I am moved to call out some size-acceptance blog posts. In addition to these posts being highlightable in and of themselves, they also are related to the stuff Sas and I have been delving into lately. Bonus!
Mouthfeel’s Peggy Nature frames the body and dieting in a way that I think is very compassionate and insightful here.
Tantalizing tidbit:
[I]n my experience, treating my body like a machine has not ended well. Treating it like an expensive outfit designed to impress other people has not ended well. Treating it like an unruly child or pet who needs to be reckoned with and brought under submission has not ended well. And I’ve lived for long periods of time where it was as if my body and myself were no longer on speaking terms.
If you want to find out what does work, you gotta go check out her post. As a neat extra, she links body acceptance to Star Wars. Awesomeness!!!
Next, we have Welshwmn3 at A Day in the Fat Life talks about how fellow blogger Big Liberty helped her to better understand dieting as self-harm. (And, I just realized BigLiberty is not on my blog roll! Oh… that is so getting fixed as soon as I post this!)
Which brings to my mind that old cliche “no pain – no gain.” How many times did I have that idiotic phrase thrown at me. This “no pain – no gain” junk can translate into the mind that self-harm is a good thing… maybe even a self-loving thing. Linear thinking could stretch this out to the idea that the more pain – the more gain… so self-torture is somehow a good thing. This is how it all cropped up in my mind anyway.
While challenges can feel so satisfying and rewarding – real suffering is a sign that something harmful may be going on. The journey towards all kinds of goals can be enjoyable. In my experience, allowing some enjoyment in so that the journey is a more effective way to achieve goals.
–AngryGrayRainbows
Angry Gray Rainbows 
Thanks so much for your kind words. And that “no pain, no gain” thing has always stuck in my craw as so ridiculous. But it perfectly sums up the cultural attitude about how we should treat ourselves, and our bodies. I think it’s damaging and wrong — finding pleasure in caring for ourselves, and being compassionate for our limitations is not sinful — it’s kindness. I believe the Dalai Lama once said, “My religion is kindness.” I am inclined to agree.
Peggy,
You’re so welcome! You deserve those kind words!
The Dalai Lama is awesome. I also read a quote from him that the meaning of life was to be happy… how radical is that!!??
Fantastic post.
There is such a huge difference between a good hard workout and getting winded and comfortably tired from exercise, and the whole concept of “no pain, no gain”. I get so frustrated when people do not understand that it’s possible to be working on my fitness without driving myself into the ground or that I cannot possibly be learning to eat healthy and balanced if I even dare to LOOK at a tootsie roll. Blargh. Life was meant to feel GOOD!
Thanks, Amelia.
Re: your comment… you just took a lot of words right out of my mouth! LOL
I get frustrated of explaining to people that I don’t hurt myself when I exercise and that the focus for me is FUN… and that I also believe that life is meant to feel good – like you said! I remember reading a quote from the Dalai Lama that the meaning of life was for us to be happy. How different is that from the puritanical (and very popular in the US) idea that the flesh is fickle, emotions are fickle… and so we shouldn’t listen to them. We “should” bring them all to heel with cruelty even. Yeah… well… I lived that life and I find that I’m a much more productive and loving person if I’m happy, respected (especially by ME) and not driving myself crazy with these arbitrary guidelines that happiness is a sign that I must be doing something wrong or whatever…. It’s such a shame that so many people still buy into these unhelpful ideas of self-loathing.