 ContinuedThe time is short in the show and very irregular but I am grateful to be asked to come to talk about size acceptance and give hope to people who wait to hear from me week after week. Many ask me to talk to their families about all the pressure they get from society to be thin. Others tell me about all the insults and bullying they get. Some say that it is depressing for them to go to their doctors for fear of being lectured on losing weight. Some say how is it possible to be fat and fit. Many ask about what to eat and how to exercise. I get very positive feedback from people who call me or who I meet in malls they all say that they want the counseling and positive talk to be regular and for me to have a place for them to come and see me for support and advice. Larger ladies want me to organize pool parties or days at the gym exclusively for them to relax and feel unashamed about their bodies when they exercise. They ask me for ways to get fashionable clothes in their size, too. I have been on all the local media here, over fifteen different channels and newspaper articles in Arabic and English and, of course, Al Jazeera. The shows are well accepted by the viewers. I think if I was selling a weight loss program, I would have made thousands by now but size acceptance is taking years for me to establish because there is no money in it and the media messages are "be thin." Many viewers told me that, after my talk, they feel good and start to look after themselves but then they get low again when the waves of scare-tactic messages on fat hit them. Out of frustration, many go on diets and are tricked by all the promises of a thin body and happiness. But here, they try them all then call me on the show to say is there anything that works forever. I say, "Love your body." I am not a doctor yet I am studying for my postgraduate diploma in psychotherapy. Then I hope to get a PhD. But people on television from day one have called me "doctor." When I ask them "Why do you call me 'doctor?' The presenters never say this is Dr Fatima Parker," they say that I sound like a doctor, in the amount of knowledge I have and the benefits they get out of my shows. Many stop me in the street when I am out walking at night, since it is cooler then and it is safe to walk here. People thank me and they tell me that they wait for my shows and that they tape them to send them to their friends. They call each other when I am on to tell one another to watch the show.
I meet women in the souk (the fruit market). They see that I am buying healthy food and they ask me how good is this product or the other. They ask me about diets, too, and should they stay on them on not.
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