You are not your body..

Well, you are your body, and being too fat/skinny/short/tall/hairy is inconvenient. However, the appearance of your body is probably not the source of your problems. You are not lonely because you are fat. You do not have a crappy job because of your lack of abz. A 500 lb squat will not erase the mistakes you've made in life, and 'swole gunz' do not make you a better person.

Don't get me wrong, exercise builds confidence, and feeling physically able can help you feel more capable in the rest of your life, but your problems will not disappear as your gut disappears. This is the real reason why a lot of people are fat: it gives them a reason for their problems. No one likes me because I'm fat. My job sucks because I'm fat. Everything would be great if only I wasn't fat. It's just not true. Often these folks get their diet and exercise nailed down, but once they lose weight their problems are still staring at them still unresolved, and they have nothing left to hide behind. This leads to depression, and gaining it all back.

This is one of the few things that the folks at 'the Biggest Loser' get right. Your fat is not your problems, your problems will not go away just because you are no longer fat. Fix your problems AND drop the fat.

If this guy can be happy then you can be happy. You are not your body. Don't be so vain. No one cares, just get out there and do stuff that you want to do. Walk, run, jump, throw things. Eat good food, food that tastes like food not weird processed crap. Once you get started, then build momentum. Develop a lifestyle. Be a 'fit person' and let that look like whatever it's going to look like. Get your life in order. Get a better job if that's what you need. Make some friends that DO things (sitting at a bar/in front of a t.v./rock) is not doing.. that's sitting. You know what your problems are, you know what hard work needs to be done, so get started.. you can quit tomorrow, just do what you need to do today.

Once you have that in line, once you are a person who takes care of his problems and DOES stuff, then you can take some time to modify your appearance. Add some muscle, drop some bodyfat as a vanity project. The same way you would go shopping and buy a pair of shoes that make you look good, or get fitted for a nice suit. This is not a self defining "life changing experience" you're just dropping a few lbs. Add some weight training and learn to heft some heavy sh!t. It doesn't make you a better person.. it may teach you something about the person you are, but that's not the same thing.

No one thinks more about fitness than I do, but we're not 'saving lives.' People save themselves, they just need to learn that they have control. This is YOUR life.

This is why I have a real problem with the "Fat Acceptance" movement. It singles out "Fat" as a body type that needs to be accepted. That is external: you have to accept me. That type of thinking is completely dis-empowering, and utterly meaningless unless you accept it yourself.

It should be the "body acceptance" movement. To hell with what is acceptable to other people! This is your body. It bears the scars and bruises of the life you have lived. It functions in keeping you alive (temporarily) and that's all it does accept it. Enjoy it. Use it to do things. See what it can do, because eventually all it will do is push up daisies. Moping about because it's too fat/ugly/flabby/hairy is garbage and a waste. Starving yourself and cardioing yourself to Olsen twins-esque proportions will not make you happy. You will still have to accept that your body looks/works/functions how it does, and any changes are simply cosmetic.
Good article on MSNBC. Got me thinking.

Mahalo.