LAST FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE

LAST DAY!

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE: "Avoid diet conversations: They are boring, encourage competition among women, and keep you from knowing your true nature and spirit." - The Diet Survivors Handbook 

Thank you for participating in this February campaign. Whether you tried any of the challenges, read my posts, or looked at the art. 

You took a moment to notice. 

Fat talk affects all of us. And we are all guilty of falling into the fat talk trap. "Stop using fat-shaming talk about your body – and anyone else’s body. Don’t tell or laugh at "fat jokes.” Stop referring to food as “good” and “bad” as if it were a moral issue." - Judith Matz 

Be kind. 

xoxo

STAY TUNED FOR MINDFULLY MENDING MARCH!

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price.

#notachoice #FoxTalesArtFatTalkFreeFebruary #edawareness #edadvocate #ed #eatingdisorder #edrecovery #recovery #bopo 

check your assumptions about what "healthy" looks like

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE:  check your assumptions about what "healthy" looks like. 

"So when you make assumptions about my health based on my body size, you’re stereotyping me based on your own prejudices [...] Regardless of my health status, I deserve respect at this size, which includes the right to make my own decisions about my body." - Judith Matz 

Be kind. 

xoxo

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price.

 

"It is not my responsibility to be beautiful."

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE: own your body today. 

Your body. 

Your choices. 

Always. 

It's not your job to conform to anyone else's expectations.

You weren't born to please others.

You weren't born to make your outsides look a certain way. 

You were born to be brilliant, kind, strong, resilient, courageous, vulnerable ...

Shine your brilliance, for yourself. Live in your body because it's yours. 

Own your brilliance. 

Be kind. 

xoxo

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price.

Because posting art and writing on social media requires making myself vulnerable

 

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE:  let yourself wear something that makes you feel good. 

Summer 2015 I drew a series of posters to go with quotes I love. Brené Brown and Geneen Roth write words that resonate deep within me. I was feeling particularly body (self)conscious and that was the summer I began to draw body shame and body love. I was new to the body positivity movement and was exploring my thoughts and ideas. 

The above poster was one of my first attempts to say all bodies belong. To say that your body doesn't define you. To say that sometimes being brave enough to wear a bathing suit at any size is a form of courage because you make yourself vulnerable ...

... for the last few years I have used this poster and this idea that is courageous to "show up and be seen" in a very literal way. I have shared this drawing numerous times as a way to illustrate the "bravery" of someone over the current socially idealized weight to be in a bathing suit in public. 

As I was getting ready to post this today, I paused. 

I write these posts often days or weeks ahead of time and post them by 7am each day. 

Today I just couldn't do it. I deleted what I wrote and sat and stared at my drawing. 

The drawing and the quote separately are still things I love. And, (and this will be my first F bomb in this blog) what the fuck was I thinking combining them? 

There is nothing brave about putting on a bathing suit! Any one, of any size, at any time, can wear whatever they want. From a bikini to a burka. YOUR BODY, YOUR CLOTHING, YOUR CHOICE!

How dare I suggest that being in your body in a public space is an act of courage. It IS an act of courage because of the judgemental and hate-driven society that we live in. But the very idea that being SEEN requires bravery makes me deeply angry. I feel like the combination of that image with that quote implies that being comfortable in your body is in and of itself an act of rebellion. Which it IS ... but my discomfort is that it DOES NOT HAVE TO BE! 

Being in your own body in public space, existing, is your RIGHT. 

This post is more of a musing than anything else. 

You deserve to be. 

You deserve love and care. 

You deserve respect. 

The end. 

What do you think about the image with the quote? How does it make you feel? Or think? Am I overreacting in my feeling that they don't belong together? 

Be kind. 

xoxo

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price.

 

Because you don't have to be thin to enjoy moving your body

Because you don't have to be thin to enjoy moving your body. 

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE: try a new way to get some movement into your day. 

People who are uncomfortable in their bodies sometimes avoid gyms, yoga studios, swimming, exercise classes ... those spaces can feel judgemental. Or can feel like you don't belong. 

You do belong. You belong everywhere you want to belong. 

But you don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Find a way to move your body that feels good. 

I hate the gym. Hate it so much. I feel self-conscious. And I run out of energy quickly. Which feels embarrassing. 

What I DO love is walking. If I had a perfect schedule in my life, I would walk 5km - 10km a day. One day last summer I walked 17km. 

Walking doesn't exhaust me the way weight machines do. And it doesn't cause a fibromyalgia pain flare. In fact it sometimes helps manage the pain. 

I don't walk because it's a workout. I don't walk to lose weight. I don't walk because it is good exercise. I walk because I love it. There is something about my not-very-long stride and this feeling I get in my belly while I walk. 

Going for walks simply feels good. 

Moving feels good. 

So if you have been avoiding "exercise", try to find a way to move that feels good. 

Something that feels comfortable. But mostly, find a way to move your body that makes you happy. 

You belong in all the places you think you don't belong. You have the right to participate in any sort of physical activities that feel good, that you enjoy. 

Be kind 

xoxo

 

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price)

Because everyone seems to think your body is their business

Because everyone seems to think your body is their business ... it's NOT.

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE: if someone says anything about your body or your food choices today, reply "it's actually only my business". 

Think of how many times you have been given unsolicited, well-meaning advice on diets, exercise, or your body. How did it make you feel? For many people it brings up a deeply ingrained shame response.

No one has the right to comment on anyone else's body. 

Period. 

Be kind. 

xoxo

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price.

#notachoice #FoxTalesArtFatTalkFreeFebruary #edawareness #edadvocate #ed #eatingdisorder #edrecovery #recovery #bopo 

Because shame and deprivation have negative affects on your body, mind, and spirit

Because shame and deprivation have negative affects on your body, mind, and spirit. 

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE: allow yourself to make choices based on how you feel and what you want, not how others make you feel or what you think you SHOULD want. 

We are capable of loving ourselves through acts of kindness, compassion, gentleness, and curiosity about ourselves, our actions, our reactions, and our fears. 

We are capable of living a life where our shame is decreased by speaking it. 

Be kind. 

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price

#notachoice #FoxTalesArtFatTalkFreeFebruary  #edawareness #edadvocate #ed #eatingdisorder #edrecovery #recovery #bopo #mybodymychoice 

Because bellies get shamed

Because bellies get shamed.

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE: Today, rub your belly and tell it you love it. What does it feel like to do that? Do you believe yourself? How do you feel about your belly? 

Bellies! Tummies! Stomachs! Breadbasket! Paunch! Potbelly! Spare tire! Muffin top! 

I'll never forget the day my cousin reached over and pinched my belly during a Special K commercial. Their tag line used to be "You can't pinch an inch on me". My cousin was showing me that you could, in fact, pinch and inch on me. 

A person's stomach can be so easily shamed by the diet-industry using the stomach as the area advertised. 

Fat talk is when you say things about the size of your stomach. When you shame your body out loud, you are shaming the bodies of all the people who hear you. Often, the response to hearing someone say negative things about a body is thinking negative things about your own body.

Let's stop shaming each other. 

Be kind. 

xoxo

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price.

#notachoice #FoxTalesArtFatTalkFreeFebruary #edawareness #edadvocate #ed #eatingdisorder #edrecovery #recovery #bopo 

Because YOUR body shame can't hurt me.

Because my body is none of your business.

FAT-TALK-FREE FEBRUARY DAILY CHALLENGE:  pay attention to your body language while you are out in the world today. Stand a little taller. See if it feels different. 

The only person who has to live in your body is you. 

You don't owe anyone an explanation about your body. It's yours.

You are not accountable to other people for your physical appearance.  

Your body is your business. 

When people shame others, I think it comes from their own shame.

Maybe it's time to not let other people tell you how you should feel about your body.

 

Maybe it's time to give yourself permission to have space in this world.

 

Shrinking yourself with hunched shoulders as you walk down the street doesn't feel good. 

You exist. You are human. You are extraordinary. You have the right to be on that street. You have the right to be on a beach in a bathing suit. You have the right to go to any restaurant you want and order whatever you want no matter what other people believe you should or shouldn't eat. 

You are brilliant and brave and scared and strong and anxious and resilient and kind and selfish and angry and joyful and you are love. You are all the glorious things that make us human. 

Most importantly, your body is the house you grew up in. No one knows it better than you. No one needs to know it better than you. 

Your body. 

Period. 

Be Kind

xo

*All images are property of Fox Tales Art

**All images are available for sale with profits going to www.sheenasplace.org 

Email foxtaleskira@gmail.com for inquiries and browse some options at 

www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FoxTalesByKira 

(Purchasing directly by email, even if the piece is on etsy, saves both of us money and can involve a negotiation in size and in price)