Is Lizzo Lying About Being Happy With Her Weight?

September 3, 2022 Ashley 0 Comments

Oh… Lizzo.

Your music gets me through everything.

From breakups to putting on makeup for Friday night festivities – I bow to you.

But then you have to go ahead and lie.

Per an interview with Variety, she says: “I know I’m fat. It doesn’t bother me. I like being fat, and I’m beautiful and I’m healthy. So can we move on?” (Insert heavy sigh and knuckle cracking as I prepare to attack this one line at a time…) Okay. Let’s diffuse this bomb while attempting to minimize butthurt. I’m okay with exactly four fifths of what she has to say – up until the last fifth. Why? Well, four of those things are subjective. The last statement is objective. Not open to opinion. Breaking it down, the first statement is an acknowledgment. (She’s aware of her status.) The second and third statement are how she feels about it. (Although I’d argue already that she may be confused or doubtful about how she feels because “it doesn’t bother me” isn’t something someone says about something they feel is truly beautiful to possess. If they genuinely felt attractive, they’d laugh at you for even questioning the aesthetic status of the feature in question. Would you say, “My silky flowing hair doesn’t bother me” or “my tight toned peach doesn’t bother me”? Moving on…) The fourth is another opinion about it.

All of that’s fine.

But the last? That’s an incorrect statement about something that isn’t opinion based. To be “healthy”, you have to meet certain parameters. Obesity makes you, at your current status, fall outside of those parameters. Now, you can be eating healthy. You can be working your way toward health. Working out. Eating the right foods in the right amounts. Avoiding the foods and substances that make you unhealthy. All of that puts you on the right track and is totally applause worthy. However, until weight loss happens and you reach that point, you are still, currently, unhealthy. As explained by Dr. William Johnson of the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, even individuals who are obese that happen to be “metabolically” okay, are still at a higher threat for detrimental health problems. The top ones include type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and overall increased risk of mortality.

It’s okay to say it makes you feel beautiful. (Shoot, everyone thought anorexia was beautiful in the 90s and that wasn’t good either…) But if you parade it around as healthy, Emperor’s New Clothes style, just because you have enough yes men to tell you what you want to hear when you both know the truth… it invalidates anything you said prior to it about how you feel about it.

Here’s a good example of how to talk about something you have no intention of changing, even though it may be bad for my health: I love martial arts. It keeps my cardio up. It keeps my strength up. It makes me look better than I would if I had a sedentary hobby like playing video games. It keeps me from lapsing into less healthy activities during the week. (Like my friends who come home and binge watch crime documentaries while swilling Snoop Dog’s red blend vino. All of which sounds delightful, actually.) That said, it also causes chronic injuries, bruises, and carries the risk of severe and potentially life threatening issues. In some ways it’s great. It makes me feel good. It makes me look good. But it also, in some ways, can be really unhealthy. I can say that it’s all of those things because I’m an adult and I understand that things are not all black or white. I can say that I’ve weighed those risks and plan to keep doing them regardless. Likewise, you can say that having excessive fat on your body makes you feel attractive. You can even say you’re happy and you love it. But, if you tack onto all of that that it’s “healthy” to be obese, then there’s an issue. While you can say anything you like (we still have some freedom of speech – so far), that last bit is absolutely not true. And if you’re in denial about the fact that something isn’t healthy, then everyone will start to question if you believe anything else you said either. Do you really think it’s attractive? Are you really happy with yourself? Do you really “not mind” it? I mean, you knowingly lied about something that’s not subjective, so is anything you said that is subjective (like that you feel beautiful or are happy being overweight) true either? Or have you let your bitterness about everyone’s focus on your weight cause you to stay obese… out of spite?

Now, all this said, I absolutely get where Lizzo, deep down, might be coming from.

I have the great advantage of obscurity. I work out and eat healthy for me. I have no pressure to fit a gala dress and impress the press. So, I have no one to rebel against. Likewise, I have no family members rooting against me or people preoccupied with how much space I occupy. However, I have dealt with this during competition time – when I have to make weight. After I make weight, I resent the whole process, overeat for a week or three, and do it all over again. Getting back on track was a process at first, but I had to remember – I did this for me. No one is making me compete. It was my choice. My weight was just the price for entry. I don’t have to stuff my face in spite afterward. This is when we have to sever the external component and remember everything we’re doing to honor our bodies is for ourselves. This body is all we’ve got. If you’ve finally come to terms with the fact that you’re not happy being overweight (or just unhealthy), give the rest of this site a gander. If you’re unsure about whether you need weight loss or just wellness modifications, get a licensed professional to assess you, check your BMI, give you a workup, and help you devise an appropriate plan from there. But don’t lie to legions of people who follow your lead just because you can make a bop worthy of worship.

Sorry if the “truth hurts”…