Fat2Flaca

Theres something I want to address. “Why Flaca?”

In choosing the title “Fat2Flaca” I immediately second guessed whether I should move forward with a title that has the word flaca, Spanish for “thin” or “skinny”, in it.  

First, let me my idea for my blog was to launch a forum for everyone to watch my transformation after undergoing bariatric surgery, but to create a safe space for other Latin@s (and others) of all ages, sizes and colors, where there is no body policing, racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic discrimination, Spanglish or slang shunning, or sizism. A space where friends and family could be motivated to begin their own and support one another’s strides towards a healthier lifestyle and not just swap tips on diets or focus on numbers, but more so on feeling healthy/healthier. 

“If your striving to be skinny (flaca) doesn’t that contradict your messages of body acceptance?”

I decided to name my blog Fat2Flaca for several reasons:

• To re-define the notion of “skinny” in a culturally relevant way. 

When someone loses weight in many Puerto Rican families, no matter the amount of weight, a relative/friend will acknowledge that progress with a variation of the following statement, “Te esta poniendo flaca”, not necessarily meaning skinny but referring to weight loss in general. Sometimes when someone says que te ven “muy flaca”, they usually mean that you are getting too thin, so it is encouraged to a healthy size, not “rail thin”. 

• With my notion of “Flaca”, I seek to open a space in which to re-think the relationship between weight and health.

You do not have to be skinny to be healthy. Healthy bodies are all shapes and sizes and presuming otherwise perpetuates stereotypes. I however, was unhealthy and my weight loss is improving my quality of life. This may not be the case for other people.

• To define “MY/YOUR Flaca”: The size in which I feel healthy and happy.

Finding “Your Flaca” is your definition of what is a healthy size for you and rejecting social standards in the form of pictures of emaciated models, the numbers on a scale, or suggestion of what size “you’d’ look good in” by others. 

What is a Verticle Sleeve Gastrectomy? 

Vertical sleeve gastrectomy is surgery to help with weight loss. The surgeon removes a large portion of your stomach.

The new, smaller stomach is about the size of a banana. It limits the amount of food you can eat by making you feel full after eating small amounts of food.

Read more about the procedure here.