Today I was angry. So angry I wanted to do something about it, so I am writing this. You see I was on a board where a colleague was attempting to sell his expertise. Apparently he thinks himself an expert on weight management. I don’t know him. I don’t know his track record. It may be that he has helped hundreds to shed the weight. What I do know is that he hurt me tremendously. In fact, what he wrote caused me physical pain.
Here is what he said that upset me so much, “Losing weight really is not that hard, just time consuming. People say it is hard because they are lazy and don’t want to get out there and be physically active. They want to take the easy way out and stay in the comfort of their home and diet.” I stared at the screen, blinked and felt myself go blind momentarily while I tried to wrap my head around the fact that anyone who wants to help people shed weight could believe such garbage.
Weight Discrimination Is Accepted
The problem is that this is not an uncommon view. Maybe others won’t say it in public, but watch their faces when a heavy person walks into the grocery store or a restaurant. I never worry what people will think about what I purchase, but a heavy person does. The overweight are also often accused of being stupid, significantly less conscientious, less agreeable, less extraverted or less emotionally stable. There is discrimination in the workforce as a result of these ignorant attitudes, in spite of the research that refutes it. The challenges of the obese individual wanting to become thinner are numerous: chronic pain, finding work out clothes that fit, intimidation at the gym, embarrassment, shortness of breath, knee and back problems, and the list goes on. Doctors are less likely to perform corrective surgery on the obese putting their health at risk.
The reasons for an individual’s weight gain are also personal. Whether genetics or childhood training or hormonal imbalance or emotional issues I have yet to meet the person who intentionally set out to be fat and unhealthy. I had an uncle who was so heavy he had to be weighed on a freight scale. He was not lazy, immoral, stupid or any of the other stereotypes. He was brilliant, successful, had played college football, was kind and considerate. It hurt to overhear negative things that people would whisper when they first saw him. I have loved many others who fight the battle of weight; they were/are lovable and wonderful people.
So, while I know that I can assist people in their journey to shed the pounds and achieve better health, I must do so without judgement. My job is to help them find their healthy selves, regardless of the number on the scale. Hypnosis can help an individual make the changes in diet and exercise as well as improve metabolism. Hypnosis is a great way to discover the emotional attachments to weight and change that way of thinking. When done with a nonjudgmental attitude hypnosis can also assist the individual in beginning to love and value themselves regardless of the nasty attitudes out there.
