Size Doesn't Matter

I know, I'm stooping low, but bear with me.

Last week the NYTimes had an interesting piece about "fat acceptance". The notion being that as a nation, we are not getting any thinner. Maybe we should just accept the fact, stop trying so hard to diet, and move on.

Our decades of dieting obsessions have merely caused our weight to fluctuate up and down, and up and down. We are not any thinner, just more stressed out and confused.

Certainly not a picture of wellness. Perhaps it is time to put aside size and focus on being healthy. So I join the NYTimes in asking the question, "Does Size Matter"?

But I'm not sure it's about "fat acceptance" as much as it's about just embracing a healthy life. Wellness should be the goal, not size.

Does it really matter how big you are if you are healthy? Does it really matter the size of the jeans that you wear? Isn't it more healthy to be strong and fit, rather than to hit a magical number on a scale or a fictional dress size?

Oprah's infamous magazine cover when she was at her all time skinniest is a perfect example. She calls that day her most unhealthy ever. Jessica Simpson certainly took a lot of heat a few months back for the extra pounds that she was carrying. How could it possibly matter as long as she is still happy and healthy?

In our minds here at the agency, wellness is all about choices. All of us, everyday choose to exercise and we choose the food that we put in our bodies. We can choose to live a healthy life and to do the things necessary to maintain it. And be happy about it.

As marketers, we can help people make the right kinds of choices for their wellness.

So instead of choosing to diet and to be skinny, let's put aside size and just choose to eat healthy and to stay fit. I'm betting the rest of wellness will follow suit. We'll all be a lot more content as a result.

Isn't that what wellness is really all about?

Hope this finds you well -- Jim.