Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Are We Thin? Are We Beautiful? Column for the weeks of January 12-26, 2003

archives |

printer-friendly version

The number one American New Year’s resolution is not to quit smoking, be more patient, or smile more often. As they say on Family Feud, “The survey says.......TO LOSE WEIGHT!” We are a nation obsessed with food. Then after we eat it we are obsessed with getting rid of the results. The media is froth with ideas to help us gain weight, then to take it off; then put it on and then take it off. It’s called the “yo-yo” effect. Magazine covers list in bold letters what you can find inside: “Deserts to Die For!” Then on the same cover it says, “Being Overweight Can Kill You! 10 Guaranteed Ways to Take Off Unwanted Pounds!” Is there a mixed message here or what?

Unfortunately, our obsession with wanting to lose weight has little to do with becoming a healthier person. Rather, it’s our desire to get into that sexy bathing suit. Our self-esteem is wrapped up in our outward appearance. And since we are incapable of thinking for ourselves, the media helps us by telling us what is attractive and what isn’t. In the 40’s, 50’s, and early 60’s women like Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell set the standard. Then Twiggy entered the scene and the “beautiful” people just kept getting thinner and thinner. Now the thinner you are, the more beautiful you are supposed to feel. By today’s standards Marilyn and Jane would be considered fat, not curvy or voluptuous. Oops! I said the “f” word. Fat, fat, fat! I personally am not fat. I’m big boned!

When my daughter went to college she tried out for the cheer leading squad. The coach said she would have made it but she was too overweight. At the time she was 5’10” tall and a size 10-12. She was so depressed that she promptly went out and gained 40 pounds. Then she decided she would lose it all plus more, so she could try out again the next year. And so she did. A year passed and as she sat in the gym waiting for her group to cheer a light bulb went off in her head. She said to herself, “These are not my standards or values!” She then got up and walked out! Praise God! I wonder just how many young lives that coach screwed up at that “Christian” college. She certainly didn’t do my spiritual life much good because I had to resist the urge to bop her up the side of the head. Of course, I could have just sat on her. Remember, I am big boned!

I’m not saying we should never lose weight but we would fair better if our goal was better health, not trying to attain someone else’s idea of perfection. If you want to lose weight try these diets on for size: the Body Type diet, the Blood Type Diet, the Low Protein Diet, the High Protein Diet, the High Carbohydrate Diet, the Low Carbohydrate Diet, the Hollywood Diet, the Scarsdale Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Help Yourself Diet, the Mayo Clinic Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Hard Boiled Egg Diet, the Lemon Juice Diet, the American Heart Association Diet, the Special K Diet, the Detox Diet, the Sugar Busters Diet, the Zone Diet, the Ketogenic Diet, the Vegetarian Diet, the Stress Diet, the Metobolic Diet, the Food and Mood Diet, the Fat Fallacy Diet, the G.I. Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and Judy Sanger. The list is endless. We know, don’t we? We’ve tried them all. Are we thin, yet? Do we feel beautiful?

Weight problems are a rich nation’s luxury. While most countries worry about just having food to eat, we have money to overeat. We have money to spend on books and programs to help us take weight off. We also have psychological diseases like anorexia and bulimia. Are we thin, yet? Do we feel beautiful?

Losing weight is not a bad idea but it doesn’t change the essence of who you are. It doesn’t necessarily make you a more beautiful person. The truth is that God won’t love you any more or less depending on your size. He looks on the heart, not the outward appearance. (1 Samuel 16:7) We would be happier if we could learn to do the same.

©January 2003

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.