The Power of Words

I have used my weight loss success as speech material for a few contests now. It all began in 2010 when I did a speech entitled Crystal Ball [http://rozanayunos.multiply.com/journal/item/82/Crystal_Ball] for the International Speech Contest. For 2011, I also decided to do a speech in relation to my weight loss entitled The Brick Wall. [I will post it soon] My giant pair of size 20 wide leg pants which I purchased from the Petaluma Factory Outlet in California made a reappearance for this speech.

For the International Speech Contest, this was the furthest I had gone from Club, Area, Division and finally making it to the District Level to compete with my fellow Toastmasters from Sarawak and Indonesia. Apart from going through the ups and downs of preparing for the contest, there was one thing I was dead set on. Even if I didn't emerge as Champion and make my way to be in the semi-finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking; if I could inspire even at least 1 member of the audience to break through their brick walls, that would already make me a winner. It would be a gratifying experience to know that I was a part of their process to spark that change in their lives!

Not too long ago, I added Jocelyn as a Facebook friend whom I had only met at the Kuching Convention where I had competed. I recall in the car on the way to the airport, she had asked me about weight loss and I shared with her some snippets. Her Facebook posting on my wall (see attachment) just made me so grateful I had the opportunity to share my story and my message to the audience that day.

Never underestimate the power of words.
And never underestimate that you could be a source of inspiration.

Attachment: Toastmasters - The Power of Words.docx

"Am I Fat?" - by Dayna Macy

I really enjoyed reading this article.

It provides a perspective and an awareness. Now what choice will we make?

[http://www.healyourlife.com/author-dayna-macy/2011/06/lifeshelp/get-healthy/am-i-fat&utm_id=HYLFB]

Am I Fat?

Confessions of a food lover.

Published: June 10, 2011

By Dayna Macy

My ravenous relationship with food.

“Am I fat?”

I’ve never actually asked this question of another human being—until now.

I’m sitting in the office of Dr. Linda Bacon, a nutrition professor in the Biology Department at City College of San Francisco and author of Health at Every Size. I’m here because I embrace the message of her book: don’t wait to live your life, the perfect one you imagine you’ll live one day in your perfect body. Live it now.

“Yes.”

I want to make sure I’ve heard correctly. “You just said I’m fat, right?”

She nods and says again, “Yes.”

I’m silent. My hitherto unspoken weight hierarchy always began with thin, moved on to average, then on to chunky, then on to fat, and then finally obese. I have always put myself in the chunky category, or its kinder, gentler cousin—curvy. But never fat. Fat is another country, far away from where I live.

After a pause she asks, “What does that mean to you?”

“Well, what the f**k does that mean to you?” I counter.

She remains calm. “Fat, you know,” and here she grabs her nonexistent belly fat, “adipose tissue. Fat.”

That’s it? “All you mean by fat is ‘adipose tissue’?”

“Yes,” she says, “that’s all I mean. But I know it’s a loaded term,” she adds.

You might say that.

Dr. Bacon tells me that even though she’s using the word fat in the most clinical sense, the truth is, labels are always arbitrary. One person’s average is another person’s fat is another person’s curvy. So don’t get hung up on the labels.

“So tell me again what you mean by calling me fat?” I ask.

“What I’m saying is you have adipose tissue I might not see on a thinner person.” She pauses, and then adds, “And regardless of any of these labels, you radiate health and vibrancy. I think you’re gorgeous,” she concludes.

I have to hand it to her; in our culture, fat and gorgeous are seldom used together in the same sentence.

Maybe she’s using the word fat clinically, but it still stings. What’s more, she’s right. And I know it.

Couldn’t I just accept this? Be fat and be fine with it? It’s not that I yearn to look like a model. I’m heading toward 50 and I’ve had two children. I just know that at this point, for me, being fat doesn’t feel good. My fat shows up in lots of ways: when I walk up hills and have to take frequent rests, when I need to buy the next size pants because my current ones don’t close.

If I’m going to change, I need to see clearly. Dr. Bacon’s words may cut, but they’re helping me do that.

Excerpted from Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom by Dayna Macy. Copyright © 2011 (Hay House).

Dayna Macy’s essays have appeared in Self, Salon, Yoga Journal, and other publications; and in several anthologies. Website DaynaMacy.com