Just Say No to the Doctor's Office Scale
By Sensuous Sadie
SensuousSadie@aol.com 
www.sensuoussadie.com 



When I was in elementary school, they lined us up in the gym each September and weighed us. Being a fat kid, I was as humiliated as could be. For one thing, other kids could see my weight on the big stand-up scale. Even worse, it was all everyone talked about that entire week: what you weighed, how it compared to last year, how it compared to everyone else in homeroom. Even then I knew that being overweight was considered a way bad thing, but I had no choice so I submitted to the tyranny of the school scale.

The good news is that horrible experiences like that may be part of your childhood, but they do not have to be a part of your adulthood. Some time ago when I was freed from my addiction to food through Overeaters Anonymous I realized that I did not want a scale anywhere in my house. It only encouraged our culture's neurosis about weight, not to mention my own neurosis about weight. It felt pretty darn good to throw my bathroom scale into the trash and I've never regretted it. It's easy to get obsessed with that number, and gaining or losing a pound can make the difference between a bad or a good day. I encourage you to toss your scale out and have one less negative influence in your day.

I happened to mention this to a friend who revealed to me that I also had a choice about being weighed when visiting the doctor's office, something which had never occurred to me! Most of us were brought up with a great respect for doctors, and few of us are aware that we have options when getting medical advice. I decided to test the theory on my next office visit. When they told me it was time to get weighed, I simply said "I prefer not to be weighed today." The nurse simply said "okay" and we moved on with my checkup. I was not fearful or belligerent about my choice, but rather I declined it like I might decline an undercoat of wax on my car, that is, without emotional investment. It was helpful to remind myself that I was paying them to serve my health, and I did not have to do anything I didn't want to. To my utter surprise and joy, I've had this same positive experience at every single doctor's office since.

There are several reasons why I advocate this approach. For fat people in particular, being weighed comes with a lot of emotional baggage, and the fear of being weighed can even become a disincentive to going to the doctor, even when you are very sick. Unfortunately weight is the last area where it is acceptable to criticize and make fun of people. To many, the fact that you are fat means that you are automatically unhealthy. Unfortunately, many medical professionals buy into this cultural stereotype and judge you first on your size and only secondarily on other factors.

In contrast, I believe that good health is based on many elements, including a balanced diet, exercise, stress level, heredity and many other factors, one of which is weight. I am a perfect example of this. At a size 24/26 I am undeniably a plus-sized babe. And yet, I am in excellent health. I eat well, work out, sleep plenty, and do stress reduction meditation. I am as energetic or more energetic than most people I know. I make sure that my doctor knows that I take good care of my body and many of them are surprised to discover that I work out more than they do. Without that line-in-the-sand number of the pounds I weigh, my doctor is forced to have a conversation with me about the state of my health rather than making assumptions. In all these years only a few doctors have even asked me about why I declined to be weighed, but they did it in a respectful way. Equally respectfully, I used this opening to initiate a discussion about what good health means.

It wasn't until last year when I visited an allergy doctor that she insisted on weighing me. She needed my exact weight to enter it into this gadget which tested my lung capacity. Since this was a legitimate request, I agreed to be weighed, although I did turn around so I could not see the scale. I asked her not to tell me what it was and she readily agreed. In cases like this, you would obviously want to go ahead with the weighing.

One of the great joys about being an adult is that we have choices. Not just about whether or not to eat our peas or who we will be friends with, but over the things that really affect our self esteem. If you feel uncomfortable getting weighed at the doctor's office, I encourage you to "Just Say No!" and see what happens. I have no idea what I weigh, and I love it that way! You might find that not only are you freed from one more stress, but you will gain the opportunity to educate your doctor on size acceptance issues, a win-win situation all around.

~~~~~~~~~~~

REFERENCES

*Although Overeaters Anonymous is not a BDSM thing, and also isn't necessarily a size acceptance group, I do credit them for helping me lose my addiction to food. I am still a size 24/26 but now I'm a happy size 24/26 who is not addicted to food. I highly recommend OA.

Overeaters Anonymous
http://www.overeatersanonymous.org/ 

Special Note: If you weren't aware of it, you can also bring your own drape or gown to the Doctor's office. There are lots of plus sized ones available online. If you don't have one, they usually will but you may need to ask for it specifically. Don't be shy, be proud!

Getting in Touch With Your Inner Bitch
By Elizabeth Hilts
Available on www.amazon.com 

Amplestuff – Everything for Big People Except Clothes
*They carry plus sized exam gowns
http://www.amplestuff.com/ 

Women En Large: Images of Fat Nudes
by Laurie Toby Edison, Debbie Notkin
*amazing photography of super sized nudes. This really opened my eyes!
Available on www.amazon.com 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sensuous Sadie is the author of It's Not About the Whip: Love, Sex, and Spirituality in the BDSM Scene. Read an excerpt at http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0551.html . She is the founder and leader (1999 - 2001) of Rose & Thorn, Vermont's first BDSM group. Comments, compliments and complaints, as well as requests for reprinting can be addressed to her at SensuousSadie@aol.com or visit her website at www.sensuoussadie.com. Sadie believes the universe is abundant, and that sharing information freely is part of this abundance, so she allows reprints of her writing in most venues.

Copyright 2004 Sadie Sez Publications