• • Body Politics

  Myth Two: Fat is Mental Illness

  April 25, 2011 • Shaunta Grimes

  Dr. Pattie Thomas wrote a book called Taking Up Space: How Eating Well and Exercising Regularly Changed My Life that is just really awesome. If you haven’t read it, it’s well worth checking out.

  The first chapter of the book has 10 fat myths. As I read them, I had so many ideas and thoughts and things I wanted to say about each one. I contacted Dr. Thomas and she said that it would be okay for me to use her list to talk about each of the myths here. So: welcome to a 10-week series.

  The second myth in her book is Fat is Mental Illness.

  * * *

  I’ve thought about this topic, this myth, and for some reason I struggled with it. It made me uncomfortable. And I finally realized the reason is because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the skill to write it in a way that didn’t sound like this:

  We may be fat, but at least we aren’t mentally ill.

  And that isn’t where I want to go. While it is a myth that being fat is a mental illness, that doesn’t mean that having a mental disability is somehow “worse” than being fat (or vice versa.) Or that you can’t be fat and have a mental disability at the same time.

  (more inside…)

• • Body Politics

  An Open Letter to Those Who Judge the Morality of Health

  April 21, 2011 • Shaunta Grimes

  Arwyn from Raising My Boychick has a post up now about whether or not people have a moral obligation to strive for health.

  It has occurred to me that when someone is in the firing line of hate-for-your-own-good, it can be really difficult to know what to say or how to make it stop.

  I thought I’d offer a response that you may feel free to use any time someone you love, or a perfect stranger, starts talking about what they see as your moral obligation to health.

  (more inside…)

• • Bibliothèque
  • Body Politics

  Myth One: Fat is Unhealthy

  April 18, 2011 • Shaunta Grimes

  Dr. Pattie Thomas wrote a book called Taking Up Space: How Eating Well and Exercising Regularly Changed My Life that is just really awesome.

  The first chapter of the book has 10 fat myths.

  As I read them, I had so many ideas and thoughts and things I wanted to say about each one. I contacted Dr. Thomas and she said that it would be okay for me to use her list to talk about each of the myths here. So—welcome to a 10-week series.

  Myth number one on Dr. Thomas’ list: Fat is unhealthy.

  (more inside…)

• • All About Shameless
  • Body Politics

  Meet Shaunta . . .

  April 11, 2011 • Shaunta Grimes

  When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s in a pretty severely messed up family there was one place where I reliably found peace.

  The swimming pool.

  Water made everything go away for a couple of hours every afternoon as I swam my laps and worked with my coach to get faster and stronger. It didn’t really matter that the rest of my world was falling apart. I was an athlete, and in that one place—underwater—I was safe.

  I realized one day, not too long ago, that I missed being an athlete. And, in the next breath, that I could be an athlete if I wanted to. There are really only two steps to being an athlete. I’ll tell you a secret: neither of them have anything to do with the size of my butt.

  All I had to do was 1) decide I wanted to be an athlete and 2) start training. The simple shift in paradigm from exercise as weight loss to exercise as training was incredible. And it changed everything.

  It’s taken me a long, long time to get back to a place where being athletic is safe again. I work everyday to defy the social myth that athletes are lean and young, and that if you are almost 40 and fat, the only reason to exercise is to lose weight.

  I’m passionate about sharing what I’m learning about athleticism with anyone who will listen. And I’m so pleased and honored to come on board at Shameless to write a weekly column about body acceptance and athleticism at every size.

  One of the first things I learned is that athleticism is for everyone. It does not belong to the able-bodied or the wealthy, anymore than it belongs to those who are slender or so-called “natural athletes.” It’s also not an obligation. Maybe you don’t want it. And that’s okay. But if you do want it, I’ll be here to encourage you to reach out and take it.

  My first articles will be a series based on a list of Fat Myths listed by Dr. Pattie Thomas in her wonderful book Taking Up Space.

  My very favorite part about blogging is hearing other voices. I am so looking forward to joining the Shameless conversation.

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