos, and even made her recipes; but I can't help but think she is contributing to unhealthy behavior by formatting her arguments in this way.

If Barbie was life size

Plus size models are not the problem and neither is "Plus Size Barbie."  Obesity, in fact, is not the problem either.  Let's all start thinking about the causes, not the symptoms.

I don't want to spend too much time discussing this particular video.  I want to talk to you about how you perceive your own and others' health.

I did not adopt a healthier diet to be skinnier.  I don't write this blog so that people can learn how to be skinnier.  This argument upsets me because I have always been my ideal weight, but I have very rarely been at my ideal level of health.  That's a little scary.  So instead, what I really want us all to achieve is reaching our healthiest, happiest states.

Between ethics, environmentalism, and health, being sexy does not need to be your reason to be vegan.  Being sexy is great, but we must refocus the discussion if we're going to solve these problems.

I encourage you to focus your life and your health goals on the causes: your relationship with food, your value of your own health, your understanding of "healthy" and your tolerance of unhealthy behavior, etc.  Try looking at videos like this, rather than those that focus on what you look like (side note, I want to be her when I grow up).  If you are in your healthiest state and doing everything you can to ensure you stay that way, you will eventually reach your ideal weight.  There is no need to objectify yourself or others to observe or display your level of health.

Freelee is not wrong here.  We have a big health problem.  But there are countless reasons to let your health become less than ideal.  Sometimes your health is not the most important thing to focus on; sometimes you are not the most important thing to focus on.  That's just how life goes.  So if you're looking to achieve health or weight goals, commit to the long haul.  Do what you have to do, but be willing to value your own health as a top priority whenever you can.  Take your health into your own hands and find out what makes up the most healthy lifestyle for you.  But continually allow yourself to be happy with what you've got going on.

I Like Food Just as Much as You Do.

Not many people reading my blog are vegans (yet), which is definitely okay and possibly ideal.  I didn't start this blog to communicate with people who had already made choices about their diet and lifestyle.  This blog is for smart, forward-thinking, openminded and attractive people like you.  From the beginning, I have hoped to provide people with honest, unbiased, and comprehensible information about how food can affect people's lives by means of experimentation.  For that reason, I want to make sure to write from the perspective of a human, not a vegan.

I used to look at people with strict diets and simply assume they didn't like food as much as I did.  So when I found out that my health problems were possibly caused by food, I was defiant.  The information was too varied, the instructions too vague, and the proposed changes too extreme.  If I was going to have to change my diet to stop having migraines, I was going to have migraines forever.

It wasn't all defiance; a large part of it was hopelessness.  When I looked at the influence food had on my life, it just didn't seem possible to alter.  Food wasn't about nutrition, it was about social interaction, culture, creativity, and entertainment.  I wasn't going to give all that up to get rid of some headaches.

Here's the good news: I didn't.  I still use food as a means of social interaction.  I continue to learn more about the culinary practices of different cultures.  Through vegan cooking, I am more creative with my food than ever, and I am definitely still entertained by food.  But I have gone through a huge transition.  My relationship with food has changed.

It didn't happen overnight, but it did require what some people would consider an extreme adjustment to my diet.  I started out reluctant, had a difficult time in the beginning, and then one day I realized that healthful behavior was making me really, really happy.  So what, specifically, am I doing differently that caused that change?

• I read ingredients:  I first had to do it to make sure that my food didn't contain animal products, but after the habit was formed, I started noticing a lot of other things.  I would read some things and find no animal products, but also no other ingredients that I recognized.  I would notice how some ingredients (like sodium or wheat and corn products) would sneak into food where I never would have expected it.  I used to read ingredients and either immediately decide not to care or care for a second and then get discouraged by the surplus of negative information.  But when you read the ingredients of everything you buy, you will find some things that are good for you, and the gnarly ingredients will start to be less and less appealing.
• I notice when I'm hungry and then I eat:  I wish that was an obvious thing to do but it's just not.  From the three-year-olds I babysit to my adult brothers, people spend too much of their time hungry and angry for no reason.  Ever heard of "hangry?" Let me tell you, it is a real thing.  Some people don't realize that a lack of food is causing them to be angry.  Some people intentionally limit their calories.  Some people don't realize how much they're supposed to eat.  I never told myself to stop eating, but I accidentally let myself go hungry a lot.  Now that I'm eating the right food, I notice being hungry and thirsty and I finally recognize the importance of changing that immediately.  I don't care how great your people skills are.  You're better at being a human after you've eaten.  Before you take a test: eat.  Before you go to an interview: eat.  Before you watch an ASPCA commercial: eat.  Before you argumentatively comment on this blog about how I used the wrong "your":  eat.  
• I don't eat for fun, I indulge:  I love food.  Sometimes food benefits me in ways separate from nutrition.  There are definitely some people out there who do not have this feeling about food, but I will never be one of them.  However, I'm not tied to these unhealthy foods.  I've had one pint of Soy Creamy Cherry Chocolate Chip ice cream in my freezer for weeks!  Eating foods like this is now a conscious decision to indulge, rather than an impulse to consume.  I have trouble writing about this because I never thought this would happen and I'm not really sure how it did, but I thought it was definitely something to take note of. 
• I am attracted to healthy things:  This is the big one, and the only way I can think to explain it is through example, so listen.  My hypothesis thus far is that my migraines are caused by dairy products.  This was an extra difficult pill to swallow because I used to drink around three glasses of milk a day.  Now when I look at a glass of milk, I see myself losing vision and vomiting and laying in bed under twelve blankets for the next three days.  And I don't want to drink it.  I changed my mind about milk through its relationship with my health.  It's not as fun to eat something when you know it's poison (like not the fun kind of poison).  This transcended into things that wouldn't cause me direct pain, but would increase my likelihood of health issues in the long term.  The important thing to note here is that it was a voluntary and conscious effort.  It is a decision I make every day to adjust my focus, when dealing with food, to the nutritional benefits, rather than the more superficial advantages.  I don't do it always, of course, but it has become a potent influence on my day to day choices.  

In the future, I can go into more detail about how I made all of this happen; for now, though, the most important thing to take away from this is that I never thought I would.  So if you're looking to change the way you eat, trust in your body and your mind's ability to adapt.  These changes have made me happier, healthier, prettier (I know, you didn't think it was possible), and given me more energy and motivation to continue with a healthier lifestyle.  Do your research, make realistic goals, and stick to them.  It will be easier than you think.