Ack, double post. :/
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But anywho, I just feel horrible because he keeps bringing up diets and how much weight I need to lose, and my sister is in on it too, as well as my mum (heck, she burst into the bathroom while I was getting changed the other day [no one knocks] and the only thing she says, instead of "Oh sorry!" is "Do more exercise." e_________e) I don't even think I'm that big? I guess it's just because all the women in my family are size Lalli to Sigrun, so in comparison I probably look huge
[/rant]
Awww, honey, I sympathize! I mean, we'd all sympathize with our dear Owl no matter what the issue is. But I went through some of the same hazing re: weight when I was your age. The "funny" thing is that I wasn't even all that heavy at the time, compared to how overweight most Americans are these days! But I was the only person at all pudgy in my entire extended family, so I guess I stood out.
Of course,
they're wrong. Probably factually (you look just fine in your pictures), and
certainly tactically. The only thing my parents' nagging accomplished was to make me all guilty and compulsive about eating.... something that took me a LONG TIME to outgrow.
It's a pity they can't understand how counterproductive their nagging is. But I know family dynamics -- they probably aren't in a place yet where they can respect the (very reasonable) perspective of "their little girl." Is there a sympathetic adult you could enlist to ask them not to nag? Maybe your aunt with the medical background?
I would also say, not just to you but to anyone reading this, that exercise is a good thing *only* in the service of a higher purpose:
making friends with your body. I had to take physical education all through secondary school, and I hated it -- with good reason. It was all team sports like volleyball and flag football (which I stink at, and nobody ever wanted me on their team) -- which I would never play again. In ugly uniforms, with plenty of competition, body comparison, and shaming.
There was no explanation of why exercise is good, even aside from weight loss/bodybuilding reasons: boosting your mood and energy level, improving your circulation, reducing the risk of things like strokes and breast cancer, making you feel more at home in your own skin, and encouraging you to set *your own* goals and appreciate your *private* achievements.
It took me a good many years after high school (and even after college) to come to appreciate that even if my body didn't look like a swimsuit model's or perform like an athlete's, I could still have fun with it. And I wasn't going to let anybody else get in the way of my having fun, dammit. (Says someone who has finished three half-marathons, even if at a very slow speed.)
I can't solve the problem of your obnoxious family (or I'd be in there SO FAST like Wonder Woman, tying them up with my Golden Lasso of Truth). I can only encourage you to have faith -- whatever you end up doing will be for you and not for them, and eventually they'll figure that out.
(Or you'll move out and not have to deal with their stupid remarks.
)