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I'm within the obese range (I weigh 200lbs) and I disagree with the fat acceptance movement!

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Replies

  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    edited January 2019
    Eh, nvm.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    To those wanting to debate body positivity/"Healthy at Every Size"(HAES)/fat acceptance, may I suggest that there's a wonderful sandbox to play in called the 'Debate: Health and Fitness' part of the forum?

    Here's the perfect thread over there:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10376680/fat-acceptance-movement

    It would be good etiquette to read the entire 73 pages (or so) of the ongoing debate before diving in . . . since, y'know, the ground may've already been covered. Maybe 8 times. ;)

    Just a thought.

    (Yeah, this thread started in the "wrong" place; it happens. That could change, but why start anew, even over there?)

    ;););)

    Aaaaaannnnndddd . . . we're now moved to the debate section. My crystal ball is strong! (I'm not the one who flagged it to move, BTW. ;) ). Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket?

    The other thread has already dragged the topic back and forth through the mud, all the way across a couple of continents, really. :drinker:
  • poppytarts70
    poppytarts70 Posts: 20 Member
    I had a woman boss who was short and considered overweight. She did triathlons every year. I have to think that even tho she was overweight she was still a fit individual, moreso than many people who may be thin and aren’t doing triathlons. Don’t know about the fat can’t ve fit thing. I have positive feelings for the fat acceptance movement in the fact that I can see women like me now on tv commercials and they aren’t the funny fat girl but just one of the beautiful women in the commercial. That makes me feel better about myself in a way. I might be fat but maybe I can still be beautiful to more people than my mom. That is a nice very feeling. I still want to lose weight to be healthy because I am not a fat fit person.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    Fat can be fit. Fat is an aesthetic thing. Fit is about exercise and athletics. When I was fat I could outwalk, outrun, out climb stairs many sedentary thin people. My tests were fine. Didn't mean obesity wasn't dangerous.

    Obesity is a risk factor for health issues, even if you are really active. It is better than being obese and not active at all, and is better than being thin and inactive and a smoker or some such, no one is saying different. But even if you have no issues you are likely going to be better off (and will reduce your risk factors) if you get out of the obesity range, all else equal.

    I don't think the same is really true with just being a little overweight. There's some debated analyses about that, but personally (aside from vanity, where I think I look best around 21 BMI), if I struggled to stay at 24 BMI but comfortably could maintain at 26 BMI, I'd likely choose the latter, and not have any health concerns, since stress is also a health issue. At that point I do think things like exercise and lifestyle and genetics trump all else.

    If one feels like they aren't ready or able to lose weight, there are still positive changes they can make, and being active and eating a good diet are certainly among them. When I first lost weight (years ago) I decided I'd be healthy even if I remained fat, and I think that was a good attitude (although of course fixing my diet and exercise led to weight loss as it happened, but since I wasn't convinced it would the focus on "health at any size" (not a thing then, at least not that I knew of) was a good thing).