Health Poll: Do you measure being healthy by your weight?
In North American pop culture, we associate shame and lack of self control with extra flesh. Yet, quite simply that’s all that extra weight is. More flesh. The fact is that a body will respond to factors in life regardless of self-control. If you have an injury and can no longer maintain physical activity, weight gain is possible. 
If you switch lifestyles from more activity to sitting down at work for 7 hours a day, and you still have the same caloric intake, you may put extra weight. If you have the same routine, but shack up with a new partner who feeds you a lot, you put on weight.
Celebrity culture magnifies this already ridiculous system of judging others by their body fluctuations. There are even websites dedicated to monitoring the weight status of A-list celebrities. Among the many setbacks of being under public scrutiny, the most damaging pressure that celebrities experience is to maintain an ideal body image. Unfortunately, this sends a dangerous message to readers that the number on the scale is the only true reflection of health.
If you find yourself slipping into negative self-judgment when you accumulate extra weight, do yourself a favor, view your body fat as a simple result, not a guilt-sentence. Rest assured knowing that you will inevitably have a chance to shift out of the cycle that got you there, and that you should measure your health in terms of strength and endurance, among other factors.
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