Body Shaming Doesn't 'Work'

A woman in excellent shape recently worked incredibly hard to become a body builder, and PIX 11 has the story.

To begin her fitness journey through time, Nathalia Teixeira filmed an honest video of herself discussing the various ways she was not content with parts of her body. In her YouTube video, there she was playing with excess padding and unveiling her accountable plan to lose weight and become a stronger more muscular version of herself to everyone.

Fast forward four years: she did it. As Chris Rock said about cornbread, “ain’t nothing wrong with that.” But the media, being consistently great at things that aren’t true, chose to cover this Rocky-style tale for the ages this way. PIX 11 headline: “Queens woman uses online fat shaming to reach fitness goals, become bodybuilder.” OMG she used “fat-shaming” for a good cause. What a genius way to turn lemons into lemonade.

It may not surprise you, but they are TOTALLY making it about shame. Even though we all know that it often really comes down to self-image when it comes to what gets people moving in a different direction whether it’s stopping or starting a weight loss regimen. Reading this, we thought she probably didn’t get stronger because she had a rollicking good time in the comments section where she likes to trawl around and play “who said the worst thing about me because I desperately need fitspo.”

Just because in her deeply confessional video she very openly highlighted what she wanted to change, call us CRAZY but that doesn’t mean body shaming was the wind beneath her wings as she crunched and pumped her way to become a competitive body builder. She simply said she wanted to make a change.

Unfortunately, this woman also endured a healthy dose of shame in the style of LOVE YOURSELF, YOU SHOULD EMBRACE YOUR CURVES after her changes. See? Women can’t win on the interwebs. Her bod = her decision to do whatever she wants with dumbbells. But oddly enough, in her interviews, she says nothing about how getting shamed or “shaming” herself that made her do it. The media needs to finally recognize that putting these ridic words in people’s mouths is wrong. Because shame rarely gets stuff done, and at least wait for your source to tell you “the shamers made me do it.” Present-day Nathalia looks powerful in her jaunty workout gear. So did Nathalia at her previous size.

Oh, and she recently she said this on the matter on social media. Body shaming didn’t help her — it had the opposite effect:

“I would like to just leave it perfectly clear that I DID NOT FAT SHAME MYSELF! Nor did I invite anyone to fat shame me! It’s so sad the media twisted my story! I recorded a moment that I decided to change and kept that as a key piece to keep reminding myself WHY I was not going to give up. I am completely and entirely AGAINST FAT SHAMING. I was fat shamed several times while I was obese and it DID NOT help me, it sunk me deeper! I always tell someone that wants to change and always gives up, to record or photograph their moment when they decide to change, and that moment you make yourself a whole bunch of promises and usually 2-3 days later your promise feels empty and not worth it. That’s when I suggest you go back into that recording and relive that moment to remind yourself you will NOT GIVE UP and fight for your health and well being. But remember this, fat shaming DOESN’T help anyone! It affects that person, or yourself, in a psychologically negative way and is beyond unhealthy.”

#repost Recebi esse email com essa pergunta:Eu só quero te perguntar uma coisa: você lembra o que aconteceu no seu interior, na sua cabeça, no dia em que você decidiu mudar de vida? Lembro… Foi um choque muito grande. Foi um desespero sem igual. Me olhei no espelho e vi uma pessoa irreconhecível. E não falo isso, por simples escolha de palavras não. Foi um sentimento surreal e terrível. Estava tão deformada pela gordura que não era mais a mesma pessoa. A obesidade estava tomando total controle da minha vida, da minha felicidade e da minha família. Lembro perfeitamente da noite que levei o choque. O choque de realidade foi tão forte que decidi gravar, porque sabia que naquela noite não era só “mais uma promessa em vão.” Era algo maior, algo que realmente mudou a minha vida. Queria registrar aquele momento, igual como fosse registrar qualquer outro momento marcante da minha vida. Lembro que fui dormir e não conseguia porque a barriga caia pros lados e aquilo me fazia chorar de nojo. Levantei, pensei e até falei no vídeo que “não tinha outro jeito, que se não mudasse eu só ia ficar maior e mais infeliz.” No final do vídeo suspirei (foi um alívio ter desabafado) tudo que sentia, falei naquele vídeo (em inglês) e falei “eu vou conseguir em Nome de Jesus, Amém.” ————————— I received this email with this question: “I just want to ask you one thing: do you remember what happened inside of you, in your mind the day you decided to change your life? My response; Yes, I remember … It was a big reality shock. It was a desperation I never felt before. I looked in the mirror and could not recognize the person I saw. And I do not say this by the simple choice of words it was the truth. It was a surreal and terrible feeling. I was so deformed by the fat that I was no longer the same person. Obesity was taking full control of my life, my happiness and my family. I remember perfectly that night (May 31, 2012) The reality shock was so strong that I decided to record it, because I knew that night was not just “one more promise I made to myself in vain.” It was something bigger something that really changed my life. Continue below

A photo posted by Nathalia Teixeira|Dr. Teixeira (@simplynathalia) on Jan 13, 2016 at 1:50pm PST

Ashley Hoffman