ignorance about obesity on MFP

marycmeadows

avoid the boards. people get too pissy and it is depressing. if you're here doing the damn thing and taking charge of your life, that's awesome, good for you. I just hate seeing so many people on here making excuses.... don't make excuses, find a way. get it done.

Umeboshi

Fatphobia is rampant on MFP, just like everywhere else in society. People just tend to be more vocal about it on here. Probably because some come on here purely because of their hatred of their own and others fat.

I just wish I had more spoons to fight for body acceptance and fat acceptance on here. Right now I don't even click on the fat-hate threads, let alone read them or try to educate people. Maybe one day.

Umeboshi

Ignorance?

People get obese bc of themselves, that's all. Anything is fixable. Including being overweight.

Please elaborate...
I gained a ton of weight because I have a medical condition called PCOS. Unfortunately for me, it makes it much harder for me to lose the weight. I also gained weight when I was pregnant. I fail to see how a medical condition is "because of me". I'm not saying that I can't lose the weight or don't want to or that I have to have the fat sucked out or anything like that. I'm just saying that it's more difficult and that I'm more prone to gaining because of the condition.

PCOS didn't MAKE you gain weight. Calories did. I have PCOS as well. YES it is difficult to lose weight but in the end, our former lifestyles and eating habits made us fat. PERIOD. I cut back carbs, started exercising more and lost my first 25 lbs pretty quickly, then some more. It is possible.

No offense but I often feel people use medical conditions as a crutch or excuse. Too many CALORIES make you gain weight, nothing else.

the point is THIS IS A FITNESS WEBSITE!!!! Everyone here is wanting a CHANGE in themselves, regardless of what brought us here, we are here and don't need to be put down for WHATEVER reason

NO ONE is putting down the people that are making a change. They're putting down the ones who aren't.

And they shouldn't be.

norabeth

Nicely put.

soontobesam

Amen.

Nuff said

nz_deevaa

I have never seen a fat bashing thread. If they exist, they are culled quite quickly. Skinny bashing, on the other hand....every where. Including people being accused of have eating disorders or using steroids.

I talk about obese bashing becasue it was rampid this week and yes it strikes a nerve. I have never bashed skinny people as I used to be extremely skinny and accused of the same thing. I think a general stomp on negativity is the point.

Skinny bashing is much worse, hell my freaking SUCCESS STORY got hijacked the other day by crazy *kitten* people, calling me rude and terrible things. If anything, there should be an anti skinny bashing thread.

Exactly, but that anti skinny bashing thread turned into another ED argument.

Oh right, I forgot that. Y'know because all skinny people have an ED. :P

I saw your success story thread, and I was SHOCKED at the rudeness!

I might be batting for the wrong team (still being morbidly obese myself), but I tend to agree that there is more 'skinny' bashing or 'strong' bashing than fat bashing around these parts.

I've seen threads where someone has posted pictures of them after losing weight, and lifting heavy and OBESE people have said 'You looked better before.' or in one case an obese person just commented 'Yuk'.

As an morbidly obese person, If I posted my 50lb lost success in the success thread NO ONE would post "you looked better before." or "Yuk."

BurkeshireFarms

For such highly productive positively induced website, it has one of the worst community boards that I have ever seen. Way too much anger, animosity, rudeness, drama...not to mention the several dozens craving sexual attention.

I will be avoiding the boards from this point forward.

DesignGuy

It's far easier to put someone down than to be productive and lift them up.

7funnygirl7

Over the last week there have been several posts about how disgusting, lazy, undetermined, undedicated and basically good for nothing obese people are. First let me say that not all of us have gotten this way due to eating unhealthy. Second of all you are posting on MFP and all of us reading your posts about how horrible we are, are on MFP because we have decided to make a difference in our health and weight. So I ask you, if you are so upset and disgusted by obese people not taking care of themselves, why don’t you post it on your facebook where your friends can see how worried you are about their obesity. MFP is a place of encouragement and support, whether its toning and maintain, losing 5 pounds or 100 pounds. Don’t you think self esteem issues had a lot to do with some of us getting this unhealthy? I am 108 pounds overweight and have been on track since the middle of January, down 16 pounds and over 5 inches and get enough dirty looks and am hard enough on myself without coming into the forums reading how YOU feel about ME or any other people struggling with weight when you havent walked a DAY in MY FAT SHOES!!!

A toast to you lady! :drinker: :flowerforyou:
Go by the old saying…if you have nothing nice to say….don’t say anything at all

soontobesam

There are a lot of pretentious, self-important jerks on these forums (as there are in real life) who get their amusement out of running people down because they're too fat, too skinny, too muscular, not muscular enough, have too many tattoos, do the wrong kinds of exercise, set the wrong goals, weigh themselves too often, don't weigh themselves often enough, or because they choose to eat meat, eat carbs, drink alcohol, drink coffee... whatever.

On the other hand, there are many more good, supportive people with positive attitudes who go out of their way to be encouraging or to offer constructive suggestions to those who ask for it.

I pretty much ignore the trolls - they're basically doing it because they're attention *kitten*, and I refuse to give them the satisfaction of knowing they got me riled up by engaging in flame wars with them. Having said that, I know these people are hard to ignore sometimes when they're engaging in personal attacks on you or your choices.

Overall, I find using MFP to be an overwhelmingly positive experience. I'm here mainly for the tools, but I do enjoy participating in the message boards. And I won't let the rude comments from the haters out there get me down, or diminish my resolve to achieve my goals.

All of this.

Elf_Princess1210

If I had a dime for every ignorant comment and cruel treatment thrown at me I'd be very rich.

jcr85

First let me say that not all of us have gotten this way due to eating unhealthy.

I would like to see a healthy diet that causes you to be 100 pounds over weight...

Acg67

Fatphobia is rampant on MFP, just like everywhere else in society. People just tend to be more vocal about it on here. Probably because some come on here purely because of their hatred of their own and others fat.

I just wish I had more spoons to fight for body acceptance and fat acceptance on here. Right now I don't even click on the fat-hate threads, let alone read them or try to educate people. Maybe one day.

Fat acceptance?, here's a counter point (warning language)

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

Elf_Princess1210

Ignorance?

People get obese bc of themselves, that's all. Anything is fixable. Including being overweight.

Please elaborate...
I gained a ton of weight because I have a medical condition called PCOS. Unfortunately for me, it makes it much harder for me to lose the weight. I also gained weight when I was pregnant. I fail to see how a medical condition is "because of me". I'm not saying that I can't lose the weight or don't want to or that I have to have the fat sucked out or anything like that. I'm just saying that it's more difficult and that I'm more prone to gaining because of the condition.

PCOS didn't MAKE you gain weight. Calories did. I have PCOS as well. YES it is difficult to lose weight but in the end, our former lifestyles and eating habits made us fat. PERIOD. I cut back carbs, started exercising more and lost my first 25 lbs pretty quickly, then some more. It is possible.

No offense but I often feel people use medical conditions as a crutch or excuse. Too many CALORIES make you gain weight, nothing else.

the point is THIS IS A FITNESS WEBSITE!!!! Everyone here is wanting a CHANGE in themselves, regardless of what brought us here, we are here and don't need to be put down for WHATEVER reason

NO ONE is putting down the people that are making a change. They're putting down the ones who aren't.

And they shouldn't be.

No one should be put down on here, whether fat or thin, ED or not. People are here to change, and there is enough fat/ED bashing going on outside MFP. It has no place here.

sedb

Amen!

cfred40

OMG 8 pages of BooHOO...he said/she said....boo booo hooo.. Do yourselves a favor....and stop playing the victim. Yes there are mean people, as well as nice, on a public forum. Yes you may have a condition/state that has contributed to your weight/obesity problem. But for the love of god, or buddha, or whoever, stop lying to yourself & making excuses. Man it up. Suck it up.

Some people may have it easier than others, maybe they don't have a condition that hinders weight loss. Guess what? Life isn't fair.. What ya gonna do...cry about it...blame others?

It took me 40 years to get here. 40 years of excuses...trying to take the easy route....blaming others.

The comment was made about the now skinny & fit people on here that used to be obese ( & how they have forgotten what it was like) What a crock of s**t...... I haven't reached that "skinny & fit" state yet, however I'm quite a far distance from the almost 400 pound man I was. The difference between them , me & you ....we're no longer playing the victim....we have used knowledge as a weapon in this war on fat...we own up to our past shortcomings

I know i'm not coming over as a very nice guy...but generally I really am. Instead of investing time & effort into these "bashing threads"...do yourself a favor & GOOGLE. use that energy to gain some knowledge in the areas of nutrition and fitness

As mean as I may sound...I do say all of this with the best of intentions.

Umeboshi

Fatphobia is rampant on MFP, just like everywhere else in society. People just tend to be more vocal about it on here. Probably because some come on here purely because of their hatred of their own and others fat.

I just wish I had more spoons to fight for body acceptance and fat acceptance on here. Right now I don't even click on the fat-hate threads, let alone read them or try to educate people. Maybe one day.

Fat acceptance?, here's a counter point (warning language)

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

Learn the difference between a counter point and bigoted vomit.

Arwhite1865

NO ONE is putting down the people that are making a change. They're putting down the ones who aren't.

Why is even THAT supposed to be okay, though? Leading a lifestyle that causes you to be obese is far from being the only way in which someone can make bad choices for their life, so why should an obese person be put down for theirs? Someone who puts down an obese person may not be obese, but they are surely flawed in other areas of their life and are simply lucky that strangers may not know what they are just by looking at them.

Lastly, even if a person who is obese due to their lifestyle is doing absolutely nothing about it, you still have absolutely no idea what is going on in their life. My mother is obese due to her eating habits and is doing absolutely nothing to lose weight, but she's also raised five kids, is 60-years-old, has always held and continues to hold a full-time job, and takes care of her disabled husband after work everyday and on weekends. Other people will have other things going on that may present obstacles, including mental and emotional issues, and they will hopefully overcome those and focus on getting healthy, but you just don't know what's going on with someone. Ideally, everyone would have the time, energy, motivation, and mental/emotional health to make a dedicated effort to lose weight like many of us here are, but like with anything else in life, things don't often work out perfectly that way and it would be naive to think that everything is that clear cut.

r1ghtpath

i was talking to someone about something similar to this today.

looking at me is deceiving. if you look at me, you probably assume I'm not in shape. that i don't take care of myself. that i eat too much, and don't work out. or that i'm lazy.

today, i took my kids swimming. then i got on the treadmill and ran an 11 min mile. that was the first time i had run in over three weeks, and the first time i had run a full mile WITHOUT stopping in years!!! so basically the first time running a mile, in a VERY long time, and i ran it in 11 min. which really isn't that bad.

i love lifting weights too and have no problem pushing myself harder and harder!

but, i doubt ANYONE sees those things in me. for whatever reason, i work out and work out and work out, but i don't lose weight. i figure, it just is what it is......

Umeboshi

First let me say that not all of us have gotten this way due to eating unhealthy.

I would like to see a healthy diet that causes you to be 100 pounds over weight...

Look up healthy 2000 calorie diets, because that's what I'd eat to maintain my current weight of 240 pounds. ;D I'm pretty sure there are plenty out there.