“I am fat. I am so fat.” How many times have you heard someone say “I am fat”?

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has said, “I am fat”.  No wait I changed my mind. Since I am making wishes what I really wish is that people stop saying “I am fat”. You are not fat! You are a person who has fat. You may even be a person who has more fat than you would like to have. You can even be a person who is unhappy with the amount of fat that you have. But you are not fat.

Let me put this another way. Do you walk around saying “I am an ingrown toenail”? “I am great haircut”.  No, you don’t. You would say I have an ingrown toenail. I got a great haircut. No one walks around saying they are the things they like or don’t like about themselves. People don’t call themselves names based how their body looks or how they feel about it. I know this is true because I have never met “I am saggy boobs” her friend “amazing eyes” or her husband “Too much back hair”.

So why is it so acceptable to say “I am fat”? Probably you never really stopped to think about that statement. If you believe as I do, that real change starts in our minds, then know that the way to move forward  is to start changing how we discuss our body fat. Stop saying “I am fat”.  Especially if you are saying it to apologize for being the weight you are.  If your weight is a source of negative feelings for you, then admit that and make changes.  However, don’t make a temporary condition of “fat” your identity.

Since we are making changes, we should stop saying “I am skinny” too. Being fat or skinny is not an identity any more than “I am migraine” or “I am grey hair”.  Remember, how much fat your body has is something that can be changed and altered. You are a person with many qualities, attributes, and even a few flaws. Talk about yourself and to yourself with respect.