33.8 % of adult Americans are OBESE.

Rae6503

17% of children and adolescents are as well.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Why is everyone so worried about celebrities and fitness models being "too skinny"? Why is it wrong to label a woman with an unhealthily high body fat percentage as "fat"?

Most of my family is overweight. My own father thinks I am too skinny. I just gained 10lbs over the winter while trying to gain muscle. I eat close to 3000 calories a day and I am too skinny. Since when did overweight become normal and healthy become "too skinny"?

Of course personality and quality of character of a person are the MOST important things and appearance is pretty low on the list but when we judge pictures on the internet it's all we have to go with.

End Rant.

MrsCon40

Agreed.

Everyone should focus on their own health, and quit trying to normalize obesity by crucifying those who are "too thin".

SergeantSunshine_reused

I have a girl crush on you :blushing:

I get the same. I go home and ALL of my family tells me I need to eat more, gain weight, too thin, blah blah blah. I love them to death, but they are all obese-morbidly obese and I just find it wrong.

Don't EVER call anyone fat though. Call anyone skinny, rail thin, gross, disgusting, manly, but NEVER fat :noway:

odusgolp

Total girl crush.

Once upon a time I lost 40lbs and became a size 6 - over the course of 15 months through diet and exercise. You should have heard people... I was either sick, not eating enough, starving... but no one said "Looking Great!" Damn you Wisconsin *LOL*

gp79

American Samoa - 74.6% Obesity Rate in adults.

Here's the entire list.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2228rank.html?countryName=American Samoa&countryCode=aq&regionCode=aus&rank=1#aq

IronmanPanda

^^What they said.

sabinecbauer

I believe if people acknowledged that you're healthy and fit, they would also have to acknowledge that they're not. So for them it's much more comforting--and safer--to move the goalposts of normalcy and declare that you're too skinny and need to eat more.

carrie_eggo

Exactly. Someone I ran into the other day asked me if I was "ok" because I lost weight. WTF? If I asked an obese person if they were "ok" I'd get ripped a new one!

TrophyWifeSass

Instead of "Wow, you look great, good for you." I get the "don't get too skinny." It drives me crazy I sometimes want to say "hey, don't get too fat." I spend a lot of time biting my tongue.

Acg67

One person's take on fat acceptance, be warned he is quite harsh

http://beastmodaldomains.com/2011/11/09/fat-acceptance-is-unacceptable/

DL121004

I understand why this article went in the following direction, but my takeaway from it was that there really is a sub-culture -- and race doesn't matter -- where people glamorize being overweight.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/black-women-heavier-and-happier-with-their-bodies-than-white-women-poll-finds/2012/02/22/gIQAPmcHeR_story.html

Having said that, I also recognize that you can be fit yet overweight, just as you can be unfit and underweight.

And I'm not talking about being a "hater", but it disturbs me that this exists to the extent it does. You can be assured there won't be a follow-up story in ten or twenty years to discuss the health woes she faces downstream from her decisions today.

An interesting topic for discussion (at least for me!) is how society stigmatizes and has other structures (e.g., taxes, locations where you can do so, etc.) in place to fight smoking, but there appears to me to be a desire to be much more "understanding" of the nations' health issues surrounding weight.

Sensitive, and multi-layered topic...

UponThisRock

With so many obese folks, overweight is the new "normal"

Shizzman

Just because it is common doesn't mean we should start accepting it or thinking that being unhealthy is now okay....way to make the point!

UponThisRock

One person's take on fat acceptance, be warned he is quite harsh

http://beastmodaldomains.com/2011/11/09/fat-acceptance-is-unacceptable/

lol, funny stuff

becoming_a_new_me

I have a girl crush on you :blushing:

I get the same. I go home and ALL of my family tells me I need to eat more, gain weight, too thin, blah blah blah. I love them to death, but they are all obese-morbidly obese and I just find it wrong.

Don't EVER call anyone fat though. Call anyone skinny, rail thin, gross, disgusting, manly, but NEVER fat :noway:

You are gorgeous and don't let them get you down. I am obese, but I used to be severly morbidly obese. I do agree that too many people in the world are obese...I'm just doing something about it. :flowerforyou:

elsinora

I believe if people acknowledged that you're healthy and fit, they would also have to acknowledge that they're not. So for them it's much more comforting--and safer--to move the goalposts of normalcy and declare that you're too skinny and need to eat more.

Exactly OR the person (usually a feeder) likes to have the "fat friend" - which I was fed up of being. I usually get - "oh you don't need to lose weight" from some people who are the exact same height and about 50lbs lighter.....

infamousmk

AMEN!!!! Of course being confident and loving yourself for the person inside is important, but it's not okay to be unhealthy and accept your fate as a fat person.

AmandaBroun

Truth. It especially bothers me when people use the "average american woman's" size/weight/what have you as the comparison for what is realistic for people to reach in terms of size and fitness. The "average" is too effing fat these days, not the gold standard of health.

thecrossfitter

The thing is, it's nothing personal - NOTHING. It's nothing vain. It's not about idealizing one body type of another. But I have to draw a line with myself when it comes to not only accepting, but promoting someone being a size that is unhealthy. Your life expectancy goes does, and you became much more susceptible to a myriad of diseases that you'd not likely deal with were you a healthy size.

This isn't about aesthetics. It's about health and longevity.

SergeantSunshine_reused

I have a girl crush on you :blushing:

I get the same. I go home and ALL of my family tells me I need to eat more, gain weight, too thin, blah blah blah. I love them to death, but they are all obese-morbidly obese and I just find it wrong.

Don't EVER call anyone fat though. Call anyone skinny, rail thin, gross, disgusting, manly, but NEVER fat :noway:

You are gorgeous and don't let them get you down. I am obese, but I used to be severly morbidly obese. I do agree that too many people in the world are obese...I'm just doing something about it. :flowerforyou:

Aww ty!!

And look at how much progress you are making! You are doing great and becoming more and more healthy. Which is a great attitude!

Comments like "she could really use a sandwich" make me sad I couldn't say the opposite to someone on the boards ya know?? That would be mean!

HeidiRene

A lot of celebrities are not healthy. A lot of people just can't be healthy and be a size 0 or 2. I know some people can but a lot of people's frames are not meant to be that small. When I was a 4/6 (and perfectly happy) some people told me I was too thin. I couldn't have disagreed more; however, I certainly didn't want to lose weight and I definitely think it would have been unhealthy for me to be smaller. However, if I was in Hollywood I would be described as a "big" actress. My profile pic is me as a 4/6 (my inspiration) do I look big? Seriously, if that is described as big it's a recipe for encouraging body dysmorphia and eating disorders.

thecrossfitter

Truth. It especially bothers me when people use the "average american woman's" size/weight/what have you as the comparison for what is realistic for people to reach in terms of size and fitness. The "average" is too effing fat these days, not the gold standard of health.

Do you know what else bothers me about that? The photos showing the average size women - size 12-14 is what I often see cited. In nearly everyone of those photos, those women do NOT look like they wear a size 10. They look far smaller.

elsinora

THIS sums it up for me ......

xo_morgan

Exactly. Someone I ran into the other day asked me if I was "ok" because I lost weight. WTF? If I asked an obese person if they were "ok" I'd get ripped a new one!

Completely agree with this! Its so double standard, ive never heard that i was too skinny or too fat. but i do have some very small friends. & it even irks me when someone says "oh my gosh youre so TINY! Are you OKAY?!"

She eats more than i do..her metabolism is just very high & Shes 5' tall.

DannyMussels

With so many obese folks, overweight is the new "normal"

This guys on fire today.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I'll give you a leg around ;-)

Rae6503

A lot of celebrities are not healthy. A lot of people just can't be healthy and be a size 0 or 2. I know some people can but a lot of people's frames are not meant to be that small. When I was a 4/6 (and perfectly happy) some people told me I was too thin. I couldn't have disagreed more; however, I certainly didn't want to lose weight and I definitely think it would have been unhealthy for me to be smaller. However, if I was in Hollywood I would be described as a "big" actress. My profile pic is me as a 4/6 (my inspiration) do I look big? Seriously, if that is described as big it's a recipe for encouraging body dysmorphia and eating disorders.

I'll never be a size 2 either. I'm 5'9" and 160lbs.

But really, why do we care about Hollywood? How does it make sense to look at a size 0 star and say "she's too skinny so it's okay to be obese"? We need to focus on ourselves. Most of us can tell what is healthy and most of us here know a healthy way to get there. Yes, eating disorders are real, scary and a huge concern. But in all honestly they are much less common than obesity. I looked it up. Only 1% of teenage girls have eating disorders. 15% of them are obese. Not just "overweight". Obese.

EbbySoo

One person's take on fat acceptance, be warned he is quite harsh

http://beastmodaldomains.com/2011/11/09/fat-acceptance-is-unacceptable/

Yep, epic brutal honesty. Some things have to be said, with a side of wake the eff up. 1st world problems people bring onto themselves, make me frustrated to put it lightly.

EmpressOfJudgment

The obesity epidemic plaguing our pets is what I'm really worried about. The obesity rates for cats and dogs is at 54%! Stay away from kibble and friskies, people! Canned food kills!

almc170

http://beastmodaldomains.com/2011/11/09/fat-acceptance-is-unacceptable/

Slightly OT, but still trying to get my head around the concept of "deep-fried butter"...

haleighallen

Bump!
I wanna read this all later when I'm not at work :P