Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

I don't support the fat acceptance/plus size movement.

1246713

Replies

  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    As for HAES, I've never met a real life one in the wild.

    You are fortunate.
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    edited May 2017
    I agree that being overweight is not ideal and eventually leads to health issues. As I've said before, I've been yo-yo dieting since age of 12, and weight loss has taken up a good portion of my obsession, followed by falling off the wagon, followed by weight gain, followed by self hatred, followed by giving up, followed by at some point feeling good enough about myself to start over, followed by weight loss, followed by giving up..... It's been going on like this for 29 years now, I'm 41 years old. In my late 20's was my largest weight loss, when I actually went from 265 lbs. to 145 lbs. I'm not afraid of exercise. I was actually on the cross country running team in high school, never one of those little toothpick shaped high school girl runners, but a healthy runner, nonetheless. Well, sort of healthy, I wouldn't eat with my family because I only wanted to eat oatmeal made with apples, cinnamon, artificial sweetener and water that was like a paste that I made in the microwave. I was obsessed with being fat since it seemed like so many other people my age were toothpicks. I fluctuate between being somewhat athletic and being obese. To be clear, before anyone gets upset with me for claiming to be (for the time being) an "HAES" who isn't part of the "movement"....by the way, just learned about the "movement" yesterday..... I'm on here to lose weight. I'm logging my calories and working out every day. So don't get too upset by this....

    Does anyone want to see an eff-ing medical miracle? This is my blood work from a couple of months ago before I got back on the wagon. I procrastinated about getting my blood work because I thought for sure being obese would have caught up to me by now. This is my blood work copied and pasted from the online database...pretty cool that we can look up our results online now, rather than just wait for the doctor to say the numbers were normal, or not, or whatever.


    41 years old, female, 232 lbs (Actually, I think I was 245 or 250 at the time of the bloodwork, but current weight is 232 lbs.)

    (copied and pasted)

    Cholesterol 187 mg/dL mg/dL
    REFERENCE RANGE: < 200 Desirable
    200-239 Borderline High
    > 240 High
    Triglycerides 59 mg/dL mg/dL
    REFERENCE RANGE: < 150 Normal
    150-199 Borderline High
    200-499 High
    > 500 Very High
    HDL 57 mg/dL mg/dL
    REFERENCE RANGE: < 40 Low
    > 60 High
    LDL Calculated 118 mg/dL mg/dL
    REFERENCE RANGE: < 100 Optimal
    100-129 Near or above optimal
    130-159 Borderline High
    160-189 High
    > 189 Very High
    Non HDL Cholesterol 130 mg/dL mg/dL
    Target is 30mg/dl above(or over) LDL goal
    Chol/HDL Ratio 3.3
    General Information
    Collected:
    02/17/2017 8:32 AM
    Resulted:
    02/17/2017 12:19 PM

    Component
    Your Value
    Standard Range
    Glucose 94 mg/dL 60 - 99 mg/dL
    Reference Ranges apply only to FASTING samples.
    ADA Guidelines Blood Sugar Levels for Diagnosing Diabetes & Pre-diabetes
    Normal: < 100 mg/dL
    Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG): 100-125 mg/dL
    Diabetes: > 126 mg/dL on two different occasions
    Sodium 138 mmol/L 133 - 145 mmol/L
    Potassium 4.2 mmol/L 3.3 - 5.1 mmol/L
    Chloride 103 mmol/L 96 - 108 mmol/L
    CO2 22 mmol/L 20 - 28 mmol/L
    Anion Gap 13 7 - 16
    UN 7 mg/dL 6 - 20 mg/dL
    Creatinine 0.72 mg/dL 0.51 - 0.95 mg/dL
    GFR,Caucasian 104 * *
    GFR,Black 120 * *
    *UNITS=mL/min/1.73 square meters
    Calcium 8.6 mg/dL 8.8 - 10.2 mg/dL
    General Information
    Collected:
    02/17/2017 8:32 AM
    Resulted:
    02/17/2017 12:19 PM

    Anyway, I would say not too bad for a 41 year old 232 lb. female. I know being fat, if I were to continue being fat, will catch up with me eventually....but these are the numbers from a few months ago. Since I have been exercising and watching my diet almost religiously, If I were to have the blood work done again today, these numbers would be better than this now.
    The only number that is off is my thyroid, I just found out in March that I'm hypothyroid, not sure how long this has been going on, my Dr. doesn't normally order this blood test for me. I hear it's one of the most common medical conditions.

    Component
    Your Value
    Standard Range
    TSH 10.23 uIU/mL 0.27 - 4.20 uIU/mL
    TSH 10.23 uIU/mL 0.27 - 4.20 uIU/mL
    General Information
    Collected:
    03/17/2017 6:58 AM
    Resulted:
    03/17/2017 11:27 AM

    I just started the minimum amount of levothyroxine in March and my follow up bloodwork is going to be later this week. I guess it takes a while to get the levels right, this is all new to me. I'm not sure how it's going to effect me, I'm hoping it gives me more energy when my levels are right. And no...I'm not blaming this on my weight. I read up on it after I found out I had it, it could be to blame for a few lbs, but not the whole thing. Apparently a lot of people have it.
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    wsandy8512 wrote: »
    I think the basic message of the movement is great, "love yourself", but where it's heading lately is what object to...

    "Real women have curves", "Real men prefer meat, not bones", "Why don't they show a 'real' woman in that bathing suit (when the model isn't heavy)", etc.

    It's turned from a loving yourself regardless of overweight/obese campaign, to bashing women of normal and healthy weights. "Real" women come in all shapes and sizes, period.

    Agreed. This, I understand. No need to bash skinny people, we are all different.
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    Gimsteinn1 wrote: »
    I don't agree with you. You can be fat and healthy. Actually, the woman who got me into the fit lifestyle can run for miles, she can do splits, pull ups and moves like a ballerina... yet she's very overweight but still more fit than I am and super healthy.

    But promoting an unhealthy lifestyle with bad food choices and no exercise, now that's a whole different thing.

    Being fat doesn't equal being unhealthy or unfit
    Being skinny doesn't equal being healthy or fit

    You can be skinny but very unhealthy
    You can be fat and unhealthy
    But you can also be skinny + fit and healthy and you can be fat + fit and healthy.

    I think you're just starting your fitness journey and that you've got lot's to learn.

    True.
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    Guess what? I went to the doctor today to review my blood workup, turns out them adjusting my thyroid meds for my Grave disease, coupled with the onset of menopause has made it impossible for my weight to budge despite following a strict diet for over a year. I eat really healthy, my LDL is 114. My blood sugar is a 6.6. My blood pressure was 117/76. But I am 212 pounds by his scale today. He said there are a few medications that might help me shed a few pounds, but the side effects could be devastating to my health, and he would not recommend me taking them. Turns out my risk factors are higher using this medication, and being at a lower weight, than me remaining the same weight I am now, and continuing to eat a healthy diet.

    So what does that mean? That means I better get on board with fat acceptance, and learn how to love myself at this size, and continue to take care of myself as I have been.

    Sometimes I think it's important to think before one speaks about such things. You don't agree with fat acceptance for yourself, well and fine by me, don't be fat then. But don't be putting it off on other folks. You don't know what a person's story is, or why they are fat, and running that anti fat acceptance speech is very unhelpful to folks like me just trying to make it through the day by eating healthy, and keeping the calories down so the scale does not go higher. Think before you speak why don't you!

    Well said! I like it.
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    Today my endocrinologist told me I needed to start eating more calories because my reduction of calories is so low that my createen (spelling?) Was too low as a result of my lowering my calories so far down that I am not getting enough protein, and that I am in dangerous waters because my calories were too low. I suppose I could lower my calories further and could eventually lower them enough to lose weight, but according to the endocrinologist I am risking organ failure by having my calories as low as I have been. But you are right, and my specialist is wrong, of that I'm sure. You just forgot to tell me have a medical degree, and specialize in my medical condition. I stand corrected. How about you assist the doctors when I get the heart transplant, and you can tell them what they are doing wrong?

    I don't actually believe a word you're typing.

    Your prerogative, and not my responsibility to convince you. Facts, are facts, and my friends I've had here on MFP have walked the road with me from the start, so those that matter know the truth. You are inconsequential, and I don't know why I engaged you. Believe what you want, and feel free to have the last word.

    Exactly!
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    edited May 2017
    tpolitza wrote: »
    wsandy8512 wrote: »
    I think the basic message of the movement is great, "love yourself", but where it's heading lately is what object to...

    "Real women have curves", "Real men prefer meat, not bones", "Why don't they show a 'real' woman in that bathing suit (when the model isn't heavy)", etc.

    It's turned from a loving yourself regardless of overweight/obese campaign, to bashing women of normal and healthy weights. "Real" women come in all shapes and sizes, period.

    Agreed. This, I understand. No need to bash skinny people, we are all different.

    You say this but your post up above you refer to girls you ran with as "little toothpick shaped high school runners" and "it seemed so many other people my age were toothpicks"...to me, that's not a compliment and is more in the bashing category.


    True, I'll acknowledge that one. I'm sorry about that one. I was getting worked up about it and used the wrong words. I really don't like this social media part of this thing and can't stop logging back on to this thing. This issue is a really sensitive issue and I'm sure there are plenty of women that feel bad about themselves for being skinny also.

  • BurlzGettingFit
    BurlzGettingFit Posts: 115 Member
    tpolitza wrote: »
    tpolitza wrote: »
    wsandy8512 wrote: »
    I think the basic message of the movement is great, "love yourself", but where it's heading lately is what object to...

    "Real women have curves", "Real men prefer meat, not bones", "Why don't they show a 'real' woman in that bathing suit (when the model isn't heavy)", etc.

    It's turned from a loving yourself regardless of overweight/obese campaign, to bashing women of normal and healthy weights. "Real" women come in all shapes and sizes, period.

    Agreed. This, I understand. No need to bash skinny people, we are all different.

    You say this but your post up above you refer to girls you ran with as "little toothpick shaped high school runners" and "it seemed so many other people my age were toothpicks"...to me, that's not a compliment and is more in the bashing category.


    True, I'll acknowledge that one. I'm sorry about that one. I was getting worked up about it and used the wrong words. I really don't like this social media part of this thing and can't stop logging back on to this thing. This issue is a really sensitive issue and I'm sure there are plenty of women that feel bad about themselves for being skinny also.

    Fair enough, happens to all of us!
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    tpolitza wrote: »
    I agree that being overweight is not ideal and eventually leads to health issues.

    Which is why HAES is a lie, and fat acceptance is death acceptance.
    Does anyone want to see an eff-ing medical miracle? This is my blood work from a couple of months ago before I got back on the wagon. I procrastinated about getting my blood work because I thought for sure being obese would have caught up to me by now. This is my blood work copied and pasted from the online database...pretty cool that we can look up our results online now, rather than just wait for the doctor to say the numbers were normal, or not, or whatever.

    There are a lot of 41 year old smokers who don't have cancer, emphysema and COPD yet.

    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE? EVERYONE ON HERE IS TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, OR GAIN WEIGHT, OR SOMETHING..... DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD HATE OURSELVES FOR IT, OR ACCEPT OURSELVES, IS NONSENSE. PEOPLE PLEASE MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

    I'M REALLY JUST ON HERE TO LOG MY DIET AND EXERCISE AND I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS. I DON'T DO SOCIAL MEDIA BUT IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IS SOCIAL MEDIA THESE DAYS.

    Yet you choose to put your health history on a public forum and get offended when someone comments on it?

    Actually, no one commented on my medical history, my actual blood work results. I just was upset about it when I woke up this morning and figured no-one believed me, so I shared it. I can't delete it now. I can't get this stupid thing out of my head, that's why I don't do social media. Not sure why I looked this post up again. Anyway, I was talking about people being overly concerned about other people being fat, people should mind their own business about that and just look the other way, you don't know what that person is going through.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE?

    That's the exact opposite of HAES/FA. HAES is insisting that fat is healthy and "beautiful". It is not. HAES is an active political movement to try to change people's perception of disgusting narcisists who think a political movement to be "beautiful" is less work than just eating less.

    What specific laws are you concerned they will get passed or what specific things do you think they will achieve.

    As I've mentioned, I don't see them as powerful or socially prominent at all, and if anything I find awareness of obesity as a health risk is nearly universal and certainly more common than it was when I was a kid.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2017
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE?

    That's the exact opposite of HAES/FA. HAES is insisting that fat is healthy and "beautiful". It is not. HAES is an active political movement to try to change people's perception of disgusting narcisists who think a political movement to be "beautiful" is less work than just eating less.

    What specific laws are you concerned they will get passed or what specific things do you think they will achieve.

    As I've mentioned, I don't see them as powerful or socially prominent at all, and if anything I find awareness of obesity as a health risk is nearly universal and certainly more common than it was when I was a kid.

    The most concerning to me is getting weight added to the list of categories against which discrimination is illegal because in that case they can force cost-prohibitive accommodations on businesses, and and make it difficult not to hire (or to fire) employees whose weight is detrimental to their job performance.

    I don't think that will happen. I don't see much risk of it at all. Are there any states that have bills doing this that are anywhere in the process that we could look at?

    Of course, even if such discrimination were made illegal, there would be an exception if there's a legitimate business reason for it, of course, but I also would be against adding weight to the (quite limited) list of things on which employment decisions cannot be based. I think it's unnecessary and would cause more harm than it would avoid.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    these threads in some ways are exactly like the CICO / Nutrition threads. one side is saying "calories for weightloss" and the other side is saying "you can't eat donuts all day, it's unhealthy!" as if they are the same conversation. there's the same kind of disconnect here.

    This is so true.
  • calorielogonly
    calorielogonly Posts: 16 Member
    edited May 2017
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    tpolitza wrote: »
    I agree that being overweight is not ideal and eventually leads to health issues.

    Which is why HAES is a lie, and fat acceptance is death acceptance.
    Does anyone want to see an eff-ing medical miracle? This is my blood work from a couple of months ago before I got back on the wagon. I procrastinated about getting my blood work because I thought for sure being obese would have caught up to me by now. This is my blood work copied and pasted from the online database...pretty cool that we can look up our results online now, rather than just wait for the doctor to say the numbers were normal, or not, or whatever.

    There are a lot of 41 year old smokers who don't have cancer, emphysema and COPD yet.

    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE? EVERYONE ON HERE IS TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, OR GAIN WEIGHT, OR SOMETHING..... DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD HATE OURSELVES FOR IT, OR ACCEPT OURSELVES, IS NONSENSE. PEOPLE PLEASE MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

    I'M REALLY JUST ON HERE TO LOG MY DIET AND EXERCISE AND I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS. I DON'T DO SOCIAL MEDIA BUT IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IS SOCIAL MEDIA THESE DAYS.

    Yet you choose to put your health history on a public forum and get offended when someone comments on it?

    Actually, no one commented on my medical history, my actual blood work results. I just was upset about it when I woke up this morning and figured no-one believed me, so I shared it. I can't delete it now. I can't get this stupid thing out of my head, that's why I don't do social media. Not sure why I looked this post up again. Anyway, I was talking about people being overly concerned about other people being fat, people should mind their own business about that and just look the other way, you don't know what that person is going through.

    I understand and am sorry you feel like that. These discussions tend to make me feel a bit that way too.

    I think it helps to realize that mostly (not entirely) these discussions are people talking past each other, which is why I reposted my comments from page one. If someone came up to me and claimed that obesity was not a health risk (although why they would do that is unclear, so I am a bit skeptical always), I would politely disagree. On a blog I used to read (political, mostly) there was one blogger who would occasionally push the "the obesity epidemic is largely made up and people cannot lose weight" thing, and he would overwhelmingly get push back from the readers of the blog, and I think I responded too, as I disagree.

    On the whole, though, I think that people who tend to feel self-hate and shame associated with obesity (and we are talking long term obesity, or at least more than "oh my goodness, I didn't realize how fat I'd gotten"), often tend to be LESS likely to change if they focus on how much they suck for being fat and how awful they are and are MORE likely to make positive improvements (and lose weight) once they accept themselves as worthwhile people who can do so, and to me that's the positive side of self acceptance or body positivity -- also, for many focusing on the body as what it can do, being healthy, and not mostly physical appearance.

    Feeling better about myself helped me lose weight, and so did dealing with my fear that I was someone who just couldn't by focusing on the things I could do, eat well and be active. (Of course I did lose weight.)

    I don't have a history of yoyo dieting, but I see a lot of truth in what some of the anti diet people say too, with respect to those people's experiences, and for the ones I am most familiar with (Isabel Foxen Duke and Laura Fraser) not dieting does NOT mean being fat. It's a way to get to a healthier approach to food and fitness.




    Thank you
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE?

    That's the exact opposite of HAES/FA. HAES is insisting that fat is healthy and "beautiful". It is not. HAES is an active political movement to try to change people's perception of disgusting narcisists who think a political movement to be "beautiful" is less work than just eating less.

    What specific laws are you concerned they will get passed or what specific things do you think they will achieve.

    As I've mentioned, I don't see them as powerful or socially prominent at all, and if anything I find awareness of obesity as a health risk is nearly universal and certainly more common than it was when I was a kid.

    The most concerning to me is getting weight added to the list of categories against which discrimination is illegal because in that case they can force cost-prohibitive accommodations on businesses, and and make it difficult not to hire (or to fire) employees whose weight is detrimental to their job performance.

    In what kind of job would weight itself be detrimental to job performance? I understand lack of fitness being an issue, but I've worked in busy kitchens and warehouses with overweight people. Some of them did quite well, others didn't. I understand that many overweight people are unfit, but so are some thin people. I would rather evaluate someone by how they did a job.

    policemen? firemen?

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE?

    That's the exact opposite of HAES/FA. HAES is insisting that fat is healthy and "beautiful". It is not. HAES is an active political movement to try to change people's perception of disgusting narcisists who think a political movement to be "beautiful" is less work than just eating less.

    What specific laws are you concerned they will get passed or what specific things do you think they will achieve.

    As I've mentioned, I don't see them as powerful or socially prominent at all, and if anything I find awareness of obesity as a health risk is nearly universal and certainly more common than it was when I was a kid.

    The most concerning to me is getting weight added to the list of categories against which discrimination is illegal because in that case they can force cost-prohibitive accommodations on businesses, and and make it difficult not to hire (or to fire) employees whose weight is detrimental to their job performance.

    I don't think that would happen, though. Anti-discrimination laws focus on things that are an immutable part of us - gender, race, disability, age. The only exception I can think of is religion, and that one's rooted in a long and convoluted history of relationships between church and state (speaking only of the US) that wouldn't be applicable to weight.* There are no anti-discrimination laws requiring companies to hire smokers (at least in CA, and please correct me if I'm wrong elsewhere), and no requirement to accommodate the habit. Same with alcoholics and substance abusers.


    *Unless, of course, HAES set itself up as a religion, which would make for some wildly entertaining law antics.
  • heiliskrimsli
    heiliskrimsli Posts: 735 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    THE POINT IS....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I AM TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE CARE?

    That's the exact opposite of HAES/FA. HAES is insisting that fat is healthy and "beautiful". It is not. HAES is an active political movement to try to change people's perception of disgusting narcisists who think a political movement to be "beautiful" is less work than just eating less.

    What specific laws are you concerned they will get passed or what specific things do you think they will achieve.

    As I've mentioned, I don't see them as powerful or socially prominent at all, and if anything I find awareness of obesity as a health risk is nearly universal and certainly more common than it was when I was a kid.

    The most concerning to me is getting weight added to the list of categories against which discrimination is illegal because in that case they can force cost-prohibitive accommodations on businesses, and and make it difficult not to hire (or to fire) employees whose weight is detrimental to their job performance.

    In what kind of job would weight itself be detrimental to job performance? I understand lack of fitness being an issue, but I've worked in busy kitchens and warehouses with overweight people. Some of them did quite well, others didn't. I understand that many overweight people are unfit, but so are some thin people. I would rather evaluate someone by how they did a job.

    policemen? firemen?

    EMTs, surgeons, train conductors, airline pilots, flight attendants and a host of other jobs that are physically demanding mean obesity affects performance.

    One man already sued a railroad because he was so obese that they were concerned about the strain of the job killing him an declined to hire, so he claimed discrimination. Thankfully he lost because obesity is not a disability.

    That doesn't even get into the structural accommodations that have to be made in workplaces: reinforced chairs, toilets that can hold hundreds of pounds, larger restroom stalls, more elevators, transport on multi-building campuses for employees who literally can't walk from one to the next. Obese employees have higher rates of absenteeism than do normal weight employees.

    i'd like to see a source for the bolded.

    for the rest, i'm just gonna let it go. i know from previous threads that you're level of tolerance is super low for overweight people. i wonder though, if you'd rally so hard against accommodations like wheelchair ramps or disabled access bathroom stalls, or maybe we should reserve the use of those amenities to people who had no part in incurring their injuries.
    you can use this restroom as long as you weren't a bungee jumper, mountain climber or drunk driver injured during your activities.

    https://www.acoem.org/obesitydrain.aspx
This discussion has been closed.