Today RunDisney revealed the new Wine & Dine medals on their Facebook page:
Photo from RunDisney, Facebook, Brian Gehrig
It’s so exciting to think that in less than 80 days, my little family will get all 3 of these! I can’t wait to show Oliver tonight. My little runner is going to be very excited. 🙂
Check out that speed!
I’ve got a handful of things that I found interesting this week that I thought I’d share, with a lot of body image theming.
First up, I love that Melissa McCarthy is taking on the whole concept of plus size clothing. It’s so frustrating how difficult it is to find clothing you want to wear when you’re over a size 12 or so, and yet that’s where a huge chunk of the buying public lives! It makes no sense. Good for her for speaking up! I’m very tempted to buy something from her line to support the whole concept (even though I don’t really need new clothes right now!).
Carla is half the fabulous #WYCWYC duo I’ve told you’ve guys about before and recently posted something on her personal blog that I’ve been thinking about for DAYS on skinny shaming. It’s amazing when anything sticks in this scattered mom brain for that long. 🙂 Her post reflects a frequent conversation I see online, whenever someone talks about fat shaming or body confidence or similar topics – amidst the many overweight women chiming in with their experiences are a handful of thinner women commenting and complaining about their own experiences with comments about their size. I absolutely agree that we shouldn’t really be commenting on other people’s size at all – it has very little to do with who they are and you can’t tell anything substantive about someone just by looking at their body type. So yes, commenting on someone’s body because they’re thin is no more fair than commenting on someone because they’re overweight. It can be harmful, particularly for those with body dysmorphia or eating disorders. However, if I’m being honest, that’s really intellectual agreement and not the same level of empathy I have for fat shaming because having been on the receiving of both comments (not that I’m remotely skinny), the fat shaming hurt more for me. My personal experiences just make the fat shaming resonate more, so I was really curious to read Carla’s thoughts as someone who has experienced it from the “skinny” side of the coin. It’s an interesting conversation – be sure to check out the comments – and brings up some thoughts on privilege and the line between shaming and discrimination that have rolled around in my mind for a while now. I wish we could all focus on the positive things our bodies DO rather than what we look like, but since we don’t live in that perfect world, is there a difference between skinny and fat shaming? Does the one side positively or negatively impact the other? I think it’s an important conversation to have and wish I’d been in that room at Fitbloggin’ to hear how that panel discussion went.
For a look at the positive things our bodies can do, check out Kelly’s 10 Things I Love About Finally Losing the Weight post. Don’t wait until you’ve lost weight to celebrate these things about yourself! Taking notice of things along the way that you can do now or how you feel now that you’re making positive changes in your life, whether you’ve lost all of the weight you want to lose or any weight at all can be so empowering and motivating. Most of the things on Kelly’s list are things you can probably see in yourself right now, no matter where you are, if you take the time to notice. Celebrate the fact that you started! Notice how much better you feel already! Don’t wait until your “after” to make this list for yourself.
One last thing you should check out: Shelley, at My Journey to Fit, is one of my favorite voices because she’s always so honest and open about what her decisions in weight maintenance look like. She doesn’t seem to let it consume her, and yet there are clearly lots of small decisions you make to keep on the right path. She talks about some of those decisions here and I particularly like the idea of limiting things like french fries to a certain number of occasions rather than saying you’ll take just one (because really, when is it ever “just one”?). Definitely check it out (and also this week’s Friday Mishmash, which gave me lots of laughs as a former Texan who would get frustrated by the fall things showing up in catalogs this time of year!)
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Tonight, we’re taking O to a high school football scrimmage – it’ll be his first game! Darrell and I also have plans this weekend to do one of those locked-room-escape things on date night. Here’s hoping we make it out!
A Little More Each Day 
I completely agree about commenting on size. Whether it’s skinny shaming or fat shaming, it’s wrong. You have no right to comment on someone else’s size. It’s a personal thing and people of all sizes have their own struggles.
We never what personal filters people hear things through so it’s better just to not say anything. It’s amazing how absolutely unnecessary those comments are when you think about it. Why would you even think you needed to say anything at all?
I hate when people call me skinny. I work hard to be strong and fit, and to me skinny is not a compliment. When I say this, people who struggle with the other end of the spectrum look at me like I”m nuts, but it is what it is. Just don’t comment on body size. Do what I do, and tell someone, “you look great!”
I thought about you when I read that post. 🙂 Skinny definitely doesn’t have a pleasant connotation and more importantly, is beyond the point. You do kick ass things – that’s what matters.
I try so hard never to comment on mine or anyone’s size or shape in front of my children. I don’t want my daughter to grow up obsessed with it the way I am. I’ve been comparing myself to others for a lifetime and it’s awful! It’s a hard thing to break.
It really amazing how easily it slips out without us realizing how it affects people, especially our kids.
I’m flagging all these links to read. Thanks!
Hope you had a good weekend!