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This was said to me a few years ago after putting on a considerable amount of weight in the past 10 years.

I never consider myself overweight, but to society I was obese. How can being a size 14 put you in that category? Well, it does when your short and 30 pounds overweight; you are in a category by yourself.

Other's assumptions about my weight

Some of my weight was due to lifestyle and some of due to the medications I was taking for pain. I’m at that age that if you say I’m fat; I am okay with that. My family is the hardest on me. They want to know why I let myself go. Most women in my family are a size 6. I’m a 14, so they tend to poke fun at me.

Most people in my circle know what I go through daily and the pain that attacks my body. It’s the outside world of people who tend to judge me. I worked with a co-worker who was very fit and super healthy. She made it her business to ask me to go to the gym with her every single day. I think she thought I was lazy and ate the wrong kind of foods. I was happy with who I was, why couldn’t she be?

Most days I do eat right and walk daily. I ask my doctor about my weight gain a little while ago. She told me it was the medication that was causing “some” of the weight gain. She said the drugs were slowing down my metabolism.

Weight gain as a side effect of my medications

It’s so funny that when I see any doctor they all tell me to lose a few pounds, but you are giving me medications that are causing me to gain weight. Don’t you even know the side effects? My doctor has been monitoring my weight for the past couple of years. Her favorite words at every appointment is to eat better and exercise. She also has been checking to see if I am retaining fluids.

I have spoken to several people who say that they do carry some weight around the middle, which I do also. I’m finding out this is more dangerous and can interfere with our treatments, I know we are smart enough to understand this.

As I’ve previously stated, I know I’m gaining weight; you really don’t have to tell me or buy me salads or ask me to go to the gym. I know your trying to be helpful, but can you just ask how I’m doing and accept me as I am?  So many of us are in the same boat, so I don’t feel alone. Let’s work jointly to find support for each other.

Feeling comfortable with my body

When you get up every morning, just know you are beautiful at a size 2 or a size 20. Having psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia has affected my body in so many ways. Yes, my weight gain is noticeable, but I didn’t lose my confidence in myself and I loved the body I am in. Do people think that just because I’m bigger that I’m not intelligent as I was when I was smaller? I love me at any size. I’m beautiful in my own way. Are you?