Do fat women who are Body-Positive really love being fat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lost 60 pounds which makes me just 50 pounds overweight. I will likely never lose that other 50 pounds but I feel better, move more and look better in a smaller body. I had forgotten how it felt to try clothes on in a store and have them fit. To not feel like people were watching and judging me when I ate or tried to exercise. I did/do not love being fat. But it is unhealthy to hate my body, which gets me up every day and gets me around the world. I think the body positivity movement is about not hating your body and honoring what it can do.

This. I'm working on loving my body just so I *can* lose weight.

Body positivity is great. Healthy at every size is a fantasy. The OP asked about HAES.

I’m a registered dietitian in dc working in weight management and I think this sums it up perfectly

Maybe not every size but acting like a size 12, 14, 16 is unhealthy is incorrect.

Well that definitely depends on height...

RDN in weight management again. That is correct. i would never assume that someone is overweight simply based on their dress size. Health care professionals use real evidence, not appearances.

Not true ... I’ve had orthopedics tell me to lose weight even though my BMI was midrange and my primary had just told me to gain weight which is why I was midrange.

Doctors are not good st everything.

[Anonymous]

I am really in owe of these women who can love themselves despite what society wants them to look like. I wish I could feel proud of myself. I am about 15 lbs over healthy BMI, but when I look at myself, I hate everything I see, from neck down. I am 40 now, but this started around age 10, when my parents kept saying something like “big boned” or “she will lose weight during puberty. In high school I was at the top of what is normal BMI and remember my parents telling me to eat less, or not wear certain tops because it accentuated my fat stomach. I have had a lifetime of crash diets, weight lost, weight gained. I will sometimes go for days without eating and them gorge myself until I can’t take anymore.

[Anonymous]

There is a theory I have heard that I completely believe as they enter my 40s. Women that are objectively thin at this age are either a) genetically small. Look at their mothers and sisters. Or b) disordered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The average size 12, 14, and 16 woman is overweight bordering obese. It is unhealthy. Sorry snowflake, science doesn’t agree with you.

Why are some people so dense? Does anybody think this is an intelligent statement?

The average 0-6 is also not healthy.

That is why size 8 is perfect.

Also women are getting bigger. It biology. Small women marry bigger and taller men. Their daughters will be bigger.

LOL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a complete fantasy that excess weight (and I mean more than 20 lbs overweight) causes zero health problems.

When you have more weight for your body to carry, it necessarily puts more pressure on your muscles and bones. At the extreme, it's harder for doctors to do surgery because they have to cut through the fat.

For some people, they can't help it, but for many it's PREVENTABLE.

That's why it's completely different from having special needs and comparing the two is offensive.

You can say the same about being xs and s or at the bottom of your BMI. It causes health related problems.

Most Japanese people are size S or XS and yet one of the longest living nations in the world

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lost 60 pounds which makes me just 50 pounds overweight. I will likely never lose that other 50 pounds but I feel better, move more and look better in a smaller body. I had forgotten how it felt to try clothes on in a store and have them fit. To not feel like people were watching and judging me when I ate or tried to exercise. I did/do not love being fat. But it is unhealthy to hate my body, which gets me up every day and gets me around the world. I think the body positivity movement is about not hating your body and honoring what it can do.

This. I'm working on loving my body just so I *can* lose weight.

Body positivity is great. Healthy at every size is a fantasy. The OP asked about HAES.

I’m a registered dietitian in dc working in weight management and I think this sums it up perfectly

Maybe not every size but acting like a size 12, 14, 16 is unhealthy is incorrect.

Well that definitely depends on height...

RDN in weight management again. That is correct. i would never assume that someone is overweight simply based on their dress size. Health care professionals use real evidence, not appearances.

Ah. RDN. Those lovely ghouls who helped convince us all that dietary fat was the devil, that satiating butter, animal fat and egg yolks were worse for us than anything, that if we put butter on vegetables we might just as well not eat them. The period in which that was the advice coincided with America’s astonishing weight gain. Hmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a complete fantasy that excess weight (and I mean more than 20 lbs overweight) causes zero health problems.

When you have more weight for your body to carry, it necessarily puts more pressure on your muscles and bones. At the extreme, it's harder for doctors to do surgery because they have to cut through the fat.

For some people, they can't help it, but for many it's PREVENTABLE.

That's why it's completely different from having special needs and comparing the two is offensive.

You can say the same about being xs and s or at the bottom of your BMI. It causes health related problems.

When did I say it didn't?

Jeez, it's so triggering for all of you to hear that ANYONE who is fat might bear some responsibility for it and might be suffering health consequences.

Not nearly as triggering as it is for some people to hear that there are fat people out there who still love themselves and are happy.

They can love themselves and be happy, but they're likely still suffering health consequences from it and COULD bear responsibility for gaining that much weight.

And before someone attacks me -- the same can be said for people who are too thin.

Being fat doesn’t mean that you are LIKELY suffering health consequences. Maybe it’s more likely. I’m not really even sure that’s true unless you start talking about very specific things. I will wait, but I bet you can’t find a single study that says that fat people are overall more likely to die earlier or cost more in medical treatment than thin people.
Do you know what actually IS unhealthy with multiple studies showing an earlier death? Yo-yo dieting. Losing weight than gaining it back again repeatedly. And if you look at nearly every study on every method of weight loss, this is what happens 95% of the time.
So, when you are telling a gay person to diet, you are asking someone who is probably not sick to do something that has a 95% chance of making them more sick.

Health conditions associated with obesity: https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/obesity-health-risks#1

Lower life expectancy for people who are over 100 lbs overweight: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-finds-extreme-obesity-may-shorten-life-expectancy-14-years

The healthcare costs of obesity: https://www.stateofobesity.org/healthcare-costs-obesity/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a complete fantasy that excess weight (and I mean more than 20 lbs overweight) causes zero health problems.

When you have more weight for your body to carry, it necessarily puts more pressure on your muscles and bones. At the extreme, it's harder for doctors to do surgery because they have to cut through the fat.

For some people, they can't help it, but for many it's PREVENTABLE.

That's why it's completely different from having special needs and comparing the two is offensive.

You can say the same about being xs and s or at the bottom of your BMI. It causes health related problems.

Most Japanese people are size S or XS and yet one of the longest living nations in the world

It's objectively untrue that being at the bottom end of BMI causes health problems. No it doesn't. Provide evidence, Doctor BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a theory I have heard that I completely believe as they enter my 40s. Women that are objectively thin at this age are either a) genetically small. Look at their mothers and sisters. Or b) disordered.

You believe it is impossible for a 40ish woman to be thin through healthy behaviors? Really?

Hate to tell you but my mom has always been sturdy and cornfed but not exactly fat, and most of my relatives fall into the cornfed category. They are literally farm people. My brother and I moved to the Big City and are thin in our 40s. I'm not remotely anorexic but I'm objectively thin and fit. It is possible. We are both very into exercise, and grew up eating veggies, beans, etc and it stuck. But I will also eat a burger every now and then and don't shy away from treats like a piece of chocolate here and there. You can be healthy and thin. I would wager that most women at places like crossfit, otf, and solidcore are just really devoted to maintaining their health and wellbeing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an overweight friend who is really into body positivity and the HAES movement. I don’t really think much about about people‘s size and I‘ve never been overweight, so body positivity is something new to me. Why do people who love their bodies need to convince everyone?

Why is your question limited to fat women..what about fat men?

[Anonymous]

Ah. RDN. Those lovely ghouls who helped convince us all that dietary fat was the devil, that satiating butter, animal fat and egg yolks were worse for us than anything, that if we put butter on vegetables we might just as well not eat them. The period in which that was the advice coincided with America’s astonishing weight gain. Hmm.

No honey. Do you need a refresher course on the difference between "source" and "messenger"? Or maybe an RD hurt your family dog as a child, or something?

The scapegoat you're looking for is the USDA at the behest of elected officials from Midwestern farm states where commodity crops are grown.
https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga95/12DIETAP.HTM

How the Ideology of Low Fat Conquered America
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Volume 63, Issue 2, April 2008,
https://academic.oup.com/jhmas/article/63/2/139/772615

In relevant part:
"[t]he low-fat diet for weight reduction was already well in place before physicians and scientists began promoting it for cardiovascular health in the 1950s. The low-fat diet was part of our dieting tradition before the ideology of low fat conquered America."


?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a theory I have heard that I completely believe as they enter my 40s. Women that are objectively thin at this age are either a) genetically small. Look at their mothers and sisters. Or b) disordered.

You believe it is impossible for a 40ish woman to be thin through healthy behaviors? Really?

Hate to tell you but my mom has always been sturdy and cornfed but not exactly fat, and most of my relatives fall into the cornfed category. They are literally farm people. My brother and I moved to the Big City and are thin in our 40s. I'm not remotely anorexic but I'm objectively thin and fit. It is possible. We are both very into exercise, and grew up eating veggies, beans, etc and it stuck. But I will also eat a burger every now and then and don't shy away from treats like a piece of chocolate here and there. You can be healthy and thin. I would wager that most women at places like crossfit, otf, and solidcore are just really devoted to maintaining their health and wellbeing.

I would wager that many women using their ClassPass at Crossfit AND OTF AND Solidcore are part of the "disordered" group that PP cites as Option B above. They sure are … devoted, as you put it.

[Anonymous]

Someone who’s a size 16 is probably not affecting your life. Not spilling into the next airplane seat, not flipping out bc of the size of the seats in the movie theater, and not having a heart attack during a 5k or using the squat bar at the gym.

Also, stop saying that thin women are genetically blessed or totally disordered. That’s equally terrible.

Maybe if a body was just a body and people didn’t feel judged, shamed, or defensive, we’d all be more motivated to optimize our health.

I’ve been thin and I’ve been fat and I’ve been thin again. The objectification never stops, just swings from positive to negative and back to positive.

But OP, this is what I think: you can be healthiER at any size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Ah. RDN. Those lovely ghouls who helped convince us all that dietary fat was the devil, that satiating butter, animal fat and egg yolks were worse for us than anything, that if we put butter on vegetables we might just as well not eat them. The period in which that was the advice coincided with America’s astonishing weight gain. Hmm.

No honey. Do you need a refresher course on the difference between "source" and "messenger"? Or maybe an RD hurt your family dog as a child, or something?

The scapegoat you're looking for is the USDA at the behest of elected officials from Midwestern farm states where commodity crops are grown.
https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga95/12DIETAP.HTM

How the Ideology of Low Fat Conquered America
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Volume 63, Issue 2, April 2008,
https://academic.oup.com/jhmas/article/63/2/139/772615

In relevant part:
"[t]he low-fat diet for weight reduction was already well in place before physicians and scientists began promoting it for cardiovascular health in the 1950s. The low-fat diet was part of our dieting tradition before the ideology of low fat conquered America."


?

Struck a nerve, did I? Your sources confirm what I said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone who’s a size 16 is probably not affecting your life. Not spilling into the next airplane seat, not flipping out bc of the size of the seats in the movie theater, and not having a heart attack during a 5k or using the squat bar at the gym.

Also, stop saying that thin women are genetically blessed or totally disordered. That’s equally terrible.

Maybe if a body was just a body and people didn’t feel judged, shamed, or defensive, we’d all be more motivated to optimize our health.

I’ve been thin and I’ve been fat and I’ve been thin again. The objectification never stops, just swings from positive to negative and back to positive.

But OP, this is what I think: you can be healthiER at any size.

This is precisely what the fat acceptance/HAES is about - shaming fat people just makes them feel ashamed and encourages weight gain. Studies show this. Fat acceptance/body positive/HAES says you aren’t disgusting and you deserve to treat your body well, to exercise, to go and play with your kids, to swim in a pool, to dress stylishly, to embrace yourself and be happy. To be kind to yourself and be happy in the body you’re in.