The Embarrassment of Obesity

I’ve traveled the world as an obese person.

Many, many airplanes.  A Russian train. An Indigenous boat in the Philippines. 

I’ve slept on the floor of a family’s yurt in Mongolia.  Walked the streets of Indian cities.  And been approached by many a Japanese tourist for a picture they want to take with a big American girl (basically three times the size of everyone else).

Yet the thought of walking across a stage…..to receive a nutrition degree….as an obese person.....is one of the most frightening things I’ve ever encountered.

Yesterday, I realized that I have not told many people that for the past 2 and half years I’ve been taking night classes to receive a Masters in Clinical Nutrition Intervention.  It was a way for me to build up knowledge so that I could help others with their weight loss goals - to be able to advise beyond what my personal experiences have been, with evidence-based information. 

The classes went by really fast – and I now have one final project to complete before receiving the degree.  But I’ve delayed it.  I froze in the realization that I had built up all this education to help others….but had not yet focused it in on myself.

It might take a little extra time, but when I walk across the stage, it won’t just be about obtaining a degree.  It will be about the confidence that I've built in both mind and body. Freedom from the embarrassment that I didn’t know I had, and how I chose to respond to it.

  

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Principle of Victor Frankl