"Being thin did not make me happy"

Joni Edelman has gone through thick and thin. She got married, divorced, remarried, gave birth to five children, moved, gave birth as a nurse and accompanied people on dying. She was sometimes thin and sometimes fat. So she knows what she's talking about when she says, being thin does not make you happy.

Being thin is (often) troublesome

Like many women, Joni had to work hard on her slim figure every time. She walked 55 kilometers a week, paid attention to every bite, wrote down her weight daily, did not eat despite hunger and had little time for her children.

At some point, the desire for a slim figure began to dominate their thinking. "I became compulsive when it came to my training: how much time could I spend between taking care of the kids and my 12-hour night shifts at the gym? I ate things that I hated (rice waffles, butter for spraying) and I avoided the foods that I loved (mainly cakes). "

It's about recognition - but for what?

"Being thin has done a lot for me, but it did not make me happy."

Joni has also experienced the benefits of being thin - or what women find to be an asset. In her slim phases, she received compliments for her appearance: "With a size 34 strangers turn to you over and over again - in the supermarket, men bother you about it, and in the hospital the doctors suggest a hot affair to you."

We all know how well recognition works. But the price of being sought after, desired, praised and envied by strangers is high. Often, being thin requires abandonment, discipline, and self-control. And if you do sports without pleasure, he robs us of time for the beautiful things in life: for joy and enjoyment. Family and friends love us anyway - whether we are skinny or fat.

Thick or happy? Both is possible

"Being thin is not a guarantee of happiness"

Thick or happy? that's a false contrast, says Joni. "I do not mean to say that skinny people are not happy, but I would like to emphasize that being thin a) is not a cure for sadness and b) is not a guarantee of happiness." In short: "Happiness does not require being thin, and being fat does not automatically presuppose sadness." Luck and weight do not hang together.

At the moment, Joni weighs more and states: "I have a calm, a joy and an inner peace that I have never had before, in view of my willingness to let some things go, to spend time with my children and to sleep, these kilos are insignificant, I am fat, happy and healthy. "