Celebration

I finally figured out the pattern.  There is a trend on social media for when there is an event that involves food and celebrating - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Super Bowl (today!), we are presented with ways to combat it.

Here's the latest and it goes without saying, trigger warning:

 

This particular one, as opposed to the Halloween candy treat one, doesn't include food but given the color scheme, wording with "sweaty betties" and just the overall feel of it, of course it's targeted to women attending watching the Super Bowl, and American tradition surrounded by food and alcohol.

Because shame on you for just sitting there and watching the game.  Shame on you for sitting and eating while watching athletes in incredible shape compete for a trophy, glory and money - how dare you not live up to their stature and expectations?  Shame on you for using any excuse to get off your diet and exercise plan all in the name of fun.

Seriously, what is going on?

I'm used to knowing what it is like to stress out about these events, and I'm certainly used to using all my tools on the box to combat the calories, lack of working out or whatever else was going to derail my plan.  Hell, I've done them all, and seeing a picture above doesn't really surprise me.  Yes, I've done pushups and jumping rope during commercials, thank you very much.  A lot of good it did me.

Once again, these tactics are in the mainstream.  They are becoming normalized and the they are no longer my dirty little secret.  It's not good enough to attend a party, eat and bunch of food and not exercise it away.  That's just not how things are done nowadays, is it?  We've normalized bulimia, which is eradicating food eaten by means such as purging, exercise, drinking excessive water, etc.

You read that right - our society now just accepts good ol' bulimia as normal.

More than just the body and food issues associated with this, let's think about what it means to celebrate and why all of the sudden in our society this is seen as a shameful, negative thing.  Birthday cake is only justified if it's your birthday.  Super Bowl chicken wings are only justified if you're doing pushups on the breaks.  If we celebrate too much for whatever reason, we are gluttonous, selfish and definitely not in control of our bodies or emotions.

It's great to look at the photo above, and the one about the Halloween treats, and think to myself "how unimportant all this is!".  Most of us are not looking at these memes with the same thoughts though.  We're falling for it daily.

I want to celebrate.  I like my birthday being a big deal and the holidays full of decorations and merriment.  Being able to enjoy these things without the pushups and calorie counting allows me to celebrate anything wholeheartedly.  I don't need to punish myself while simultaneously celebrating because that's an oxymoron at its finest.  To quote my favorite band, I don't need "my angels and my demons at war*."


*lyrics from the song Double Agent by Neil Peart, Rush