Marilia Brocchetto Overcomes Her Illusions

Billboards, magazines, TV shows -- they all have one thing in common: They keep drilling into our heads that women must be thin, women must be fit. They are right. Moan and groan all you want, but what I've discovered over the last few years is that our bodies aren't made to hold 120 pounds of extra fat.

That is Marilia Brocchetto at CNN.com, in one of many great passages that describes the contradiction between the obesity "epidemic" and the complaints of many that the media propagates an unrealistic ideal.

How many times have you heard someone tell a thin girl that she should eat a sandwich? Or that human bodies shouldn't be all bones and skin and that "real women have curves?" That sounds to me less like "love whatever body you have" and more like, let's shame the thin/normal weight girls.

Brocchetto also brings a refreshing dose of personal responsibility to the body weight discussion. She writes, "It's tough being heavy. It's tougher to actually acknowledge that I've eaten myself into my weight." She says she likes food, "A lot. More than I'm willing to admit. You don't get to be 300 pounds by not liking food."

What apparently turned her around was a group of internet "bullies," whose comments suddenly started to resonate with her, not to the point that she felt bad about herself, but that she recognized the truth in what they were saying. That truth, I can only assume, related to the way she was talking herself into the idea that it's "okay" to be fat.

And it probably is "okay" to be fat, so long as we don't conflate the terms "okay" and "you will suffer no adverse biological or psychological consequences from your situation."

Marilia Brocchetto overcame her illusions and made a lasting life change. You can, too. Her article is interesting throughout. Make sure you read the whole thing.