Starting tomorrow, many collages across the country will be participating in Fat Talk Free Week (read about it on one of my very favorite self-image/make other feel good movements Operation Beautiful …which is worthy of it’s own post, but for now …just go look into it and enjoy for yourself).  This event will make people aware of the mention of weight and the comments that make people question their body image. Even a comment such as “Wow, you look so good — have you lost weight?” can have a psychological effect.

For this campaign the message is, “friends don’t let friends fat-talk.”  The goal is to help girls understand that the ideal thinness that is supported by pop culture and the media should be rejected and a healthier more realistic lifestyle should be adopted.

This is the third annual Fat-Talk Free Week.  The program was started at Trinity University in San Antonio.   A professor of psychology thought of the idea and began to implement it at the school.  One of the exercises is to take off your clothes, stand in front of a mirror and only say things you like about yourself.  Hey, it can be a lot more difficult than it sounds for some people.

According to Eric Stice, a psychologist at the Oregon Research Institute explained that as humans, we often connect our beliefs and our actions.  By helping women speak and act against the thin ideal creates an uncomfortable psychological state which in turn leads to a change in beliefs.  After two two-hour sessions of the reflections program a Rutgers University sorority decided to remove all of the scales in their house.  This shows that making healthy images for yourself can create healthy behavior.

Another participant from Vanderbilt University said that her and her roommate are working together to ban the “fat talk.” If she says that she NEEDS to go for a run, her roommate will correct her and say , “no, you WANT to go on a run.”

I think that this is a GREAT program since there are so many girls (and boys too) that suffer from eating disorders.  I don’t think this needs to be limited to colleges, though it’s a great organized place to start …and it’s easier to instill these beliefs in people when they’re younger.  We are all guilty of thinking in these negative unhealthy terms, it’s so habitual, it’s so much easier said than done to control.  I would like to make it a point to not accidentally bash myself or anyone else for body type.

I’ve been trying to be better about that for a long time.  I’m not really interested in standing in front of a mirror complimenting myself.  I can see how it would be beneficial, but I don’t need more than a mental reminder myself.  I’m all for positive thinking and talking with one another.  Again, if you grow up around images, self-deprecation (otherwise people mistake “confident in yourself” with “full of yourself”) and fat jokes being acceptable …it becomes a hard habit to break.  We’re so used to it, we don’t even realize how toxic that sort of talk is.  So let’s start with a week and strive to make it a habit for life!

I’m not in support of everyone walking around like unhealthy blobs, I just think people should live as healthy as they can and not feel so BADLY about not hitting a certain skinny standard.  There are much better things to think about in life than that.