“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it’s all over”.-Octavia Butler
I have recently started putting pictures on most of my posts, as I think they sometimes push the message across better and quicker, but I won’t for this article, I won’t because the subject I am going to discuss is super sensitive to women! *Although it should be to men too!* and they might just kill me and get me condemned to the village of the damned!
Women have become so up in arms about everything lately and I get it, I am a woman too and understand patriarchy has been abusing us and still persists to this day! Okay, so let me start by saying, I am overweight! I have gained about 30kgs over four years and for my height, that’s massive and detrimental *Discovery says I must weigh between 45 & 62kgs and I’m sitting at 90kg!* I have recently gotten the energy and oomph to start doing something about it and I understand, it’s a process! And it’s a hard, sometimes lonely road but it’s do-able!
So, why the beating around the bush? Well, I am scared of being vilified for speaking my opinion and sometimes, my opinions gets backed with facts! So, here goes: Why are we pussyfooting around fat people?*I can already see the sniggers and hear the swear words* We are pussyfooting so much that we lie and say they can pull off fashion styles such as shorty shorts! *For f-sakes can we get real?!* I am not trying to fat shame here and trust me, neither is it my intention to knock one’s self confidence but reality is, some people can’t wear certain things! It’s like a 100yr old woman trying to pull off a mini-skirt or an 80yr old man wearing skinny jeans! NOBODY WANTS TO SEE THAT!? *I don’t care what you say, nobody wants to see their granny’s bums hanging out* these politically correct lives that we have created are actually causing more damage than good! People waste years being overweight and damaging their health, than if we had supported them by being honest and maybe running with them! *Please recognise I feel horrible and ashamed of myself for writing this piece! The semi-feminist in me is rejecting it but somethings have to be said unfortunately* see, let me draw a picture here, when you are overweight when walking your thighs get chaffed, actually let me stay away from the picture!
Besides the aesthetics of being fat or overweight or whatever the correct term is nowadays, the real damage is the clogged arteries and your poor joints! You are susceptible to avoidable diseases such as Osteoarthritis, strokes, diabetes and high blood pressure! So, why are fat people being fed lies? That as long as you are happy, it doesn’t matter! So long as you feel good in your skin, it’s all that matters?! *Like really* How about “hey friend do you know at that weight you run the risk of getting a wear and tear disease?” 
My problem is, we like setting the bar too low, like the 34% pass rate we expect from matriculants, this feels like that also! We lie and wonder why people are not reaching their potential, we wonder why the sugar tax?! And in no way am I saying or advocating that people should now be patronising their friends or acting as the food police! Help in a constructive way asseblief! *unlike a ‘friend’ who had seen I had gained weight and said nothing when we first saw each other, later that day amongst her other friends she went “you are so fat! What happened? Like I gained weight bitch!?”* In 2014 WHO said 1 out of 3 South Africans were obese *code for: fat* but Africafactcheck said 1 in 4, making us the fattest nation in sub-Saharan Africa! Another study said (as reported in M&G, 2014) “South Africa has the highest overweight and obesity rate in sub-Saharan Africa: seven out of 10 women and four out of 10 men have significantly more body fat than what is deemed healthy, according to a ground breaking new study published in the medical journal, the Lancet” and apparently in this study, we were the “third fattest nation in the world” seriously South Africans! Seriously!
I am just saying, we have become too PC for our own good, people are not idiots when they workout to fit into those tiny shorts, so all I’m saying is if I want to fit into them too, I should put in the work too! I know I promised no pictures but these two just kinda relay the message so quickly!
Article By Nthabiseng Lucia Tselapedi (Blog: Theprofessionalyeahright)
