This topic came to my mind as I was eating. Hence, the topic. And because I have come across umpteen situations where it's related to the topic.
I will be straightforward and move on to the contents.
Names will not be mentioned to protect the identity. The content is not intended to aim at anybody in particulars. I will only describe real life situations to give a better understanding of the subject. :)
1. Different metabolism rates.
I've seen really skinny & obese people. & I'm not gon' lie: I feel disgusted at first, then sad.
Anorexia & obesity could be passed down from the family, or that at birth the baby had unfortunately struck with the illness.
Despite this, it is really hard to be in the healthy weight.
I was underweight when I was in Primary School, up until Secondary 2.
When I was in school, I was being mocked as the 'skinny girl' and no matter how much I eat, I just couldn't gain weight.
It's not that I am starving myself or what, it is that my body has a high metabolism rate.
I was really depress about my weight, conscious about my appearance because my chest was flat & boys were calling me 'airport' or '飞机场'.
It was only Sec 3 I finally got into the 'acceptable weight' that was reflected in my report book. I was so darn happy.
I guess it's because I joined netball & that my love for food grew tremendously & I always head to McDonalds' everyday after school. Yes, even after training, I'll grab a double cheeseburger.
My point is, everybody's body is different.
People are being nasty by insulting such people online & in real. Just keep it to yourself if you really need to.
There was this lecturer who said 'I hate it when skinny actresses claim they are foodies lah'.
Um, s'cuse me? Do you mean that non-skinny celebrities are fit to be foodies/food gurus?
There's Gurmit Singh & Michelle Chia doing food programme.
I'll take it such people are jealous.
Who doesn't love food? There are people whose metabolism rates are crazy; their body burn fats fast. So no matter how much they consume, their body seems like it didn't change.
You can eat a lot, and get hungry 2-3 hours later (instead of the average 4 hours of digestion). Which brings me to my next point.
2. 'Why you eat so little?' & 'why you eat so much?'
People think the 1st question is not as hurtful as the 2nd one, but truth is, the level is the same.
I've witnessed my classmate asked my friend 'why you eat so little huh??', and she just gave a bitter smile because how the hell is she gonna answer that question?
There are people who cannot take in the average amount of food, and there are people who can take in more than the average portion.
There are people who can go on a day with only 1 or 2 meals, and there are people who have to take snacks/breaks periodically throughout the day.
You can't blame them. You might argue with me & say stuff like 'but they can control'. I hope you know this takes time & effort (with a little patience).
You think they don't wanna gain weight? You think they don't want to lose weight? Okay perhaps they are happy with their body right now, but we have no rights to comment on what they are eating.
I personally had experienced 1st hand. I had a plate of mixed vegetable rice, and after that I had a piece of bread. I had breakfast (2 buns) in the morning. During the tutorial, a lecturer dropped by and brought cookies with her. She told the class whoever wants the cookie can take it.
Hearing that, I jumped up & lay my hands on the beautifully baked cookie. & so this classmate (the same classmate who commented on my friend) said 'wah you ate a plate of rice & bread, still eat cookie??'
Erm, I didn't know I can't have anymore food after having those food? I eat as & when I like.
It really fumes me on the inside that people expect people to eat a certain amount of food.
Having said that, I am guilty that I have done the similar thing to a social friend (meaning we are not friend-friend but friends on social media platform). She was having buffet in the afternoon & supper at night. The picture she posted was dishes of food laid on the table. Knowing she always talk about how she loves food & talks about eating, I replied to the photo 'wah you really eat a lot ah!' to which she replied 'no lah sharing with my friends!'
That was years ago, and I want to take this change to apologise if I have hurt you at that point of time!
Sorry Siwen!
It seems like I am hypocrite because I contradict what I've said, but I reflect my actions & thought about it long to write this post.
3. Society
I think this plays a major part of what has become of our girls.
They want to look beautiful, sure, who doesn't? But they want to look beautiful IN THE EYES OF SOCIETY.
Show you some pictures.
 |
| Source |
 |
| Source |
 |
| Source |
This picture leaves a mark on all girls' mind, thinking that hipbones, thigh gaps, collarbones & flat stomach are signs that you are society-acceptable-skinny.
They got disappointed when they cannot see their hip bones or their thigh touches.
Then they let the picture get into their head, and not eat as much as they do in hope of shedding some fats.
& if you don't have all 4, you are not pretty.
Who defines what is pretty?
No one is perfect, okay. Probably there's nothing you can do about have collarbones, but for flat stomach you can do some core workout. For thighs you can do some running. For hips you can do running as well.
Girls are so obsess with the perfect image the society have crafted for them.
Be happy with your body! If you're not, do something about it! Except, of course, starving yourself.
4. Diet
Ahh.. this word.
Where do I begin... I'll just start with my personal experience.
One day I had Korean BBQ buffet with my close girlfriend & her sister. I was thrilled because it was my 1st time having KBBQ. As much as I love food, I have, since long before the meal, limit myself the amount of fatty food I will consume.
So it's not about being skinny to me anymore, it's about being healthy. And by being healthy, I mean not go overweight.
So I had my usual portion of chicken, beef, pork and side dishes. Then when I think I should stop stuffing oily food down my throat, I stopped.
When my friend ask me what's wrong, I said I don't wanna eat so much.
I think they thought I was in a diet even when I'm at acceptable weight.
At that point of time I was speechless that I don't know how to arrange my words to explain to them, in the end I ate a few more pieces to be like them.
Another reason is because the meats were really filling & my stomach gets bloated easily.
When a healthy weight person says she/he is going on a diet, it means he/she is having a clean diet. Healthy eating, not that the person is eating lesser than usual. Just cutting down on the deep-fried food, sweets, etc.
When an overweight person says he/she is going on a diet, it means he/she is cutting down the carbs intake to lose weight, to becoming healthy.
The key word here is 'healthy'.
People gives nasty stares & judgmental faces when they hear a thin girl go 'oh I'm on a diet'.
Depending on the context, people are always quick to make assumptions.
A fit person goes on a diet because he/she has been working out and follows a strict clean diet for his/her body.
I hope people realise this.
Sometimes, people say 'why are you so sensitive?' Why is it that the problem lies in us being sensitive, & not people like you who are being insensitive?
We eat what we like, how often we like.
Some people can control their body size, some can't.
I hope after reading this you will not give a shit about what people thinks about you.
When they give up delicious (maybe unhealthy too) food in order to not gain weight, they are giving up the best things in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment