I want to make a plea to women everywhere and to especially
mothers. It’s time we step it up. I see
the repercussions of this issue almost daily in the field I’m in with my public
speaking and my books’ topics and I don’t think women get it and the damage
they do to their children without even knowing it.
I believe we do better when we know better so my hopes are
with this message that maybe just one mother will change her conversation and
influence her daughters and other women around her once she knows better.
To make my point I’m going to share three true situations
I’ve come across just in the last couple of weeks.
True Scenario #1:
At dinner, a teenager girl was scolded by her mother
as her mother observed the daughter’s plate of food, her mother said, “you will
never keep your figure if you keep eating that way.” Really? Does this mother think this comment
is helpful? First of all, make no mistake these type of statements sting and will
be moments this girl will never forget. The words might even feaster into an
eating disorder one day. Best case
scenario the teen has been taught that her appearance is very important to her
mother and that her size needs to stay under a specific weight to be acceptable
in her mother’s eyes. Next, the teen has been taught she now needs to hide the
amount of food she eats from her mother.
Most likely, the teen will now crave even more “forbidden” foods and eat
them in secret, creating an unhealthy relationship with food that she will
probably fight her entire life.
True Scenario #2:
A seven year old girl was offered nourishing
milk to go along with her meal, she replied. “no, I don’t want milk. My mom
told me it will make me fat.” Wow. I
was blown away when I heard this with my own ears! Firsts of all, that is
false. Statistics show people who drink
milk actually weigh less than those who don’t. And metabolically calcium aids
in weight lose because calcium stored in fat cells plays an important role in
breaking down fat, it also helps with the body's fat-burning.
True Scenario #3
This is actually an accumulation of events.
I have yet to attend any kind of party, shower, or any other gathering of women
where the conversation doesn’t end up being about diets and how they
“shouldn’t” have the refreshment. Really ladies? Are we not of deeper substance
and intellect than to not have anything else to say to each other besides what
our fitbit bands say or what our next diet strategy will be? Personally it
drives me crazy and I think it’s a poor example to the little listening ears around
us who are watching us, learning to emulate how they too will interact with
peers when they grow up. We need to step
it up. Hold ourselves to a higher
standard. Decide that we want a better world for our daughters and next
generation of girls. Teach them to value intrinsic characteristics. Let them
hear us discuss services projects, educational acclimates, spirituality, and the
building of each other up by complimenting each other on something besides each
other’s weight loss and appearances. I
know we can do better when we know better, please ladies let’s step it up.
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