What It Means to “Feel Fat”

By Cari Romm

It is an incontrovertible1. incontrovertible:（事實）不容置疑的，無可辯駁的。law of the universe that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. What goes up must come down. What goes around comes around. And so after millions of people around the country stuffing themselves full of turkey and potatoes and squash on Thanksgiving, they will wake up from their food comas,2. stuff oneself: 吃得很飽，吃撐；squash: 南瓜屬蔬菜； food coma: 指食困，即飯后感覺困倦的狀態，coma意為昏迷。roll over, and think some version of, Ugh, I feel fat.

It may be a symptom of a Thanksgiving Day done right, but as many of us know well, it's not limited to the holiday itself: A sudden dissatisfaction with your own physique3. physique: 體形，體格。can strike after any big meal, or in the dressing room, or on the beach, or for reasons unknown. It's subtly different, and more f leeting, than having an overarching unhealthy body image: It's “a state, not just a trait,”4. 與擁有一個圓滾滾的不健康的體形相比，這略有不同，且更為短暫：這是“一種狀態，而不只是一種特征”。 overarching: 成圓拱形的。explains Bryan Karazsia, an assistant psychology professor at the College of Wooster. Everyone has those moments—and what's going on in your mind when they happen isn't necessarily connected to anything going on with your body.

You're internalizing other people's ideas.

According to Karazsia, who studies body image, there are three psychological characteristics that make someone more susceptible5. susceptible: 易感的，易受影響的。to “feeling fat.” The f irst is a high degree of internalization, in which people easily adopt others' beliefs and attitudes as their own. In the context of body image, that can mean absorbing “media images that glorify6. glorify: 美化，吹捧。a thin ideal for women or a muscular ideal for men,” he says: “[When] you internalize it, you've taken what society said people should look like, and now you're saying this is what you think you should look like.” The second, along similar lines, is selfobjectif ication7. self-objectif ication: 自我物化。, when people tie their overall self-worth to their physical appearance.

You're extra sensitive to anything that could be taken the wrong way.

The third characteristic, Karazsia explains, is a high degree of neuroticism8. neuroticism: 神經質。, one of the “Big Five” personality traits def ined in part by sensitivity—including to “environmental inf luences, whether they're good or bad,” he says. “So if something's going on in either their environment or their bodies that makes them feel a certain w ay, they're more likely to respond strongly to it.” A highly neurotic person, in other w ords, w ould be more inclined to take a relative's, “Wow, should've w orn those stretchy pants, huh?” as a passiveaggressive barb rather than commiseration from one overstuffed eater to another.9. barb: 尖刻傷人的話，譏諷； commiseration: 同情，憐憫。(Incidentally, for your ow n good, please consider stretchy pants tomorrow.)

You really are a little more bloated10. bloated: 腫脹的，臃腫的。than usual.

It's worth stressing that you can be towards the lower end of the spectrum on each of these three elements and still have that feeling.11. 值得強調的是，你可能這三種情況都只沾了一點點邊，但是仍然感覺自己胖。spectrum: 范圍，系列。Each one is a primer12. primer: 導火線。of sorts—not the thing that triggers the fat feeling, but the thing that makes you more vulnerable to whatever does trigger it.

And sometimes, yes, that trigger is just your body. Maybe something weird is going on with your gut bacteria that's making you a little gassy.13. gut bacteria: 腸道細菌；gassy: （腸胃）脹氣的。Maybe you're puffed up from sodium after a salty snack.14. puff up: 使腫脹；sodium: 鈉。Even drinking a ton of water can make you more bloated than usual. All are purely physical phenomena that can cause that “I'm feeling fat” funk15. funk: 沮喪，焦慮。.

You expect to feel fat, so you convince yourself it's true.

But sometimes, the trigger is purely psychological. It's a stray comment, or the sight of a tabloid spread of celebrity beach bodies—or, often, something as simple as your own expectations.16. 它可以是一次偶然的評論，或是在小報上看到明星在海灘大顯身材的跨版照片——或者，通常是和你自己預期的一樣簡單的事情。stray: 零星的，偶然的；tabloid:（刊載大量有關性、名人逸事等報道的）通俗小報；spread:（報刊上）跨兩版（或數欄）的文章或廣告。Feeling fat is a self-fulf illing prophecy17. prophecy: 預言。: In one study published last year, normal-weight teenagers who considered themselves overweight were 40 percent more likely to become obese as adults. And the same pattern can play out in the short term, too; if you assume that you'll wake up feeling fat the day after a feast, you probably will.

And that expectation is kind of baked into the DNA of Thanksgiving itself, says Charlotte Markey, a psychology professor at Rutgers University and the author of Smart People Don't Diet. “It's such a part of our culture to be sort of disparaging18. disparaging: 貶低的，輕視的。about our own bodies,” she says. “This sense of ‘Oh, I'm so fat,' or ‘Oh, I just ate so much'—it's culturally sanctioned19. sanction: v. 認可。. It's a lot of people's kneejerk20. knee-jerk: 本能反應的。response to eating Thanksgiving dinner.” We can feel fat, in other words, because we think we should.

Which, f ine! Look at it another way, and that just means you have permission to own that feeling around this time of year: “I think it's valuable to emphasize that it's okay to enjoy food across the holidays and to indulge21. indulge: 放縱，縱容。a little bit,” Markey says. “And not feel like you have to worry about it, like you have to embody this sort of backlash the next day.”22. embody: 體現；backlash: 強烈反應。So take another slice of pie and then, just for kicks, see if you can balance the plate on your food-baby belly—it's Thanksgiving, and reveling in your own gluttony is just part of the holiday package.23. 因此，再吃一塊餡餅，然后，為了找點樂子，來看看你是否能在你吃出來的“孕肚”上表演平衡盤子——這是感恩節，陶醉在自己的暴飲暴食中只是假期套餐的一部分。do sth. for kicks: 為了尋求刺激或樂趣而干某事；revel in sth.: 陶醉于，沉湎于；gluttony: 暴飲暴食。Besides, everyone else is in the same boat. And this time, that boat is f illed with gravy24. gravy: 肉汁。.