With thanks to Wade Meredith.

In a previous newsletter, we looked at Sizeism.  We received alot of responses and have decided to stand up against this awful discrimination.We need your help!  Please post a comment on our blog or send us an email and tell us your experiences with Sizeism.It is an insidious form of discrimination that actually prevents healthy body images and healthy weight maintenance.

What is Sizeism?

Sizeism: the great contributor to failure in weight loss,If you’re not happy, you can’t be healthy. . . Sourced from Wikipedia: Size discriminationor sizeism is a form of discrimination based upon the size of a person’s body. This type of discrimination can take a number of forms, ranging from refusing to hire someone because he or she is too short or too tall, to treating overweight and underweight individuals with disdain. In some regions, laws are in place to prohibit sizeism, but sizeist attitudes (such as “skinny people are underweight” and other such attitudes) are often ingrained in modern society. Sizeism can be based on height, weight or both, and so is often related to height and weight based discrimination but is not synonymous with either. Depending on where in the world one is and how one chooses to live his/her life, people may have a tendency to be especially tall, slender, short, or plump, and many societies have internalized attitudes about size. As a general rule, sizeist attitudes imply that someone believes that his or her size is superior to that of other people. Like other forms of discrimination, sizeism isn’t always explicit. It involves the perpetuation of stereotypes and attitudes which support those stereotypes, such as the idea that fat people are lazy, that fat people eat too much and don’t exercise enough, that tall people are good basketball players or that overweight people often contract diseases which render some jobs dangerous for themselves and others. Sizeist attitudes can also take the form of expressions of physical disgust when confronted with people of differing sizes. Sizeism, being a newly realized discriminatory belief, is usually observed by those who are sufferers. Any time someone makes a judgment about someone else on the basis of his or her size, such as not letting one be a marathon runner due to weight, this is an example of sizeism. When a decision is made not to hire someone because of size, this is also sizeist.

How does this apply to weight management?

Whether you are looking to gain weight, lose weight or maintain weight, the ideal of weight as accepted by the community should not influence your attempts. A healthy weight range should be desired by you and for you.A healthy weight range is one that allows for functional and sustainable strength, health and fitness. Should you be trying to aim for a specific weight range to suit or placate others, it will ultimately end in failure.   Before beginning a gym program, nutritional program or health program, first decide whether YOU are motivated intrinsically to do so. If your motivation is extrinsic (coming from others) re-evaluate your goals and beliefs. Success in your eyes is the only achievable success.