Summary

The website content discusses the author's journey from a weight-centric to a health-centric approach to life, realizing that weight loss is a byproduct of healthy living rather than the primary goal.

Abstract

The author shares a personal narrative about the shift in perspective from equating health with weight loss to understanding that health encompasses much more. Initially, the author fell into the trap of societal pressures to be thin, which led to unhealthy behaviors like severe calorie restriction and over-exercising. After experiencing negative health effects, the author began to focus on overall well-being, particularly during pregnancy and after experiencing a neck injury. By adopting a balanced diet and regular exercise, the author's health improved, and weight loss occurred as a secondary outcome. The author now views weight loss as just one of many indicators of health, alongside sleep quality, focus, balance, and mobility.

Opinions

The author criticizes the societal obsession with thinness and the idea that one's health is directly correlated with body weight.
The pursuit of weight loss through extreme measures can lead to negative health consequences, such as hair loss and weakness.
Health improvements, including weight loss, can be achieved by focusing on nutritious eating and exercise for the sake of overall well-being, not just to meet societal beauty standards.
The author emphasizes that weight loss should not be the primary motivator for healthy living; it is simply a "side effect" of making healthier choices.
Mental and physical health are presented as the true goals to strive for, rather than a specific body weight or size.

Weight Loss Is a Side Effect

The actual goal is health

Be thin. Lose weight. Is your body bikini ready? Does your stomach look flat? Are your thighs firm enough?

Those are the questions we are constantly asked. And, no matter the answer, it will never be enough. After all, we could always be thinner, right? And our bellies will never be perfect. And don’t even get me started on my thighs…

The objective is to be slim.

Yeah, I get it. I chased that goal for many years, and, of course, I never reached it. The goalposts kept moving around.

What’s health really about?

In our minds, weight loss and health are deeply associated. It seems we just cannot conceive one without the other. And yet, although there is a connection, it is not the one we typically envision.

For example, when I was around 16 years old, I decided I wanted to lose weight. I had always been a chubby girl, and people hadn’t had a problem saying it to my face, so I thought I would solve the issue by becoming thin. So, I drastically reduced the number of calories I ingested and started overtraining. In just a few months, I was in my “healthy” weight.

However, something else happened: I started to lose my hair. Wherever I went, I would find my strands here and there. I also felt weak, and my focus was greatly reduced. It was funny…people praised my weight loss, but they didn’t seem to notice how unhealthy I had become.

A few months into this “program,” I got scared and stopped everything. In just a few months, I was back to my original weight. As the years went by, I kept on adding more and more pounds.

I did not feel healthy.

I mean, for real?

Fast forward to my first pregnancy. I felt responsible for the life inside me, so I made an effort to eat healthier food. In a strange turn of events, I lost a bit of weight. Worried about the health of my baby, I consulted with my OB/GYN.

After some tests and an ultrasound, it was revealed my child was growing just fine, and we both were quite healthy. It turns out, I was eating so well I was losing weight. That was all.

I found it peculiar. Weight loss was the last thing on my mind; I just wanted to eat properly for the baby growing in my body. I was willing to do that for another person should have been very telling, but I wasn’t ready to process that information.

After my son was born, I breastfed him for about a year. I still wasn’t in my ideal BMI (Body Mass Index) but managed to keep it stable. However, once breastfeeding stopped, my weight started going up and up. Not only that, I started showing signs of insulin resistance. Since I have a strong family history of diabetes, that was worrisome.

Do we know?

My health kept on deteriorating: dark skin on my knees and the top of my feet, poor posture, and, eventually, a neck injury that completely disrupted my life.

I was in pain all the time. I kept popping pain killers into my mouth to try to pass the days. This was no way to live, so, in desperation, I made changes to my diet and started an exercise program. Losing weight was not my goal.

I just wanted to stop the agony.

Then, as my body got stronger, I noticed how my clothes fitted better. Curious, I went to a scale. Sure enough, I was losing weight. What a bizarre thing!

The Road to Wellness

I have been on this journey for almost three years now, experimenting here and there. I do my research and constantly improve my diet and exercise program to feel stronger. Healthier.

My fitness goals have kept on evolving.

Three years ago, the goal was to get my neck to stop hurting. Nowadays, I want to learn Judo and to be able to do a pull-up. Weight loss? Yeah, I do care about it a bit; still, it is just another piece of data to take into consideration when it comes to monitoring my well-being, along with my sleeping patterns, my ability to focus, my balance and mobility, and other important factors.

It is not the most important thing in the world. Now I can see it never was. It is one of the many “side effects” of my healthy choices. I appreciate it, but I will not let it be the one thing that powers me on the road to wellness.

In the end, my mental and physical health are the only goals that truly matter.