Helen Worley Body Discrimination

Worley, an advocate against body discrimination and active member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, shares realistic accounts of the trials of attempted weight loss and the challenges associated with body acceptance, as well as the joy that follows. In her opinion, outward appearance appealing towards societal standards is weighted far more heavily than self-esteem and contentment in positivity towards one’s current body. Prior to the epiphany-like experience at her first NAAFA meeting, Worley was a victim of the ambiguity between healthy and unhealthy and fat and skinny. But these categories became skewed as her week at the convention progressed into a fully body positive environment. Emotions that previously felt overshadowed
by her weight, such as confident and happy, were at last able to be openly expressed. Responsible for a large majority of this self-confidence, was Dr. Diane Budd, who provided the NAAFA meeting with statistics to match these feelings- or rather, a lack of statistics relating weight loss and health. The experience changed Worley for the better, leading her to walk away from diets and weight-loss fads and towards vegetarianism, providing her with a chance to finally relish the found she was using to nourish her body. She decided to be healthy in her eyes, a far cry from the societal standards that once burdened her every bite. But there was a final tipping point in which Worley could see her body in a positive light for the first time. After hiking Yosemite with her husband and beating their personal best distances, Worley followed through with her self-promoted challenge by not giving up on her body, but rather promoting a relationship with herself that was previously nonexistent. However, all it took was a life-altering choice, not a life-altering diet.