6 Situations Where Weight Loss May Not Make Sense – Even if You Think It Does December 12, 2019 by Judith Matz, Guest Writer Leave a Comment This post was originally published by EverydayFeminism under the title "6 Scenarios Where Intentionally Changing Your Weight Doesn't Make Sense -- Even If You Think It Does" and is republished here with permission. Content note: This article contains references to weight loss, dieting, and eating disorders. I met with a new specialist to talk about the osteoporosis I’ve … [Read more...]
Advice for Able-Bodied People: Not All of Us Can “Take a Walk” To Feel Better December 5, 2019 by E. Amato Leave a Comment Over the last few years, I don’t think I would have made it without the internet. When I think of my reduced blueprint for living, I know it was the internet that kept me from feeling completely isolated, frustrated, and stagnant. I still did feel plenty isolated, frustrated, and stagnant, just not completely that way. I would sometimes imagine how I’d get through a pain day … [Read more...]
“It’s Okay Not To Be Okay”: What I Learned From Sitting With My Grief November 1, 2019 by Aabye-Gayle Francis-Favilla Leave a Comment This article originally appeared in Write Away under the title "Weeping May Endure" and is reprinted here by permission. A friend of mine suffered a grave loss three years ago. When it happened, it stirred up something in me. I do not deny the beauty and compassion and generosity that course through our world, but there is also much malice and hardship and loss. We humans … [Read more...]
My Struggle To Love With the Lights on After a Lifetime of Fatphobic Abuse July 9, 2019 by Anonymous 1 Comment The first time I know that I am fat and that is bad is when I am ten. That is the year I become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. My mom says I asked to go on a diet. I don’t remember what precipitated this request, but I am sure she’s right. I weigh 135 pounds at the first weigh in. When I find that first weigh in card ten years and 150 pounds later, I cry. I was my adult … [Read more...]
5 Things I Discovered About My Body After Major Surgery September 6, 2018 by Gillian Brown Leave a Comment Let me start off by stating what the more polite among us would dub ‘the bleeding obvious’: 2017 did not start well. And although the horrific state of politics in both the United States and my resident country of Britain would be more than enough reason for me to make this claim, my reasons are also a little more personal. When the clock struck midnight on New … [Read more...]
Rejecting Perfectionism and Learning To Love My Scars August 5, 2018 by Aabye-Gayle Francis-Favilla Leave a Comment Even though I know no body is perfect — unblemished — it’s very difficult for me to come to terms with acquiring a new scar. The moment I start to feel the physical pain, I also begin berating myself for being careless — or wishing I could go back in time to not do the thing that will leave a permanent mark. In addition to being aesthetically unpalatable to me as a recovering … [Read more...]
The Cure for Cancer Isn’t Optimism August 3, 2018 by Samaa Abdurraqib Leave a Comment Optimism will not cure cancer. Optimism will not will not magically stop cells from dividing and reproducing. Optimism will not stop disease from spreading. Most of us know this on a cognitive level, but it doesn’t stop us from hoping that, in addition to medicine, our attitudes can help us cure ourselves. I am someone who, not that long ago, was walking around with a body … [Read more...]
When You Can’t Name What’s Wrong: 4 Ways to Love Yourself Through an Undiagnosed Illness May 10, 2018 by Gabe Moses Leave a Comment The other day, a friend of mine who has, like me, been making the rounds of doctors and navigating the choppy waters of diagnostic testing for several years, finally received a diagnosis. This was a happy moment. After the long struggle for her pain to be seen and understood, she was given a name and a treatment plan, and as her friend I was happy for her. But as a fellow sick … [Read more...]
The Amazing, Failing Body: Being a Trans Person with Kidney Disease May 10, 2016 by Cam Whitley, Guest Writer Leave a Comment From the time I was born, my body was a place of incongruity, contradiction, and confusion. As a transgender person our bodies are almost always enemies. These living vessels dictate how others perceive us, how we are treated, and what social and political structures we are given access to. In most cases, our trans bodies contradict who we feel to be internally I always … [Read more...]
