Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony

I woke up half way through the night last night with the image of Brad Pitt in my head. Now, that's not a bad thing all in all, but for some reason the image was from the end of the movie Se7en, which wasn't really something I was wanting to wake up to. I have no idea why that image was in my head, or what my subconscious was dreaming about to put it there, but the image planted a seed and gave me an idea for a blog.

For those of you who don't know, Se7en is a thriller about a serial murderer who kills his victims using one of the seven deadly sins. I originally watched it when I was going through my 'Brad Phase', but was pleasantly surprised when one of my favorite actors also happened to be in the movie too. Morgan Freeman is fantastic, and I don't think I've ever seen one of his movies and not liked it.

Anyway, back to the movie. I thought the 'sins twist' was good. There are far too many thrillers out there that run to the same tired formula, but this movie used something a little different, and it paid off.

How or why this movie suddenly entered my brain last night is a mystery, but seeing as I am constantly worried about what I should be blogging about, it seemed the two things might be linked.

The first Deadly Sin I'm going to ramble about is Gluttony. I might not be a glutton in the true sense of the word, but as someone who is usually trying to diet, I can relate.

I've never been what you would call skinny, but at the moment I am at my heaviest. Over the years I have fluctuated between a UK size 12 and size 18. After having my kids, I was one of those lucky women who lost all of their pregnancy weight in a matter of days - and then some - but my body is the type that gains weight really easily. It's not that I eat a lot, because I don't. Obviously there are times when I 'pig out', but most of us do that from time to time. Most days I eat a 'normal' amount of food, The problem is the type of food that I eat. My biggest downfall is bread, which is probably the worst food in the world for people like me.

Of course, now that I am a stay-at-home-mum, the temptation to have on odd slice of toast for elevenses is there, and a few sandwiches for lunch is obligatory. When I was working full-time a few years ago I didn't have time to eat, but now that I am home there is nothing to stop me.

What bothers me most is not that I am overweight though. I mean, yes, losing those extra pounds would be beneficial to my health, but on a scale of one to ten, I'm probably a three on the Must Lose Weight Or You Will Explode chart. It's society that bothers me. Those people that look at you and snigger because you have a bit of a pot belly.

Doctors are the worst. Whenever I go to see my GP, no matter what the problem is, they always somehow link it back to my weight. OK, if my blood pressure is a little up then yes, my weight is a contributing factor. But I honestly don't see how an ear infection is linked to what size jeans I wear. Even worse, the GP who is sternly telling me off for carrying too many pounds is roughly the size of a sumo wrestler.

It annoys me when people assume that because you are are not stick-thin, you must spend hours every day stuffing your face. It's just not true. Diet plays a big part, obviously, but some of us are just not made to be skinny. My mother is a larger lady, as are my aunts. Both of my sisters struggle with their weight too. But none of us are gluttons, no matter what society thinks.

The sad thing is my daughter has inherited my body type. She's by no means fat, but she's not quite eight yet and requires clothing for a twelve year old. She's tall and she's sturdy, but she's not overweight. I worry about her constantly, knowing that she's going to be just like me, and praying that she doesn't fall into the anorexia trap when she's a little older. It annoys me that she'll have to deal with the society crap that dictates that you need to be a size 0 to fit in. If she were a boy, it wouldn't matter. Boys are meant to be sturdy. But girls are supposed to be dainty little dolls, and my daughter is about as dainty as a bull in a china shop.

Ironically, my son is the opposite. He's thirteen, and only just manages to top his sister's height by an inch. And do you know what? He eats three times as much crap as my daughter does. It makes no sense, and brings me back to body types. Some bodies repel fat like a shield, whereas others absorb fat almost before it's left the fork. It's not fair, but there we are.

So the next time to see a person carrying a little extra weight, don't make the mistake of thinking they're a glutton. There are very few true gluttons in this world, and even fewer who take it to the extent that the original Deadly Sin alludes to.

Maybe I've taken the light route (no pun intended) on the subject of gluttony, but in these days of over-exaggeration, where the smallest things are super-sized all out of proportion, I'm hoping that my skimming of the subject will make a few people think. In the larger scheme of things, do those few extra pounds really matter? Forget weight - get fit. You can be fit whether you wear a size 6 or a 16. Stick a finger up at society and be proud that you have a few curves. I bet you any amount of money that the Kate Mosses of this world may have their dream job, but probably go to bed every night with hunger pangs, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather go to sleep feeling satisfied.*winks*