28Jul

Wholistic chronicles – healthy body concept

The fat loving band wagon

Every day there seems to be another blog about equal love for the “big girls.” Being a bigger girl, I’m all for this. However, I am not all about the loving of the big gals if it means forsaking the health of the big gals.
Health comes in many shapes and sizes. We’ve all seen the pictures of how 160 pounds sits differently on different women. This is true. Frame size, muscle mass, and more all play a part in how one’s appearance takes form. But to truly get to a healthy place, it isn’t all about exalting the heavy girls. It’s not all about equal representation or blindly accepting body weight.

It’s so much more

I spent over twenty years fighting against my self. I always held the idea that I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, cute enough, yadda yadda yadda. In general, I felt that I was not enough. To be more exact, I felt that I would never be enough. Ideas such as these is what paves the road to self loathing, eating disorders, cutting and self mutilation, destructive habits like illicit drug use and the like. It takes more than “giving in and giving up,” as the saying goes. It’s not accepting the size and/or shape of your body. It takes finding those parts within yourself deserving of love, awe and celebration. That’s regardless of whether your are 105 pounds or 405 pounds. It took me over twenty years to find those things within myself.

You see, as I have told many people, every relationship encountered during one’s lifetime teaches one something he or she needs in order to “level up” in the game of life.

I may not be everything to everyone, but I am everything I need to be
I may not be everything to everyone, but I am everything I need to be

The people and situations I have encountered thus far in my life have taught me that I deserve better than I was allowing myself; that I am much stronger than I ever thought possible; and that my drive and determination is always there, burning, even when I think it has been completely dowsed by the rain of my frustrated tears.

Despite what any self-proclaimed “quackbuster” decides, I believe in the abilities of natural remedies can aid in the healthy balance of the mind, body and soul. For this installment, I will leave you with one such remedy to aid in the ability to deal with the speed-bumps of life.

Eleutherococcus senticosus

This herb is also known as Wucha and grows in northeast Asia, parts of Korea, Russia, China and Japan. It has many of the same properties of ginseng, hence why it has been referred to as Siberian Ginseng. However, US law now prohibits its marketing under this name, in order to avoid confusion.

This herb has been historically used as an adaptogenic herb. This means that it contains some chemical constituents which have been known to aid the body in coping and dealing with stress. This includes both physical, mental and emotional stresses. It is an essential tool in my kit to combat adrenal stress and fatigue. You can read more about it in my book, BURNT, and through many online sources, including the American Herbalists Guild.

Learning to love one’s self includes not only finding and honoring your inner self, but nourishing yourself. Nourishing yourself requires taking quality and sound food and medicines, for the body, mind and soul. Please, journey with me…..

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