My life with Lipedema & Lymphedema...destined to be fat.
I shared my journey to health in the pool during my FitBloggin’ 14 Ignite in Savannah, GA. This was my first FitBloggin’ conference but it will definitely not be my last. Forgive my rushing, the point of an Ignite is to give quick information within 5 minutes, I excel at talking fast, I fail at getting to the point of a story within 5 minutes. Overall, I shared my story, I raised some awareness about Lipedema and Lymphedema and I found an entire new community of support and friends.
I share my story of how I #LiveBold with Lipedema and Lymphedema and overcome weight stigma.
The story behind this photo fits well into the anti-stigma theme, because I experienced weight stigma just before it was taken. The photo was taken during a trip to the gym to get pictures of me doing various water exercises for my FitBloggin’ Ignite Fitness presentation. As soon as I stepped into the pool this woman motioned to me and began talking to me in Spanish, I thought perhaps she recognized me from water aerobics class but when she realized I did not speak Spanish she quickly switched to English and her intentions were made clear.
“My daughter is as big as you are and she goes to this clinic and has lost fifty pounds. They don’t make her workout, they just speed up her heart to help her lose weight.”
Well that sounds safe… Why the hell would you tell someone EXERCISING AT THE GYM about a clinic where they don’t make you exercise? Wait…why the HELL would you approach a stranger about their weight…at the gym no less?I’m not sure why I try to be nice in response to people who are so rude to me, but I tried to explain that I have Lipedema and Lymphedema and that I have a great medical team that monitors my overall health. No, she still continued. I explained that I no longer live in the area, that I was just visiting so going to a local clinic was not even an option for me. No, she still kept talking about it….I finally just walked away and continued my exercises and photo shoot.
She caught me again at the other end of the pool, she obviously noticed I was annoyed by the conversation so she attempted to suck up.
“You’re very beautiful and have a nice shape.”
Seriously? Yes, I know.
I know that I am fat AND that I am beautiful. I don’t need to be informed of either by a stranger.
I said “thank you”, but that’s not a compliment when it comes AFTER fat shaming. Her initial reaction to seeing me was to approach me about my weight, only after she saw that I was pissed off did she compliment me.
Back to the picture, my boyfriend said he wanted to get a creative picture half in and half out of the water. Upon reviewing the pictures I gave a sarcastic “thanks babe”. I joked about how “objects under the water may appear larger than actual size”, and I soon realized how very powerful the photo was and how it really captured the moment and my story. There is more to me and my story than what appears on the surface. The people who take the time to see past my surface appearance get the benefit of knowing me and my story, and in exchange I get to know them and their story.
We all have a story.
How do you #LiveBold? Share YOUR story of how you #LiveBold despite a health condition.
I had this revelation on the final morning of FitBloggin’ ….
No one tried to save me, or sell themselves to me.
For those who just met me at FitBloggin’ that is a GOOD thing. A very good thing. And a rather refreshing feeling as compared to what I typically experience at least once at other conferences. This is not a negative reflection on the other conferences I attend. I very much enjoy attending and support the work of the organizations. Sadly, it’s the few attendees who are fellow weight loss surgery patients who have good intentions but cannot seem to accept that I accept myself and my weight that put a slight damper on the overall experience.
This being my first FitBloggin’ and not having interacted with many attendees prior to the weekend I wasn’t sure how I would “fit” in at FibBloggin’. I had met my roommate, Nikki from Bariatric Foodie, at a conference last year and communicated often online. This was her third FitBloggin’ so I knew I would make connections via her. I also easily made connections on my own and found a very warm and welcoming group of new friends.
There were people at various stages of their journey, various levels of fitness, and of various types of fitness and nutrition regiments. The refreshing part was the sense that despite the differences everyone was comfortable with themselves at where they were and supporting each other in making changes they wanted.
The focus was fitness and health, not weight. People were focused on achieving goals as a priority and for those who also had a goal to lose weight, they weren’t waiting for some magic number on the scale to appear in order to consider themselves successful, or to achieve what they set out to accomplish.
My Diet Mt. Dew was not referred to as contraband and I was never asked “oh can you eat that?” I never felt as if what I was doing (being myself) was “bad” and the only time I explained myself or my weight was during my Ignite Fitness presentation, which the purpose was to spread awareness about Lipedema and Lymphedema. When I got off the stage after my Ignite, my Twitter feed blew up with comments from fellow attendees, it was an awesome warm and fuzzy moment.
Even more awesome was Roni mentioning the possibility of me leading a water aerobics class next year in Denver! Of course, that requires me achieving my current goal of becoming a certified water fitness instructor, already confirmed the hotel has a pool, last but not least…I have to make sure my graduation from graduate school doesn’t occur that same weekend!
Roni Selfie
I took the plunge and submitted a spark for the Fitbloggin’14 Ignite Fitness keynote event. The community voted for my spark so I’ll be sharing my story at Fitbloggin’14 in Savannah, GA in June.
Ignite Fitness is THE FitBloggin’ keynote event. Five minutes, 20 slides, a whole lot of fun…yes, I am limited to 5 mins. Think I can do it?
Weighing more than 500 lbs, I began my journey to health by walking laps in a pool. I progressed to water aerobics and learned that water fitness was actually one of the best exercises for my lipedema and lymphedema. While my physical abilities may be limited, fitting on gym equipment and mobility, in the pool I have freedom with my movements (foot at shoulder level) and the ability to adjust the intensity of my workouts. I have taken classes at many gyms, my favorite being with “Coach” as we called her, thick accent and “more faster” commands. My first day in her class, at a new gym she advised “do your best.” She obviously noticed this was not my first class, and in the midst of an exercise as I was daydreamingly making “rolling” moves with my arms she dropped down into a push up on the pool’s edge so she was in face and yelled. “Faster, faster, faster.” Whoa? What happened to “do your best?” She obviously noticed I was not doing my best, which was appreciated, and funny as heck. My journey to health has definitely been full of waves, and even a rip current, but I keep on splashing. I am healthy, and my lymphedema has amazing improvement.