Happy Monday, everyone! And Happy Easter Monday, to those who celebrate!
This year, being where I am in my life, I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing about the past. I’m the kind of person who, every so often, will stop and think, ‘What was I doing this time last year? What has changed? What has occurred in my life to take me from where I was then, to where I am now?’
While partaking in this thinking exercise, I was actually reminded of a time last year when I met up with some people I hadn’t seen in a while – I remember being intrigued to find out how seeing those you used to cross paths with every day can really highlight the changes that have taken place since your last encounter.
Obviously, a lot can happen in the space of so many months, and I think it's somewhat natural for people to make comments on change after not seeing someone for a while. But I was actually quite taken aback by some of the things people said to me.
By this point, I had struggled for about a year with the concept of eating disorder recovery and what that meant for me, and since I'd last seen these people I'd found myself at both surprising new highs, and (more often) horrific new lows. And, amazingly, more than one of the comments I received from them was centered on my weight and physical appearance.
At that point in time, I was still very much in the middle of everything. Even now, although I’m better with things than I was previously, I still struggle at times. My weight fluctuates along with my mental stability, and just because I'm far more open about it now doesn't mean that I'm not affected by what people say to me.
I think, however, that comments like this really do stem – almost completely unconsciously – from a sort of social conditioning that remains prevalent in society; this being the odd preoccupation that people have with weight, diet, and appearance.
Personally, I just think that people shouldn’t comment on the weight of others. Whether changes in weight are due to lifestyle or illness, whether caused by something physical or psychological, by aim or by chance, it is not the place of anyone to make comment on someone else's body. Such words can have a far deeper impact than ever intended. And, from my experience anyway, these impacts are rarely positive, regardless of the intention.
*edited repost from original website