'Tagging' is the buzz word today where a 'tag' is attached to everything and everyone. Whether it be a price to pay,an indicator of social importance,a nickname,or one who is caught out,being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There is another type of 'tag' that is extremely hurtful,at whatever age. This is the tag of 'fat ridicule' that can take the target down from a great distance. Whether it's the playtime 'touch game' where you are first to be 'got',adult playful comment or just plain bullying. If you are 'fat tagged', you are a target figure and no matter how much you are able to rise above it, kid yourself that it doesn't matter, ridicule, major or minor,hurts big time.

There was a story going around some years ago, of the woman who saw herself as a 'star' performer at a friends' dinner gathering. Yes, she was overweight but felt she had to explain in intimate detail over dinner, the lengths she had gone to and the cost involved, to lose 18 lbs over 2 years. (around 8kgs for those that have metric fat) What this woman didn't realise at the time was that she was on a personal ego trip. All the patronising admiration, polite ooohs and aaaghs, that greeted her every diet, exercise and surgical operation description, were probably ways to disguise yawning at the boredom of it all. Was she tagged? you bet she was as her dwindling invites proved. Some might say there is a male parallel in the 'golfing bore' dinner guest who details the color and texture of the two blades of grass that prevented his hole in eight.

Everyone understands weight gain and the ease by which it happens. We instinctively admire those that lose weight sensibly. Without hesitation we approve and engage,as the proof of the pudding (so to speak) is standing in front of us. If you have lessened your weight,it shows! It shows in your talk,your walk,your confidence and self-esteem. The effect is very much that of a 'desert flower' blossoming again as rain falls after a long hot drought. What is needed now is avoid the 'dessert' as much as possible with just an occasional visit.

Instances arise when we are stripped bare of our clothed defences. Whether it is prior to daily bathing,lovemaking,beach lounging or just changing,we see our 'bodily' self. Our reaction might be one of three as we might:- (1) Admire our-self, what we are or what we have physically achieved (2) Kid our-self that what we see is not that bad (3) Shudder and shake our heads in disbelief at what we have become

Separation of the 'self' is of critical importance. This 'self' is our deep rooted personal identity in life and holds the keys to our mental well-being. Leave it to the psychologists to go deeper BUT if we see our-self as weak and submissive, that is what we become,if we see ourselves as a fighter who will not easily give up, that is what we become.

We mentally record a deep hurt if ridiculed,no matter if spoken or intimated in the banter of love. The pointed arrow hits an 'outwardly hidden' target. In our quiet reflective time the 'fat-tag' hurts deeply. Nightly despair quickly bleeds into the day's routine unless corrective action is taken. Each layer of fat added is measured in degrees of sadness whereas each layer lost causes disproportional elation..

The way in which we see our 'self' is critical to our mental well-being. Our ability to stand with others,sociably happy, is a great feeling. If we feel that others are 'fat tagging' us, we are disturbed though not necessarily showing this discomfort, in company. We have to determine to strip the fat away and remove some of the lardy layers that weigh more heavily on our minds than our body. The trick is not to see our-self as 'impossibly overweight' but 'possibly overweight'. We can deal with 'possibly overweight' as that self-impression leaves the door open for improvement.