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alicia sk  
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Hi Bekkle,
There are so many people with you here. I've found that reading all the positive messages throughout the SparkPeople site help me maintain "keep going forward" attitude. By surrounding ourselves with good thoughts and good people - we're on our way!
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Hi BEKKLE,
good luck to you as you work to reach your goals, accept yourself and make the changes needed to become "the best u can be".
duan
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CLYDERICHARD2
1/27/08 4:35 P
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Nice to meet you Tani!
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LIVINGWELL08
1/26/08 9:55 P
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Hello Everyone!
I have read all the messages up to my entry, and must say to you that I am very impressed, encouraged, and humbled at each one of your comments. I am going to add this message board to my whatever you call it. I want to "join" it. It is because of all of you. Thank you again. Your new friend, Tani
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TIGGERFIT2BTIED
1/24/08 3:22 P
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| While I am here to lose the fat...not accept it..I Do agree that we need to love and accept ourselves along the way. Fat is what I am - not who I am.
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| For me it's not fat acceptance so much as knowing that I'm a good person. That's probably the way it is for you too. I'm ready for health acceptance and a new body, so I can live longer and do more.
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CLYDERICHARD2
1/24/08 12:09 A
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Crownroyalle summed it up the best so far - I think this thread should speak most to Fat Acceptance on a personal level. It's all about learning to accept ourselves as we are, be that fat or skinny, tall or short...
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CROWNROYALLE
1/23/08 8:27 P
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| Yep, I totally agree. I felt better about myself when I started to exercise regularly even when I hadn't lost any weight yet. Then slowly but surely I added on more healthy habits. It is a process and a lifestyle. You have to be happy enough with yourself the way you are in order to realize that you aren't perfect and you could do a few things here and there to be a healthier human being.
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CLYDERICHARD2
1/22/08 7:29 P
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| I love the quote in your sig, Trainof4!
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AMEN! I completely agree with fat acceptance, self-worth, and self-confidence. Losing weight and getting healthy are about more than just fitting into a society's pre-described notion of what is attractive.
My biggest reason for losing weight and getting fit has a lot to do with what my weight is doing to my body.
I remember having an incredible jazzercise instructor, when I was thin & fit, who was a "big woman." She could dance circles around me! then again, I remember being at my thinnest & chugging some water down when a car full of guys my age drove by shouting "Hey! Keep drinkin that water, you'll lose weight!" Ouch! That STILL hurts, one day I'll let go of that, until then - I've got my friends at SP!
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| We can accept ourselves for sure, but I really appreciate the commradory of the goal to lose
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| Hey BRESSA30 welcome to Sparkpeople!!! Everybody on here is so supportive. If you ever need anything post away and you'll get a response.
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| hi looking for new support friends
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| We need to accept ourselves for who we are but at the same time if we get overweight we need to take care of ourselves because there are so many health problems associated with being overweight or obese. I would rather prevent any of that before it becomes a reality. I'm so happy that I'm taking steps now to prevent any of that from happening since I am currently in the obese category but that is going to change!!!
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Bekkle,
I am right there with you. It is so hard from a downtrodden place to find the motivation to feel empowered to make change. I think those who have never been truly obese can comprehend the self loathing and the real prejudice people of size can experience.
We are all worthy at any size and from that positive place change is much more likely. You go girl!
Alicia in WA
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MOMOF3RNMT
1/15/08 9:03 P
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Good for you, Rachel!! I'm also a nurse (for 22 years now), and I wish I'd done something at your age to prevent being where I'm at now. At your age, I weighed about 160. I got married at 24 and have slowly but steadily gained all my life, and now here I am, 45 years old and well over 100 pounds overweight. I don't have any major health problems yet, thank goodness, but if I had found something like SP then, I have to wonder what kind of health I'd be enjoying now. Of course, I think things often happen only when you are ready for them. Good luck to you, and I'm so glad you've realized the importance of your own health at such a young age.
As to the original post, I agree that acceptance in terms of self love and self worth is important. I love SparkPeople's emphasis on improving health through improving lifestyle - I don't feel like I'm dieting or putting myself through some horrid bootcamp-type exercise regimen, I feel like I'm learning to take better care of myself.
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RACHAEL517
1/13/08 11:59 A
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I agree that we must all accept ourselves, but you also have to have the power to not accept yourself for the way you are. You have to realize that a change is needed and that you're not going to settle for being fat/overweight anymore.
Another part is to do it for the health benefits. I'm a nurse and you'd think that since I went to college and learned all about "health" that I'd be a poster-child for good health, but that's not the case. I'm in the overweight category for BMI and I've finally come to realize that I'm only 23 and if I keep on the way I was going and continued the same eating habits, I'd have some real problems by the time I was 40. So I finally stepped up and decided that my body is important and I am not going to accept being overweight anymore.
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CLYDERICHARD2
1/13/08 10:39 A
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| That's the best part of this whole SparkPeople concept, IMHO - it stresses from the beginning the all-important fact that each one of us is valuable and worthy of bettering ourselves, without defining for us what "better" is except in terms of health and personal satisfaction.
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OASIS_IMPACT
1/13/08 9:26 A
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I would agree that we should all begin to love ourselves and realize our worth, but I believe that our worth doesn't come from the size of our clothes. I also don't believe that because we are worthwhile that that means we are healthy. Being overweight greatly increases the chances of many diseases, and puts a strain on our bodies. This DOESN'T mean that if you're overweight you should be treated differantly from anyone else.
Bettering self-esteem is ALWAYS a worthwhile cause, regardless of where we are at in our journey. All the best of luck to everyone! Keep moving...we'll get there!
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I think there's a lot of truth to what you said. For instance, you're not going to exercise if you feel like everyone is just staring at you. I wouldn't say it's accepting the fat, as that would imply that you're not trying to loose it or get healthy anymore. Rather it's learning to accept yourself "wart and all", or in our case fat and all.
The reason I make the distinction is that in my family (where there is a very high rate of obesity) the idea that "I'm fat and I'll always be this way" is pretty common. And I wouldn't say that SP follows with that theme since it tries to help us improve.
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I'm not sure how many sparkers share my experience, but the only reason I was able to commit to my lifestyle change here at sparkpeople is because I had finally come to love and respect my own body, fat as it was/is.
There seems to be an undercurrent of fat acceptance here-- despite it being a "diet" website-- which is great. I know I've read at least a few articles that mention the fact that loving your body is the first step to becoming healthy. But I think I'd like to see it a lot more-- especially in Fast Break, where I think a lot of sparkers could use a boost in self-confidence and self-love.
I'm not sure how this could be implemented, but I know there could me more articles-- especially one cataloguing the basics of the fat acceptance movement (that one can be technically "overweight", according to the BMI chart, and still be healthy), that fat people can be sexy, that we are worthy of respect and love. People really need to be told this.
And the fact that this is a 'lifestyle change' website means that sparkpeople has a special responsibility to foster self-love throughout ALL stages of the program. Because the only way you'll ever treat your body well is if you love it, no matter what its size.
PLEEEEASE take this up!
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