Your Opinion is Part of Your Body

So I've been thinking that American society has been sending us some conflicting messages about how we should feel about our bodies. Messages like: "We should accept our bodies for what they are," "We should try to stay in shape," "Fitness is important," "Being comfortable is important,"etc.
It is kind of hard to decide between the two. Scientifically and psychologically, both arguments (fat and happy vs. fit and healthy) make sense. However, it seems that by stating one opinion on the matter, you are negating the validity of the other.

As individuals, we are presented with this information and feel obligated to form an opinion. Forming an opinion about the body is different than forming opinions about many other social issues because it is an issue that we can in no way ever escape. This is our own body we are talking about. Same-sex marriage, racism, abortion, and many other highly controversial issues are all issues that you could theoretically escape from if you were to run away and hide in a cave. But guess what? Your body is in the cave, and you can't run away from it.

My opinion as a dietetic student with an interest in holistic well-being through diet/exercise and meditation concerns both. Why must we strive for either happiness or fitness? Why must we choose between contentment and change? Let's think about this.

This body is a constantly changing, temporary structure that carries a consistently distinct mind that indicates individuality through personality, thinking processes, memory, and an endless amount of genetic and environmental factors. Our minds differ from our bodies in that we are constantly evolving towards complexity and improved cognition while our bodies continuously devolve (after adulthood) towards inevitable degradation and weakness. Yes, the mind eventually degrades too, but that is a consequence of being a part of the body. This supports the idea that the mind is far more valuable than the body, and implies we should simply focus on being happy and content with whatever our bodies happen to look like.
This body may be just a rental, but it is important to note that it is our only rental, and it is an extremely valuable aspect of life. We all desire success, whether it be minute or a grand objective. We respect and facilitate success from within when we allow our exterior to become more mobile. The mind, the jewel of the body, can only accomplish its goals if the body facilitates it. As our minds work towards improvement, our bodies facilitate that improvement through whatever pathway necessary. Staying alive and healthy is our body's primary goal, which leads to the accomplishment of all other goals. This is the only body we have. Let us use it to the best of its capability by conditioning it,  properly fueling it, and in all ways, respecting it.
The body should not be subject to inner judgement as it is neither an a indicator of character, nor an defining factor of any form of morality. However, it is an incredibly important factor -- health that is, and by addressing health, we are indirectly addressing our hopes, dreams, and goals. This is the only body that can achieve these things. Mind and body are both separate and united. Though one does not necessarily need a body to be classified as an individual, one does need a body to facilitate the individual.

Concerning overweight/obesity in the US:
I agree that positive self-esteem is psychologically healthy for an individual. I agree that individuals may have genetic predispositions affecting body composition and susceptibility for certain disease states. However, I also agree that overweight/obesity is a risk factor for several deadly or debilitating diseases such as CVD, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, respiratory constraint, and many many others. Emotions towards one's body typically does not directly change the physiological state of one's body (with a few exceptions like blood pressure or cortisol secretion). For example, you cannot change the negative effects of high LDL cholesterol levels by thinking really hard (though Dwight Schrute may disagree) or by feeling like LDL cholesterol is harmless. Denying that unhealthy physiological states are problematic results in the epidemiological spread of disease. It is precisely why countries like Swaziland and South Africa have such high rates of HIV/AIDS - both the government and local communities did not recognize and respond to the problem in a timely or appropriate manner, so the problem exacerbated to produce rates higher than 1/4 of the population (CIA World Factbook 2013).

In the US, more than 1/3 of adults are obese (CDC 2014), an epidemic certainly related but not isolated to low income etiologies. Should obese people be harassed or discriminated against? NO! The South African government in particular is trying to contain and reduce its high rates of HIV/AIDS by offering free counseling and testing, but has a real problem motivating individuals to get tested due to the severely negative social stigma (Tim Lane, James McIntyre, Steve Morin. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Univ. of California, San Francisco, USA; Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, S. Africa).
Scaring people is clearly not an effective way to go about resolving widespread, preventable contagious disease (HIV/AIDS), so it is certainly not the way to go about resolving widespread, noncontagious preventable disease. Overweight and obese individuals should be educated, encouraged, and offered cheap and easy solutions to obstacles preventing healthful practices. It is very possible for individuals to value both comfort and health at the same time. In many ways, health leads to comfort, because renal failure and myocardial infarctions sound fairly uncomfortable. Quality should be more valuable than quantity in terms of  lifespan and healthcare (not to mention the numerous studies and national examples of how improved quality of care leads to reduced overall healthcare spending).

No one should not be guilted or harassed into changing lifestyle and dietary habits, however, no one should neglect the notion that dietary habits and lifestyle factors play a large role in the activation or deactivation of diseases, even states or diseases that one may be genetically predisposed to.

Yes, it's the inside that counts. But your insides count too!
(particularly your liver, kidneys, and pancreas, my three favorite visceral organs.)