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Weight gain due to HAES, body positivity and intuitive eating

Lauraoman2164
Lauraoman2164 Posts: 3 Member
Is anyone here because of gaining a lot of weight due to these movements?

I got completely sucked in to the rhetoric some very famous influencers have put about online that there is no true evidence that being overweight or obese is linked to health problems. Any studies were biased and fatphobic.

Now I’m borderline obese and might have to go on high blood pressure medication. It has given me a whole new motivation for weight loss. I never thought I’d gain so much weight it affected my health. I’m so confused with these movements and influencers. It’s made me so afraid I cannot do this because they keep saying over and over that weight loss long term is impossible.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?Or have the movements helped your health?

Replies

  • azuki84
    azuki84 Posts: 212 Member
    That is the problem with a lot of people, especially on the forums here. They become too gullible and believe whatever trend that “highlighted” some success story. STOP the sheep behavior. Focus on YOU and ONLY you.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    That worked for me too when losing. I had broken the part of my brain that judges what a sensible portion is, so relied pretty heavily on calories and serving size when first starting out, other than going way over the recommended serving size for low cal stuff like vegetables. My rule was that I would put away the food after taking my portion and would not have seconds, ever. If I'd actually felt truly hungry an hour or so later I would probably have allowed myself to eat, but I never did.

    When I was maintaining without logging with no problem, most of it was learned eating behaviors -- what I typically had (within a range) for meals, no eating between meals, very specific dessert options when I had dessert (and I would still usually weigh ice cream). That can work for me, but it's not intuitive, it's intentionally very mindful.
  • DebbsSeattle
    DebbsSeattle Posts: 125 Member
    Since this was posted on debates…

    I do not feel that blaming one’s body composition on haes, body positivity or intuitive eating as presented by non-scientific, monetized internet influencers is fair. It seems that common sense on the viewers/readers part is lacking if it leads to becoming obese from a previous state of healthy body composition. That is almost as bad as blaming an other than healthy body composition on clothing makers and their use of vanity sizing labels. “Well I thought I was actually an 8 this whole time because Levi said so. What do you mean I’m morbidly obese and have diabetes?”
  • BartBVanBockstaele
    BartBVanBockstaele Posts: 623 Member
    Others have commented enough, but led me add a link to this video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLL-A1B8Uzo
    It shows several people who have lost weight and kept it off long term.

    There is also the National Weight Control Registry that conducts studies on people who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for a long time:
    http://www.nwcr.ws/

    That said, just because we CAN do something, does not mean we WILL do that thing even if we should be doing it. It is often said that weight loss is the easiest part while keeping it off is the difficult part.

    However, *difficult* does not mean *impossible* as numerous people have shown.
  • BartBVanBockstaele
    BartBVanBockstaele Posts: 623 Member
    edited January 2023
    Since this was posted on debates…

    I do not feel that blaming one’s body composition on haes, body positivity or intuitive eating as presented by non-scientific, monetized internet influencers is fair. It seems that common sense on the viewers/readers part is lacking if it leads to becoming obese from a previous state of healthy body composition. That is almost as bad as blaming an other than healthy body composition on clothing makers and their use of vanity sizing labels. “Well I thought I was actually an 8 this whole time because Levi said so. What do you mean I’m morbidly obese and have diabetes?”
    HAES, as a principle, is not by definition wrong. In fact, it has largely become the standard in healthcare: instead of focusing on weight loss from the onset, the tendency is now to attempt to make the patient as healthy as possible at the weight they are while also making clear that losing weight may lead to better outcomes.

    There are several reasons for that, but one of them is that weight loss is not a risk-free endeavour. People die from attempting weight loss. Probably not very many and probably mainly as the result of ill-conceived methods, but still. There are also consequences that may not be deadly but can still be quite detrimental to one's health. Of course, being overweight or fat comes with its own set of negatives, so it is not unwise to think before attempting it.