Is accepting fatness a good thing?

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  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    I don't judge others for being overweight, but it isn't something I accept for myself. I like being healthy and strong.
  • elkahallick
    elkahallick Posts: 1,138 Member
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    With everything said above I want you to look at it this way... If fat people do think its appropriate for anyone to talk about their weight and not to be judged then I would hope they could keep their judgments about my lifestyle today... Thirst week I had an over weight nurse say "just how long do actually think you can go loggin everything to eat?", then I had the clerck at the grocery store say "you never buy anything fun" and then today a out of shape gas station attendant said "you've lost too much weight"... So lets all be accepting of others, but I wish they'd return the favor... Here's my saying "don't comment on my eating, weight or lifestyle and I won't on yours"
  • SusanMcAvoy
    SusanMcAvoy Posts: 445 Member
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    bump
  • Sovictorrious
    Sovictorrious Posts: 770 Member
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    I think people need to love who they are.

    I don't judge people because I do not know their story.

    Someone may see me on a random Tuesday and assume that all I do is sit on my *kitten* and eat.

    They see me as overweight and unhealthy. They do not know my story or what I do on a daily basis.

    Basically, stop worrying abut the next person. Take care of your body and do what you can to make it stronger and healthier.

    If we all did this then maybe the weight issue would die down.

    Meanwhile right now I am the healthiest i have ever been in my life, but to a stranger I am just obese.

    I cannot change what anyone think and I don't want to walk around wearing a sign with my diet and exercise routine outlined.

    So while I wait for my body to change, I love the fucck out of this body I have right now.

    And if anyone hates me for it....I don't CARE!
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
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    I was a happy fat person, I accepted my fatness and I didn't care that I was unhealthy. I'd still be over 200 lbs if my dad didn't have his heart attack. I had to see him in the hospital bed, connected up to who knows what, and seeing him in pain and he was just so weak. I remember not knowing if he would survive having quadruple bypass surgery. After he survived everything, I took a hard look at myself. This made me want to get healthy, this scare and fear of being in the hospital myself is my motivation. My only goal is to be healthy. I don't care what size I wear as long as its a healthy size and weight I have achieved.
  • marketdimlylit
    marketdimlylit Posts: 1,601 Member
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    N.o.
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
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    I didn't read the replies, but while it is not a good thing to accept being heavy, it is also not a good thing to think Skinny means healthy.

    I am considered Obese based on my BMI. My husband weighs what he should. I exercise 4 to 6 times a week and eat lots of veggies. He never exercises, eats like no veggies and drinks at least once a week. My cholesterol and BP is perfect, sugars, triglycerides all good. His Cholesterol is high, triglycerides are high too. BP is fine. We both went for Life Insurance, his was on target with the estimate for his age, my price went down because I am so healthy :) He likes to pretend its his family history, but I know its his cholesterol and the meds.

    So being thin doesn't mean as much overall.
  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
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    People should always be treated with respect no matter what size they are.

    That said, no, I am not comfortable with the idea of "fat acceptance" in the sense I don't think poor health is something that should be accepted. Obesity not only affects a person's own quality of life, but it affects the people around them, including their loved ones, and society in general, like the costs of health care as well.

    Of course the answer isn't just shaming people about their weight. I think so many factors can come into play about why people struggle with this, like economics, available support systems, education, work, stress, emotional wellbeing.

    People that are fat or obese just want to be treated and loved like human beings, but I am doubtful that most are really comfortable with being so heavy when confronted with it as a serious health issue.
  • Mongognom
    Mongognom Posts: 123
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    Not discriminating against obese people should be second nature. That being said, rather than shaming obese people into exercising, we should praise people who are willing to keep themselves in shape and eat well.

    We should give people the option to be healthy. By making sure that children learn nutrition at school, by making sure that there are stores in all neighborhoods that sell healthy food, and that companies don't dump the prizes of unhealthy food in poor neighborhoods. And then there is a whole different conversation about food security, but that is a much bigger picture debate.
  • cogsblogs23
    cogsblogs23 Posts: 33
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    Personally, no - I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life, and along with my self-esteem being significantly lower than any other time in my life, I am experiencing ailments I've never felt before which I know to be weight related, and I am holding myself back from doing things I probably would feel either physically or mentally equipped to do if I were thinner. Accepting fatness for me would mean that I should accept a lower quality of life and I won't.

    I was in a relationship with someone who was genuinely NOT affected by my weight, and embraced my size. As nice as it was to know he didn't care what size I was, I ballooned during that relationship. His acceptance of my fatness spilled over to me accepting it for a period of time, and living a really indulgent lifestyle. I take full responsibility for MY size, nobody is shoving food down my throat, but looking back, I definitely think having a support network which positively encourages healthy habits as opposed to embracing fatness is definitely better.
  • Mongognom
    Mongognom Posts: 123
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    I didn't read the replies, but while it is not a good thing to accept being heavy, it is also not a good thing to think Skinny means healthy.

    I am considered Obese based on my BMI. My husband weighs what he should. I exercise 4 to 6 times a week and eat lots of veggies. He never exercises, eats like no veggies and drinks at least once a week. My cholesterol and BP is perfect, sugars, triglycerides all good. His Cholesterol is high, triglycerides are high too. BP is fine. We both went for Life Insurance, his was on target with the estimate for his age, my price went down because I am so healthy :) He likes to pretend its his family history, but I know its his cholesterol and the meds.

    So being thin doesn't mean as much overall.

    QFT
  • Mongognom
    Mongognom Posts: 123
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    Teach him to make healthy choices and to look past commercials and what he is told on TV. Teach him that healthy food can be sweet and savory, teach him how to cook for himself and to enjoy cooking. Teach him that while he shouldn't shame someone for making bad choices, that doesn't mean he has to make the same bad choices.

    How old is he? Because at some point he can handle hearing that he has to be healthy to run faster, play longer without getting tired.
  • fIashforward
    fIashforward Posts: 66 Member
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    Yes. It is a good thing.

    Accepting fatness doesn't necessarily mean that we view fat as good though.

    It should be treated as hair colour or eye colour, we all have different colours but no one really cares. So if someone is okay with being big then let them be, and if they want to lose weight let them.

    There should be no thin = good or fat = bad. If someone is happy at 350lbs or someone is happy at 120lbs, who cares? It should all be viewed the same.

    Another point: skinny people and skinny models wouldn't be so "idolised" if we accepted all sizes.
  • kaymdir
    kaymdir Posts: 1
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    To an extent, yes it is. Morbid obesity is unhealthy, but why is one person's health any other person's business? I think it's more important that people be judged as a whole and not reduced to their size. It seems like if you're fat that's pretty much your only defining characteristic. Who cares if you're smart, funny, creative, adventurous, educated...it doesn't matter, you're fat.

    Obesity is certainly a health issue, but I know plenty of thin people who are very unhealthy. My best friend, for example- thin, yes. Also a smoker who coughs and hacks so much he even does it in his sleep now, without noticing. He subsists on cigarettes, coffee, and energy drinks, with the occasional sandwich bought from a convenience store cooler. He can't walk around the park without gasping for air. He gets sick at least two or three times every winter and it lasts for weeks. But at least he's thin!! Meanwhile, I am working on losing forty pounds, but I walk every day, eat healthy food, have perfect blood pressure and cholesterol, and almost never get sick. Yet people look at me and think I'm the one who's unhealthy?
  • Nikoruo
    Nikoruo Posts: 771 Member
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    Well, it's not that we should accept morbid obesity BUT slightly fat or chubby as we call it should be acceptable. As long as you are healthy and doctors say you're fine then no one else's opinions on it should matter. I see images of people online who look like this (posted below) and are attacked brutally and called horrible names. Like that just doesn't make sense! They look healthy. Sure they have a little more but it's not actually causing any harm to themselves. People need to accept that weight and even a bit bigger, as long as they are still healthy like i said. You don't have to like it, just accept it.

    girl.jpg
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    I DO think that the overall trend to 'love yourself whatever' isn't that great.

    So often we seem to be removing the impetuous to improve oureslves.

    If people tell me I SHOULD be happy being fat and unhealthy and I believed them, why would I want to improve myself.

    I think people should be allowed to feel bad about their current situation - but take solace from the fact they CAN change their situation and be happy that they are working towards their goals.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
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    I don't want anyone to think I am being mean. This is an honest question. I understand as a population we are getting fatter all the time. I know I am guilty of it, that's why I am here trying to lose weight. But it seems like there is this big push to just accept fatness and leave it at that. My problem with that is that we know it isn't healthy. We idolize super skinny people, but commercials promote crappy food and drinks. I accept that I am fat now, and I don't believe in shaming people for their weight, but I also know that I would be much healthier if I lost some of the excess.

    Is it really a good thing to just accept that people are getting heavier?
    Accept people...........................don't accept fatness. Is it fair to sit comfortably in a seat on a bus, then have someone who is obese come and sit right beside you easily taking up their seat and extending into yours? And each time the bus stops, you can feel the weight of that person against you? Actually had this happen to me at Disney World.
    I treat my obese/very overweight clients like people. Most are very very nice. So accept them as people. I don't accept that people HAVE to be fat and neither do they.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    With everything said above I want you to look at it this way... If fat people do think its appropriate for anyone to talk about their weight and not to be judged then I would hope they could keep their judgments about my lifestyle today... Thirst week I had an over weight nurse say "just how long do actually think you can go loggin everything to eat?", then I had the clerck at the grocery store say "you never buy anything fun" and then today a out of shape gas station attendant said "you've lost too much weight"... So lets all be accepting of others, but I wish they'd return the favor... Here's my saying "don't comment on my eating, weight or lifestyle and I won't on yours"

    Body shaming, in any form, shouldn't be socially acceptable. I get just as irritated with the whole "real men love curves" or "only dogs love bones" comments as I do with the things that have been said to me personally in the past where my weight is concerned. Accepting oneself and learning to love the skin you are in at the moment is important, in my opinion, and nobody should feel entitled to make such judgemental comments.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    I accept that the only body I have power over is my own. But I am not going to lie to anyone if they ask me if appearances don't play a part in how people are treated. I have a stepdaughter who is morbidlly obese at age 25. She subscribes to all the "curvy women rule" facebook forums, etc. I noticed she has started losing weight for health purposes. I think those "accept fatness" groups help her feel better about herself and she is trying to get healthier. So maybe acceptance of our "fatness" is the start to "owning" who we are so we realize we have a choice. Not sure. Glad I found the pathway to my current weight and maintenance.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
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    Just a quick question: Would you consider someone healthy who may be overweight, but has good blood profiles, low stress, etc., but has chronic pain (light) in their knees, low back, feet and shoulders (not from exercising, but just everyday movement)?
    Why do I ask? Because these happen to be the common issues that many people who are just overweight complain about.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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