Having been obese at one stage in my life, I know the emotional pain of feeling big and unacceptable. Our culture has indoctrinated most of us, particularly women, to believe that thinness and media-defined beauty will bring happiness, joy, and self-love. Unfortunately, there seems to be no limit to what we will do to achieve the beauty we think we don’t have and a figure that comes as close as possible to the desired shape.
It has come to my attention this week that the Food and Drug Administration recently approved two new body-shaping “devices” ~ removing “rims” and “pockets” of fat. These two medical procedures aim to remove excess fat from the body without the need for surgery or invasive methods. One technique “freezes” fat cells into “rims” or specific areas of stored fat, causing them to self-destruct over a period of several months. With his “CoolSculpting device,” a patient simply sits in a chair while a technician uses a tool that sucks a handful of fat into a paper bag-sized container that adheres firmly to the body and begins to cool the fat. Eventually, the fat freezes, causing the cells to die early and naturally, being reabsorbed into the body. Company founder Mitchell Levinson says the fat doesn’t come back.
The second technique is a procedure that does not kill fat cells. Rather, a low-energy laser device, called a Zerona laser, creates tiny pores in cell membranes that slowly leak fat content, deflating cells. According to Ryan Maloney, director of research for the manufacturer, Erchonia Corp., the cells are still viable and can secrete hormones important to health. The patient lies on a table while the device rotates around the waist, hips, and thighs. The procedure takes 20 minutes per side and is repeated three times a week for two weeks. Both procedures cost up to $3,000 for each “love tire” (or similar accumulation of fat cells) and a larger area of fat or “muffin top” may require two treatments. However, these methods are appropriate only for “inconspicuous” bulges, not for large areas of fat.
If you’ve read this far and aren’t deeply worried, you should be worried, more than worried. These companies and the people who pay thousands of dollars for these procedures are supporting a myth that is robbing thousands of people of self-acceptance and the joy of living: the myth of bodily perfection. We have been brainwashed by a sixty billion dollar a year diet industry that informs us, both consciously and unconsciously, that we will be what we desire: loved, longed for, accepted, admired, and most of all, satisfied and happy ~ if just lose weight and shape ourselves in another way. However, according to recent studies, no one is happier once they are slimmer or reshaped according to some external definition of cuteness. Furthermore, despite all that we are bombarded with regarding lifestyle change and weight loss, obesity is on the rise and is now reaching our youth with alarming statistics. Something is terribly wrong.
For most of my professional life, I have worked with women struggling with weight issues, self-esteem concerns, and body image distortions. In my own life, I have gained and lost over 1,900 pounds. I know intimately the desperate attempts to be slim and have a body that looks like the models on the covers of magazines. I have learned that dissatisfaction is not relieved by dieting or “sculpting” our bodies. Deep and lasting satisfaction with ourselves requires that we dismantle false information we tell ourselves or have been told by others that we now believe to be true. We must face ourselves with compassion, accept who we are, and trust in our worth and goodness. We must stop believing in the myth that “if I were different from what I am, I would be happy”. We must define our own truth and live with awareness, wise choice and self-acceptance.
Unfortunately, many women (and men) live their entire lives believing that they have to be thinner or more attractive in some way to be happy and fulfilled in life. Too often, this quest for perfection leads to a constant state of unhappiness and longing, and too often isolation, depression, and eating disorders are the results. To live in acceptance, joy, and freedom, we must let go of the “myth” and open ourselves to a truth that is much more liberating, realistic, and rich in possibilities: we are already lovable and whole, just as we are. We must let go of our attachments to weigh less or look different. Nowhere in the world is it true that the value of the human spirit depends on a number on a scale or a certain sculptured shape. Attempts to be thin or thinner take us further and further from the heart of the matter ~ and from what will bring true happiness: being in touch with our true nature and realizing that we don’t need to be fixed or improved to be whole, to be valuable, to be loved.
In addition to taking advantage of opportunities for personal acceptance and transformation of belief systems about the body and weight issues, shedding fat cells from the body may not be healthy in the long run. Fat cells serve a purpose and it is important to understand the role fat cells play in health and wellness. Briefly, fat cells are not just places that store excess calories. They also regulate growth, puberty, healing, fighting disease, and aging. Fat cells release over 100 hormones, two of which are leptin (which tells the brain to eat more or less) and adiponectin (which helps regulate metabolism). Healthy fat cells are attentive to the body’s needs, according to Michael D. Jensen, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. If fat cells don’t function properly, they don’t do their job of effectively storing or releasing fat (a process necessary for the body’s health). Instead, certain fat cells (called visceral fat cells) accumulate both in and around the heart and liver, releasing fat into the bloodstream and increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Another potential danger in newer fat removal techniques is that they don’t target visceral fat, but only subcutaneous fat (fat cells that accumulate under the skin around the hips, thighs, and lower abdomen). abdomen). If a person continues to consume more calories than they burn, it can actually speed up the process of accumulating harmful and life-threatening fat, leaving them perhaps more sculpted but at a very high price. Additionally, many experts are concerned that expelling fat from fat cells could increase the level of fat in the bloodstream, a toxic and dangerous situation. Also, the loss of fat cells could lower leptin levels and signal the brain to eat more. Although both companies, Zeltiq and Erchonia Corp., assure the public that their methods are safe, they also urge people to change their eating and exercise habits.
It seems that, ideally, subtle excess fat can be removed for a price, and if the patient is wise, they will also change their lifestyle habits to lose weight. This brings us back to the myth of body perfection and the apparent failure of most Americans to maintain a healthy weight and fitness level. Is it possible that there is something more at play here than fat cells and body shape? I think so.
We want to be slim and shapely because being slim is the currency of happiness and acceptance in our culture. However, this coin is a lie and most weight loss systems fail because they don’t make people happy in the end. Being a certain way doesn’t address emptiness or an unhappiness that is deeper than any diet, fat-freezing technique, or laser magic. Before any true or sustainable joy can be experienced, we must first accept ourselves and be grateful for the bodies we have. We should marvel at the extraordinary complexity and beauty of our bodily physiology and wisdom. We must take some time and listen to the whispers of our heart and soul. We must find the courage to face our deepest fears and strongest feelings without turning to food or fat loss for refuge. We must face our truth, our lies and realize that misery and suffering are based on wanting to be in a different place than where we are now. This includes our bodies. We must stop contributing to the tyranny and violence of forcing our bodies to be different than they are, according to some external standard.
If you are someone who is tempted to consider fat removal, I wonder if you would consider asking yourself: am I contributing a concern and dedication to perfection? Am I moving away from my feelings, leading to unhealthy eating habits? Do I want a quick fix ~ an overnight cure ~ robbing me of the opportunity to face my real problems and embrace my life with wisdom and mature choice? Am I avoiding the commitment and discipline necessary to establish a healthy lifestyle, thereby perpetuating the habit of avoidance? Am I setting an admirable and respectable example for the youth of our culture by paying thousands of dollars to fix what never broke ~ just needs a lifestyle change? Can I put this money to better use than freezing or laser-shooting the pockets of ‘junk me’?
I believe that when we welcome and accept the parts of ourselves that we most want to eliminate, we open ourselves to true freedom and happiness. Our lives can become vibrant and full of value and meaning. Facing our feelings, learning new ways to be with who we are and how we see ourselves opens us up to everything that life has to offer. Breaking free from an existence in accordance with an externally dictated and desired form expands our horizons and widens our entrance into life in full colour, vivid and satisfying. Walking away from the option of almost instantaneous body change is the opportunity of a lifetime to live deeply from a core of integrity and strength. From this foundation, we take a stand and participate in a change our culture desperately needs: a transformation from being a prisoner of wanting and seeking perfection ~ to being authentic, whole, and vibrantly alive, embracing all life with mindfulness, strength, faith. certainty and purpose.
“…don’t settle for stories, how others have fared. Unfold your own myth, without complicated explanations, so that everyone understands the passage: we have opened you.” ~Rumi.
