Shame and Blame

How often do you hear others say,   “I was bad tonight because I ate too much or I had a snack and I shouldn’t have”?  Or “I have to go for a run to work off that huge meal that I ate last night”.  Perhaps you even hear “I’m gonna skip a meal to make up for all the noshing I did yesterday.”

Our culture perpetuates the notion that thin is good and if we keep our weight down we’ll be happy, sexy, and more appealing to others.  We live in a world of should.  “I should be thin, fit, and more attractive”.

The reality of life is that some people have it easy and others have to work a lot harder to achieve their successful image of how they want to be seen by themselves and others.   There’s a variety of things that can get in the way to make the ideal weight and body an elusive dream:

• Having kids
• Various physical and mental health conditions
• Certain medications can lead to weight gain or weight loss
• Time pressures
• Climate
• Work hours

That isn’t to say that we can’t overcome these issues or that being and feeling healthy isn’t within reach. If we can reassess our standards and consider what’s important to us and try not to let others rule, then we will move in the direction toward personal choice rather than the unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others.  Start with giving up the shame and blame  and take your own baby steps from there.

Susan Barron & Renee Climans

We are both accomplished Social Workers (Masters of Social Work and Registered Social Workers) with extensive backgrounds in counselling/coaching with individuals, couples, families and groups. Throughout our over 25 years of professional practice, we have worked and consulted in a variety of health care and corporate settings.In addition,we have served as field instructors for Social Work students, presented guest lectures at Ryerson and University of Toronto, presented training workshops on a variety of wellness topics to corporations and institutions across Ontario, presented locally, nationally and internationally on various topics in the field of health care, and have published articles for several journals and are involved in a variety of support group initiatives.