Fat Acceptance

fiveohmike

In reality the only thing that will work in the end, and what sites like what was posted, to fight obesity is taking away people free will and choice. Simple as that.

If people have choice and free will they will do and eat whatever they want.

The nanny-state is already going towards regulating your refrigerator. Look at NYC and the ban on 16+ oz drinks. It will do nothing for obesity. People will just buy two drinks. Then the Mayor will be like, lets regulate it so you can only buy one drink per person ect.

fiveohmike

I have to disagree on one point, obesity is not like smoking at all. You don't have to smoke to live, but you have to eat. And your eating patterns, attitude towards food, and tendency toward obesity are all set when you're young when you simply have no control over it. If you're an overweight child you've got a lifetime of fighting against obesity ahead of you.

Now, regarding this movement: I'm still a fat person myself, having just dropped from an obese BMI to an overweight BMI, And having faced size discrimination myself, I fully believe that a person is not their weight.

However, I don't give much credence to the fat acceptance movement. It would be one thing if the movement, from what I know of it, was encouraging its members to work toward a healthy weight, but they're not. The message that I've heard from them is that fat people are fine just the way they are, and **** anyone who doesn't like it.

I chose not to like it.

Their movements message is "People are weak and wont be able to change/learn how to maintain their weight, so society needs to adapt to them".

pastryari

Being fat is a choice. Aren't most people on here because we've made the choice to not be fat anymore? (I use the term "fat" loosely.)
Discriminating against someone for weight, race, etc. is wrong in my eyes.
But encouraging obese people and telling them that it's okay is wrong, too. It is not healthy.

I've always got from the "fat acceptance" thing that we should accept obesity. Is that what it is promoting or is it just promoting accepting a person regardless of their weight?

slowturtle1

"Scientific studies show that the majority of people cannot achieve long-term sustainable weight loss.

I disagree. I'd say the truth is more likely that people DO not achieve long-term sustainable weight loss. That does not mean they CANNOT do it. I have been reading a very old book called Eating Awareness Training that speaks to the reasons why most people struggle and stay overweight. The same ideas are still discussed today and are basically that as a society we have bought into the "dieting" mentality. In a nutshell, as long as we "diet" our weight will be a problem. I know it has been true for me. I tried the "fat acceptance" thing and soon realized it was just a cop out for me--a way to avoid another failed dieting experience. So I quite dieting and started losing weight. Maybe it's a paradox, but it's worked for me.

pastryari

I have to disagree on one point, obesity is not like smoking at all. You don't have to smoke to live, but you have to eat. And your eating patterns, attitude towards food, and tendency toward obesity are all set when you're young when you simply have no control over it. If you're an overweight child you've got a lifetime of fighting against obesity ahead of you.

Now, regarding this movement: I'm still a fat person myself, having just dropped from an obese BMI to an overweight BMI, And having faced size discrimination myself, I fully believe that a person is not their weight.

However, I don't give much credence to the fat acceptance movement. It would be one thing if the movement, from what I know of it, was encouraging its members to work toward a healthy weight, but they're not. The message that I've heard from them is that fat people are fine just the way they are, and **** anyone who doesn't like it.

I chose not to like it.

Their movements message is "People are weak and wont be able to change/learn how to maintain their weight, so society needs to adapt to them".

That's pathetic. People need to learn how to take control over their own lives. Whether it be to start exercising more, eating less, or go learn about your bodies. Isn't this why they taught health/nutrition in schools??

SPNLuver83

I think its stupid as hell. That's just saying its perfectly ok to be unhealthy. It's not ok. And our children should not be taught that.

StarkLark

"Scientific studies show that the majority of people cannot achieve long-term sustainable weight loss.

I disagree. I'd say the truth is more likely that people DO not achieve long-term sustainable weight loss. That does not mean they CANNOT do it. I have been reading a very old book called Eating Awareness Training that speaks to the reasons why most people struggle and stay overweight. The same ideas are still discussed today and are basically that as a society we have bought into the "dieting" mentality. In a nutshell, as long as we "diet" our weight will be a problem. I know it has been true for me. I tried the "fat acceptance" thing and soon realized it was just a cop out for me--a way to avoid another failed dieting experience. So I quite dieting and started losing weight. Maybe it's a paradox, but it's worked for me.

I agree with your sentiment (especially about dieting) but I think the key word is "majority". Either the majority can or cannot keep the weight off. If the stats show that most can't then those are just the facts.

loneworg

I think there should be just people accepctance, be it if the person small or large. Now the actul fat acceptance movment in it sounds like a bunch of fat people who want society to change for them which I think is wrong. We got ourselves fat not soceity. Just imo

becoming_a_new_me

As a former massively obese person, I can say this much...when you are over 300+ (in my case, I was 450), life sucks. It really does...people look at you like you have 3 heads, you have to buy extra tickets to ride the plane, you can't ride the rides at the carnival, and your *kitten* hangs over the edges of the motor scooter at the grocery store (the one you have to ride because you are so massively overweight that you can't walk the length of the store without having a coronary). So here is my opinion:

I never once expected people to accomodate me because I chose to eat myself into that state
I would not impose my physical condition on anyone because again; it was my choice
I did not expect people to respect my condition, because quite frankly, I did not respect myself.

Here is what I did expect:

To be treated like a human being with feelings
Not to be talked about in a negative manner right in front of me as if I were invisible

I have lost ALOT of weight, and I am incredibly confident in myself even though at 260#, I am still technically obese. Here is my take on this bill....right now when people look at me they assume that I am: lazy, slothful, unhealthy, non-athletic, have a poor diet, etc. Here is the facts about who I am now: I work out on average 10-12 hours a week, I am now off all my meds and my doctor is jealous of my good health, my endurance when I work out is anywhere from 2-3 hours....yes, I am the fat chick on the track lapping your tired *kitten*, my diet (today excluded) is fairly clean with very little fast food and 8-10 servings of veggies per day.

Who am I? I am the fat chick that you look at and say "I'll never be that bad", but you know what? You don't know me, and you don't know my journey. Do I think this bill is bullsh!t? Yes, I do...it is not specific enough to be taken seriously. Do I think that obesity should be a protected class? YES. This is why: when I was 450#, I was lucky to find a job making $8 an hour....now I make much more than that doing a job that actually is easier than I was doing before. The only difference is that I am nearly 200# less. I do not feel that an obese, qualified person should be overlooked because of an assumption that they cannot do the job. I run circles around my co-workers, and they have been there anywhere from 13-18 YEARS more than me. Most of them weigh less than me, and quite frankly, my employer was shocked at my work ethic. I was hired because I was the most qualified and exuded the most confidence, but they still never saw this amount of work ethic when they hired me.

Anywho...I rambled a bit, but that is my two cents.

zenchild

I was sliding towards chubby but never got fat. I was heading that way though. I'm very short and look young so I was always trying to get people to treat me like the adult that I am rather than the teenager I looked like. However, I do know two people who are/were obese.

My best friend has lost almost 100 pounds over the past few years. She has always been very smart, wicked funny, and beautiful. The biggest change is that she is making an effort to be healthier. She is always looking to improve her health, her job, her life. She carries herself well. And I don't mean her weight. I mean she stands up straight, looks you in the eye, and speaks her mind. Through our friendship I have seen how her weight affects her. She's now overweight and probably always will be. She can also stomp me in a workout. I am proud to know her and proud that she is my friend. And I tell her so. I should also say I've never thought of her as fat. I recognize that she is overweight but it just never enters my mind when I think of her.

The other person is my brother-in-law. He is morbidly obese and gaining. He is a walking stereotype. He is lazy and stupid (really, dumbest person I've ever met). He is self-entitled. 31 years old and still lives with, and off Daddy. He will occasionally make the slightest effort towards improvement (if someone is there to hold his hand and tell him he's fantastic for not finishing the large pizza) but as soon as it involves actual work, he gives up. His daily activities involve trips to the bathroom and the fridge, with frequent naps and hours spend searching for anything Billy Joel related. He complains of chest pain, knee pain, not sleeping at night and then eats another cheeseburger. The family doctor offered him free health care if he would work on losing weight. He starved himself for a couple weeks, lost 20 pounds, lost interest and gained 50.

So there you go. Two fat people who are complete opposites. So maybe we don't need to work on fat acceptance as much as we do learning to judge people for who they are. It may take some time to get to know a person, but it would be worth the time. I like my best friend because she is smart and funny and is just as twisted as I am. I dislike my brother-in-law because he is lazy and self-entitled. The weight is just a consequence of lazy and self-entitled.

The biggest difference is the effort they put into their daily lives. BFF puts forth a lot of effort into everything she does. BIL does everything possible to avoid effort. That's what we should be basing our decisions on, not weight.

Sorry if this is long and rambling. It's way past my bedtime and I've had a hellish day. I was just talking with the BFF about fat acceptance a while ago and it hurt me that some people got so caught up in her clothing size that they didn't see what an amazing person she is.

Umeboshi

Firm supporter of fat acceptance and health at every size.

Here are some resources on why fat doesn't automatically equal unhealthy:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/us-obesity-heartrisk-idUKBRE84N0VU20120524

http://obesitymyths.com/
in particular, http://obesitymyths.com/myth4.1.htm (full citations available in the PDF at the bottom of the page)

http://www.livescience.com/10777-obese-healthy-gray-area-confounds-science.html

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20090625/study-overweight-people-live-longer

I think the important thing to remember is that every person regardless of size deserves to be treated as well as you'd treat anyone else. Size discrimination IS a big issue in our current society.

mrs_deg1983

A person is more than their weight. They have thoughts, feelings, desires, and emotions just like a skinny person. To me, "fat acceptance" isn't saying being fat is healthy, or ideal, or idolized. Its accepting that the adjective "fat" isn't the sole defining characteristic of a person. Fat people deal with a lot of assumptions made about them - they're lazy, dumb, slow, low-class. You see a person, and judge them immediately, simply because of their weight. That is unfair, and dehumanizing. We all have an inner life that lives on regardless of how our exterior appears.

Fat people know they're fat. They're not blind. To me, fat acceptance is recognizing the person within the person, and treating them with the same humanity we should treat all others. Be kind, as everyone is carrying within them a struggle.

well said

jillian769

A person is more than their weight. They have thoughts, feelings, desires, and emotions just like a skinny person. To me, "fat acceptance" isn't saying being fat is healthy, or ideal, or idolized. Its accepting that the adjective "fat" isn't the sole defining characteristic of a person. Fat people deal with a lot of assumptions made about them - they're lazy, dumb, slow, low-class. You see a person, and judge them immediately, simply because of their weight. That is unfair, and dehumanizing. We all have an inner life that lives on regardless of how our exterior appears.

Fat people know they're fat. They're not blind. To me, fat acceptance is recognizing the person within the person, and treating them with the same humanity we should treat all others. Be kind, as everyone is carrying within them a struggle.

I totally agree with you.

reyopo

I'm a certified Nutritionist with a new practice. While in school, and learning about all the harm processed foods do to our bodies, and Western society's tendency toward obesity, I realized how I can be judgmental when I see people making unhealthy food choices.. I also recognize when reading through these forums, how easy it can be to sound preachy, critical, or self-righteous on matters of health, whether we mean to or not. We brag about our good habits, and debate over the best macro ratio/workout routine/healthy fat source source etc...this, of course is absolutely acceptable and, in fact, crucial to the process while we are in the process of lifestyle change. My revelation then, however, was that all of that must be set aside the moment I become a practitioner. Obviously, I want and need to be an educator, but I can't save the world, only the willing. And while some might respond to a disparaging educator, most will respond better to an encouraging and positive one. When an obese person comes to me as a client, I must keep in mind that he/she made a personal choice to do so, perhaps a very humbling one at that, and is not paying me to tell her she is wrong, or even that she could "do better". My job is to illustrate for her a new picture of well being, and to help her achieve her goals through my expertise. I have plenty of friends with bad habits and extra weight, but unless they ask for my advice, I'm not going to offer it (unless I see immediate life-threatening risk, of course). That said, I sort of agree with BOTH of you, plinchi and fiveohmike. Kindness and compassion for people as individuals, but essentially encouraging obesity by target marketing and a 7-11 on every corner IS dumbing us down, and needs to be attacked at the corporate level, IMO.

DeckerDoll

I have really strong feelings on this. I do accept people no doubt about that. But generally speaking, being overweight is not healthy.

So to me...if it's okay to accept an unhealthy lifestyle directly related to weight then why are we so not accepting of pro-anorexia?

Well...I guess there are those that are. And not gonna lie, that's how I found this site. Thank goodness it's helped me change.

misspersimmon

I think the key behind fat, and any body acceptance for that matter, is that nobody else's health is our responsibility or problem. There are tons of people who are thin, or having eating disorders, or have bad eating habits and are naturally thin, and they get a 'pass' when it comes to ridicule about their size. A lot of times they are even applauded for it. Fat people, on the other hand, are automatically assumed to be unhealthy and lazy. There is no assumption that is more un-accurate, presumptuous, or misleading. Fat people are fat for a variety of different reasons. Some of the people I know who are bigger eat healthier and exercise more than I do, and that is just the way their bodies are. The basis surrounding the fat acceptance movement is that every body deserves respect, reverence, and everyone deserves to be treated kindly. I embrace the fat acceptance movement because I think it is healthy and strong, for the mind, heart and spirit.

strawberrie_milk

It disgusts me that these people actually try to discourage others from losing weight. It's one thing to accept your own body. If you like being fat, then so be it. But do not try to influence others to stop dieting if they want to become healthier. I've read around some FA blogs, and a lot of them seem to think that other people should change to suit fat people's needs. Selfish and ridiculous.

Umeboshi

I think they key behind fat, and any body acceptance for that matter, is that nobody else's health is our responsibility or problem. There are tons of people who are thin, or having eating disorders, or have bad eating habits and are naturally thin, and they get a 'pass' when it comes to ridicule about their size. A lot of times they are even applauded for it. Fat people, on the other hand, are automatically assumed to be unhealthy and lazy. There is no assumption that is more un-accurate, presumptuous, or misleading. Fat people are fat for a variety of different reasons. Some of the people I know who are bigger eat healthier and exercise more than I do, and that is just the way their bodies are. The basis surrounding the fat acceptance movement is that every body deserves respect, reverence, and everyone deserves to be treated kindly. I embrace the fat acceptance movement because I think it is healthy and strong, for the mind, heart and spirit.

mrs_deg1983

As a former massively obese person, I can say this much...when you are over 300+ (in my case, I was 450), life sucks. It really does...people look at you like you have 3 heads, you have to buy extra tickets to ride the plane, you can't ride the rides at the carnival, and your *kitten* hangs over the edges of the motor scooter at the grocery store (the one you have to ride because you are so massively overweight that you can't walk the length of the store without having a coronary). So here is my opinion:

I never once expected people to accomodate me because I chose to eat myself into that state
I would not impose my physical condition on anyone because again; it was my choice
I did not expect people to respect my condition, because quite frankly, I did not respect myself.

Here is what I did expect:

To be treated like a human being with feelings
Not to be talked about in a negative manner right in front of me as if I were invisible

I have lost ALOT of weight, and I am incredibly confident in myself even though at 260#, I am still technically obese. Here is my take on this bill....right now when people look at me they assume that I am: lazy, slothful, unhealthy, non-athletic, have a poor diet, etc. Here is the facts about who I am now: I work out on average 10-12 hours a week, I am now off all my meds and my doctor is jealous of my good health, my endurance when I work out is anywhere from 2-3 hours....yes, I am the fat chick on the track lapping your tired *kitten*, my diet (today excluded) is fairly clean with very little fast food and 8-10 servings of veggies per day.

Who am I? I am the fat chick that you look at and say "I'll never be that bad", but you know what? You don't know me, and you don't know my journey. Do I think this bill is bullsh!t? Yes, I do...it is not specific enough to be taken seriously. Do I think that obesity should be a protected class? YES. This is why: when I was 450#, I was lucky to find a job making $8 an hour....now I make much more than that doing a job that actually is easier than I was doing before. The only difference is that I am nearly 200# less. I do not feel that an obese, qualified person should be overlooked because of an assumption that they cannot do the job. I run circles around my co-workers, and they have been there anywhere from 13-18 YEARS more than me. Most of them weigh less than me, and quite frankly, my employer was shocked at my work ethic. I was hired because I was the most qualified and exuded the most confidence, but they still never saw this amount of work ethic when they hired me.

Anywho...I rambled a bit, but that is my two cents.

Congrats on the weight loss and the healthy life style change.

fiveohmike

It disgusts me that these people actually try to discourage others from losing weight. It's one thing to accept your own body. If you like being fat, then so be it. But do not try to influence others to stop dieting if they want to become healthier. I've read around some FA blogs, and a lot of them seem to think that other people should change to suit fat people's needs. Selfish and ridiculous.

Thats the problem I have against the FA movement. I have nothing against fat people. I have everything against the FA movement and the **** message they preach.