The Sisterhood of Slow and Subtle Body Image Suicide

Act #165:  Stop the fat talk.

I am fortunate to always find myself in the company of close girlfriends who are diverse and beautiful in very different ways.  We spend much of our time supporting each other's aspirations and our multitudes of roles as professionals, mothers, and everyday feminists.  We uplift one another and no matter what the world, the media, men try to tell us about our self-worth,  we remain unfazed, strong, and defiant.  Our fierce and protective propensity to believe in each other leaves little room for us to not believe in ourselves.  In this sisterhood, we are our own biggest fans - non-paid accidental life coaches and motivational speakers, who can turn the most sweltering, oppressive day into a journey, a lesson, a teachable moment that only makes us stronger.  We celebrate our rich and unique paths and the different ways we contribute to the world.  Whether we've chosen to put our careers on the back burner in order to clean preschool snot and tend organic gardens.  Whether we serve as partners in downtown law firms.  Or whether we've found ourselves half way through our lives, still seeking to find that which feeds our souls.

Pause.  Rewind.  Hold up.

If we indeed have the power to nurture, support, and celebrate the beauty of our imperfections, the extraordinary nature of our differences, then why do we still talk to each other like this?

You look great, did you lose weight?

I'd kill to be as skinny as I was in college.

I need to stop stuffing my face.

I've got to get back on my diet.

I went down two dress sizes!

Bikini ready by our beach trip!

Did you see that woman's abs?

This cheesecake is gonna cost me an extra 30 minutes on the treadmill.

I'll never be able to get my fat-ass in these jeans.

Try this, it's fat free.

Only five more pounds to go!

Do you know how many calories are in that thing?

We are our own biggest supporters.....and our own worst enemies.   I say it's time we change things up.  Won't you commit to changing the way we see each other, the way we see ourselves, and how we shape our language towards each other?  I'm in no way suggesting that we stop supporting one another in leading balanced healthy lives, but maybe we can just stop obsessing so much...... about our eating........our work-out routines.......the number of calories we ingest.......our muffin tops, cellulite, underarm fat, our thighs that rub together, and whether we'll be bikini ready in time for summer. We all know, that as women, we are defined by way more than our current dress sizes.  Let's start treating each other like we believe this to be true.