Yesterday was World Obesity Day and Louise McSharry, who is always vocal on the subject, shared a powerful post to mark it.
The Radio DJ and mother-of-two wanted to post something around the day as she feels it’s usually when “the world gets together and tries to solve the problem of people like me.”
“Except, I’m not a problem. In fact, the more I learn and the more I think about it, the more I realise that my weight has actually never negatively impacted my life.”
The 37-year old revealed that she has had to deal with other people’s opinions about how she looks for her entire life; “What has negatively impacted my life is society’s attitude toward it.”
“People’s feelings about my body have been negatively impacting me since I was placed on my first diet at age six, and they have never stopped.”
“Their feelings about my body led to years of pointless yoyo dieting which, would you believe, is really bad for your health.”
Sadly, she continued by saying how what other people think and say about her body type often meant there were certain, joyful things like dancing that she didn’t do.
“Their feelings about my body and what it is and isn’t capable of meant I never tried out for the school dance team, even though I wanted to, because I had been taught that bodies like mine didn’t belong there.”
“It meant I stopped going on acting auditions because an agent told me I ‘better get my body together’ as she handed me a script at age sixteen.”
Louise also shared that it impacted her relationships too, but that she doesn’t let her body shape stop her from doing what she wants anymore.
“It meant I settled for substandard relationships with some shitty people because I had been taught that I’d be lucky if anyone was ever attracted to me.”
“I can dance. I can act. I am attractive. My body never stopped me. The attitudes did.”
Ending on a positive note, Louise shared that her attitude towards her body is so much healthier now; “This week I did yoga in a bra and leggings, something I would never have done ten years ago. Yoga is for thins, I would have thought, and my internalised fatphobia meant I was too disgusted by my body to be in any state of undress, even when totally alone.”
“Not anymore. I am not a disease. I am not a problem to be solved. There is no thin person inside me. I am LIVING. Right now.”
We think her words on this subject are so powerful and hopefully they can help others who may feel negatively about their bodies.
