Why Cosmo Is Failing Women

Please do not confuse self-love with health.

We should all love ourselves exactly as we are! We all face bullies in this life - externally and/or internally. In today’s filtered and photoshopped world, people are harsh and can shame others for not having the perfect body. They judge others for being over or underweight. What is even more detrimental to our mental health is that we shame ourselves for how we feel and look.

Body shaming provides nothing of any value and is extremely unhealthy to both the person shaming and the person being shamed. We all have our stuff that we need to cope with. The coping mechanism may be healthy or it may not. No one "wants" to have health or weight issues. But, we do what we know to get through. It's like the majority of smokers - they know it is probably killing them. But, because the draw of it is so strong for those people that even knowing the detrimental health benefit, they still can’t quit!

The same goes for weight issues. Some people are fighting underlying health conditions, or a traumatic past, or any other myriad of issues. Don't judge them or yourself. Accept and love yourself for where you are and take small steps to get to where you want to be.

However, with all of that being said, let's also not lie to ourselves. When Cosmo runs the headline "This is Healthy", I can assure you the ladies in the pictures are not healthy at all. That's not a judgement about them, or whatever health issues they are struggling with. It's just a fact.

 

Carrying excess weight, especially excess belly fat is the furthest thing from health. In this country, we continue to get "bigger" - not just a little bit bigger, a LOT bigger. Obesity has tripled in the last 50 years. 4 out of every 10 people are now considered obese (and for the record, health issues due to excess belly fat start occurring well before we hit obese status). 

 

Life expectancy is dropping. Heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, and a myriad of other lifestyle induced illnesses and deaths are continuing to skyrocket. We can not continue down this path.

 

There's a reason why America has been one of the hardest hit nations with COVID - and it's not just from the poor handling from our government and health officials. It's because in general we are so unhealthy. Dozens of studies have shown that the sickest people have been those battling obesity.
 
In fact, one major study showed that overweight COVID patients were 113% more likely to end up in hospital, 74% more likely to end up in the ICU, and 48% more likely to die than those of healthy weight. 

 

It's because one of the primary pathways for COVID-19 to enter the body is through the ACE-2 receptors on the surface of the cells of our lungs, heart, kidney, liver, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, brain, and FAT cells. Fat cells actually have more ACE-2 receptors than lung cells and therefore appear more likely to be infected. Not to mention a decreased function in respiratory and immune function due to being obese and unhealthy already. 

 

So let's not normalize something just because it's common. Cosmo is simply good at marketing - they recognize that targeting the 40% of women who are currently obese is a great target market for sales.
 
Please love yourself for who you are and never let anyone tell you that you're not beautiful. But for the sake of your stakeholders - your spouse, kids, family and friends - please don't fall for the lie that obesity equals health. No one wants to live a life where they die younger and suffer older.

 
If you're struggling with weight issues, please reach out to us or any other amazing health focused doctors who can help you. And if you're worried that it's because of your genetics then let's talk - that thinking will keep you trapped forever. And that's a bigger lie than "obesity is beautiful!"