Fat Acceptance Movement?

[Terry]

I'm gonna have to remember that.

sorry about that but so true. I wish I had a penny for every time someone said that to me. I'm back down to 108 lbs and that is very thin to most people but for me since I was 103 my entire life that 20+pounds on me felt like 100 to the normal person.

It's been a tough road and I now know the other half of people not like me. I never thought bad of heavy people in my life, but gaining that weight sure did solidify how not to judge other's based on weight.

Now other judgements...yeah I'm guilty....LOL

oh shaddup----you looked great the other night. 10 pound knockers look great on a woman like you.

*bonks you on the nose* I told you that was divey not me.

 

[Terry]

I'm gonna have to remember that.

sorry about that but so true. I wish I had a penny for every time someone said that to me. I'm back down to 108 lbs and that is very thin to most people but for me since I was 103 my entire life that 20+pounds on me felt like 100 to the normal person.

It's been a tough road and I now know the other half of people not like me. I never thought bad of heavy people in my life, but gaining that weight sure did solidify how not to judge other's based on weight.

Now other judgements...yeah I'm guilty....LOL

108 ... ouch. I managed to get up to 130 and still feel like a twig at only 5 feet.

Yes I know that is how most people feel and respond to me, but they have no idea. Think if you only weight 100 lbs all your life. Living in that body then out of nowhere the pounds come on? I would have gained more if I wasn't put on meds and a strong dosage as I was.

I still feel fat, and it's not an image thing with me. My clothes do not fit and I don't have the money to buy new ones. I want to lose that 5 lbs so i can wear my clothes.

 

[KittenKoder]

sorry about that but so true. I wish I had a penny for every time someone said that to me. I'm back down to 108 lbs and that is very thin to most people but for me since I was 103 my entire life that 20+pounds on me felt like 100 to the normal person.

It's been a tough road and I now know the other half of people not like me. I never thought bad of heavy people in my life, but gaining that weight sure did solidify how not to judge other's based on weight.

Now other judgements...yeah I'm guilty....LOL

108 ... ouch. I managed to get up to 130 and still feel like a twig at only 5 feet.

Yes I know that is how most people feel and respond to me, but they have no idea. Think if you only weight 100 lbs all your life. Living in that body then out of nowhere the pounds come on? I would have gained more if I wasn't put on meds and a strong dosage as I was.

I still feel fat, and it's not an image thing with me. My clothes do not fit and I don't have the money to buy new ones. I want to lose that 5 lbs so i can wear my clothes.

Wanna know a secret that most doctors won't tell you, worrying about weight will actually cause most people to shift the opposite direction. A very hard to find study actually proved this, but it's hard to find now because the pharmacutical and weight loss companies can't make any money off it. People who never worry about their weight are the healthy weight for their body type, whether they are bigger than the mythical "healthy" weight or smaller. The real test to see if you are healthy is walk a mile, if it's easy then you are as healthy as you can be, if not then you may need to change something.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I don't think we need a fat acceptance movement, i think we need a eat less and exercise more movement.

Or in some cases, surgery. Is that what worked for you?

 

[Terry]

walking a mile today is not going to happen. *lol* I probably could do it if my life depended on it but I'm not going to. I'm not very healthy because my diet sucks, for I'm a very picky eater. I'm not a vegertarian but pretty damn close and not by choice. I have a lot of hang ups about food. To me food is a chore, I don't enjoy eating but I eat to stay alive.
Things I don't eat:
Chicken
Pork (sometimes crispy bacon)
Mushrooms
Steak (well done about once a month with a lot of A1 steak sauce)
squash
all seafood

That's about all my dislikes...If I see any read beef, I probably won't eat any beef for months.

Some came about when I was pregnant and very sick, some from childhood memories of gross stuff i've seen.

I don't eat breakfast, don't eat lunch most of the time, at dinner I eat veggies, starch, fruit, salads etc. All the trimmings except for the meat. Obviously I don't cook either.

So when I gained the 20+ pounds with this diet I knew something wasn't right!

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Research has shown that in many cases a significant, underlying cause of morbid obesity is genetic.

Studies have demonstrated that once the problem is established, efforts such as dieting and exercise programs have a limited ability to provide effective long-term relief."
Causes of Morbid Obesity

 

[KittenKoder]

walking a mile today is not going to happen. *lol* I probably could do it if my life depended on it but I'm not going to. I'm not very healthy because my diet sucks, for I'm a very picky eater. I'm not a vegertarian but pretty damn close and not by choice. I have a lot of hang ups about food. To me food is a chore, I don't enjoy eating but I eat to stay alive.
Things I don't eat:
Chicken
Pork (sometimes crispy bacon)
Mushrooms
Steak (well done about once a month with a lot of A1 steak sauce)
squash
all seafood

That's about all my dislikes...If I see any read beef, I probably won't eat any beef for months.

Some came about when I was pregnant and very sick, some from childhood memories of gross stuff i've seen.

I don't eat breakfast, don't eat lunch most of the time, at dinner I eat veggies, starch, fruit, salads etc. All the trimmings except for the meat. Obviously I don't cook either.

So when I gained the 20+ pounds with this diet I knew something wasn't right!

Awesome! More for me.

 

[Amanda]

I don't think we need a fat acceptance movement, i think we need a eat less and exercise more movement.

Or in some cases, surgery. Is that what worked for you?

I've never been really fat Sky. I have eaten too much really good food since moving to the city and and have put on a few pounds. You'll have a hard time zinging me about my weight with all the guys that look at me like I was a sandwich. But keep trying if it will make you feel better, it doesn't mean anything to me when others have their issues. I only try to fix mine because they are the only ones I can affect.

FWIW, I don't care if others are fat. Not my problem. I just don't want t hear the boo hooing while you shovel fries in your mouth. That's when it's time for a big cup of STFU.

 

[LiveUninhibited]

Most people can gain or lose weight, but it's much harder for some people than others and weight per se is not equivalent to health. Our society has a problem with judging people based weight but it's not a level playing field and there is far more to a person than their weight. That should be the message for an organization that is an advocate for overweight people, not that losing weight makes you a sellout.

Here is the gist of it all:

Fat people may or may not be beautiful, it is in the eye of the beholder.
Fat people who accept themselves tend to be well adjusted and quite cool (my best friend is one).
Fat people who complain about being fat are either lazy idiots or denialists.
Fat people are normally no less healthy than us skinny fucks, actually, if you go by the BMI crap people who classify as fat generally have better health, the extremely fat though have about the same number of health issues as us scrwanny fucks.

Oh, and in case you didn't get it, I hate being skinny, and I have several health problems caused by being under weight, though according to the BMI I am average ... whatever, I would rather be fat and healthy.
Watch Penn and Tellers: Bullshit on Fat People ... it's a great episode and dismisses a LOT of myths.

The BMI is nearly worthless. A better predictor would be body composition, i.e. percentage of body mass that is not lean. According to the BMI bodybuilders are morbidly obese, but we know that Jabba and Arnold are not going to have the same health problems. The BMI also does not take many critical things into account such as body frame.

I don't think we need a fat acceptance movement, i think we need a eat less and exercise more movement.

Portion control is a simple way of helping to keep ones fat stores down. However, the major rules in terms of diet are to eat foods that make you feel fuller per calorie and are nutrient dense. Also, it is helpful to eat more often in smaller portions. People who skip breakfast tend to be fatter than people who eat breakfast even if the people who eat breakfast consume more calories per day, ceteris paribus. Given equivalent calories, the more meals you eat per day the higher your basal metabolic rate will be. Your body is designed to go into a sort of "famine mode" when you eat few meals per day, which translates into storing more calories as fats.

Thus the problem of yo-yo dieting. If you eat less, you will lose weight in the short term. But at the cost of metabolic rate. So then when you do eat more than you were on the diet, you will gain weight more quickly than before.

Exercising will increase your metabolic rate in addition to the additional calories burned during exercise. The benefits of exercise go well beyond weight management and even cardiovascular health. What people in our society really need to learn is that no medication, procedure, or any combination thereof is going to replace exercise.

Overall, it should be emphasized that people need to make changes in their lifestyle that they can stick to, and doing it incrementally is okay.

 

[editec]

I suspect that a lot of people are hypothyroid and not even know it. Not only that a new normal reference TSH range from 0.5 to 2.5 mIU/L has been adopted but not all labs or doctor's even know this. One of the chief symptoms out of many is weight gain and unable to lose it no matter how much they eat less or exercise.​

I don't know anything about science so that all flew over my head. What I do know is that everytime you hear about someone that was starved while they were in a prison they lost weight. I'm not saying people should starve themselves, I'm just saying that it sounds like BS to me when people say they can't lose weight no matter what they do. It seems like I usually hear people say it between bites of their bacon double cheesburger which has enough calories for 3 meals in it. Then they top it off with some fries and chocolate shake. All this happens over a wild game on the XBox too. So, ok, maybe there are a handful of people who really can't do anything about it but I don't believe it about the vast majority. And when there's nothing you can do there's still surgery.

It sounds to me that those people with eating habbits like that you are lumping them in one mold of all fat people. That is not the case. People with thyroid problems cannot loose weight no matter what they do.

I've been 103 lbs all my life, I couldn't gain a pound no matter what I ate. (suspected hyperthyroid at the time) within 3 weeks I put on 23 lbs and my diet didn't change. I took in few calories, with other symptoms I was finally diagnosed with Hypothoridism. I've read up on the subject and there are many people out there that are overweight not because of diet and lack of exercise but indead their thyroid. Read up on it.

I don't doubt it.

The only way my weight ever changes is if I pump iron.

My top weight ever was 175 and that took an hour a day lifting and a half hour biking.

Sans excercise I settle down to about 155 lb.

Been like that since the late 60s.

 

[catzmeow]

I have hypothyroidism, too. It was diagnosed about 10 years ago, when my son was 2. I take levothyroxin for it and have to watch my levels very closely because if I get above a 3.0 in my TSH levels, I will start gaining weight out of the blue. It is what it is. The biggest issue has been finding a doctor who will help me manage it. Some doctors think 5 is normal, some think 3 is normal, for me, I feel better at under 1.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Amanda dear, I do know a woman who is close to 450 pounds and she eats salads, with no dressing, a lot of fish, and drinks water. She doesn't take a lot of calories in a day, she works full time, and has 3 kids to run after. She is active, exercises, so there are people out there even though you never met one.

She really eats like this and weighs that much? Sounds to me like she isn't eating enough calories to sustain her size. She likely needs say 2,600 cals/day (I'm just ballparking here; there are formulas you can use to get more accurate numbers) and if she's only eating 1,600 cals/day, her body thinks it's in 'starvation mode' and will not let go of any weight. If she upped her calories and continued exercising (exercising is great but calories are the magic bullet in weight loss) she would likely lose weight.

If you don't eat enough to support your body, your body will think it's in 'starvation mode' and hang onto every, single lb. it can. Finding the right number of calories that will sustain you but not put your body into 'starvation mode' vs. eating over what will sustain you thus causing weight gain (or no loss) -- it's a tricky little sucker. And it's requires constant tweaking.

 

[jillian]

She really eats like this and weighs that much? Sounds to me like she isn't eating enough calories to sustain her size. She likely needs say 2,600 cals/day (I'm just ballparking here; there are formulas you can use to get more accurate numbers) and if she's only eating 1,600 cals/day, her body thinks it's in 'starvation mode' and will not let go of any weight. If she upped her calories and continued exercising (exercising is great but calories are the magic bullet in weight loss) she would likely lose weight.

If you don't eat enough to support your body, your body will think it's in 'starvation mode' and hang onto every, single lb. it can. Finding the right number of calories that will sustain you but not put your body into 'starvation mode' vs. eating over what will sustain you thus causing weight gain (or no loss) -- it's a tricky little sucker. And it's requires constant tweaking.

Actually, if she were eating as she says, her body would be in ketosis and she would be losing a great deal of weight (albeit in a very unhealthy fashion). And while you're correct that the body stores fat if it thinks it's being starved, it seems more likely that she either has a very big snacking problem or a serious metabolic problem. Either way, it's dangerous for someone to be 450 lbs.

 

[KittenKoder]

Amanda dear, I do know a woman who is close to 450 pounds and she eats salads, with no dressing, a lot of fish, and drinks water. She doesn't take a lot of calories in a day, she works full time, and has 3 kids to run after. She is active, exercises, so there are people out there even though you never met one.

She really eats like this and weighs that much? Sounds to me like she isn't eating enough calories to sustain her size. She likely needs say 2,600 cals/day (I'm just ballparking here; there are formulas you can use to get more accurate numbers) and if she's only eating 1,600 cals/day, her body thinks it's in 'starvation mode' and will not let go of any weight. If she upped her calories and continued exercising (exercising is great but calories are the magic bullet in weight loss) she would likely lose weight.

If you don't eat enough to support your body, your body will think it's in 'starvation mode' and hang onto every, single lb. it can. Finding the right number of calories that will sustain you but not put your body into 'starvation mode' vs. eating over what will sustain you thus causing weight gain (or no loss) -- it's a tricky little sucker. And it's requires constant tweaking.

That's the smartest response I have seen.

Something else many people deny or forget is that our bodies crave flavors based on what vitamins and minerals are naturally associated with those flavors, however with processed food this is no longer the case. If you crave sweet things it's most likely you need citric acid and natural sugars. Basically the best way to be sure you have a balanced diet is to eat anything that's natural your body craves, and in doing so you can actually eat as much as you want. What's happening with people who gain weight because of over eating isn't the amount they eat, it's the fact that what they are eating (based on the flavors they are craving) are not giving their bodies what they really need, instead it's filling them up with what their bodies may already have enough of.

I eat like a pig, but I only what what I crave, the only difference between me and many others is I don't eat junk food when I crave it, instead I find the natural food with the same flavor and fill up on that. Then if I feel like it I snack on the junk food. I eat a LOT of meat, and never lean (I can't stand anything that is "fat free") and I am less active than most people. I can sometimes gain weight ... in the winter, but normally I fall below average. When I asked the doctor how to gain weight they just looked at me funny and said to eat more, then after telling them that a large pizza is only the main course for many of my meals she almost had a heart attack. I have no problems with cholesterol in spite of a family history, and no weight gain in spite of my mother being 300 at my height.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Actually, if she were eating as she says, her body would be in ketosis and she would be losing a great deal of weight (albeit in a very unhealthy fashion). And while you're correct that the body stores fat if it thinks it's being starved, it seems more likely that she either has a very big snacking problem or a serious metabolic problem. Either way, it's dangerous for someone to be 450 lbs.

Yup. I know of no one who can live off of fish, salads and water . . . and not much else or not much more variety. How boring is that anyway? Her body isn't getting whatever number of calories needed in order to lose weight at a sensible and reasonable 1-2 lb. rate/wk. And yes 450 on anyone is dangerous, period.

That's the smartest response I have seen.

Something else many people deny or forget is that our bodies crave flavors based on what vitamins and minerals are naturally associated with those flavors, however with processed food this is no longer the case. If you crave sweet things it's most likely you need citric acid and natural sugars. Basically the best way to be sure you have a balanced diet is to eat anything that's natural your body craves, and in doing so you can actually eat as much as you want. What's happening with people who gain weight because of over eating isn't the amount they eat, it's the fact that what they are eating (based on the flavors they are craving) are not giving their bodies what they really need, instead it's filling them up with what their bodies may already have enough of.

I eat like a pig, but I only what what I crave, the only difference between me and many others is I don't eat junk food when I crave it, instead I find the natural food with the same flavor and fill up on that. Then if I feel like it I snack on the junk food. I eat a LOT of meat, and never lean (I can't stand anything that is "fat free") and I am less active than most people. I can sometimes gain weight ... in the winter, but normally I fall below average. When I asked the doctor how to gain weight they just looked at me funny and said to eat more, then after telling them that a large pizza is only the main course for many of my meals she almost had a heart attack. I have no problems with cholesterol in spite of a family history, and no weight gain in spite of my mother being 300 at my height.

I agree 100% Kitten. If you give you body what it needs first (vs. what your mouth wants) then if you still want 'junk' have some, you will likely eat much less of the 'junk' because you've paid attention to your body's needs. A lot of people eat mindlessly (I'm guilty of that myself at times). Paying attention really makes a difference. As for the fat free thing - fat takes longer to break down and helps satiate, making you feel full longer. I'd rather spend more calories on a full fat item (say olive oil in a stir fry) and stay full longer rather than going with 'non-stick spray' and being hungry again much sooner, because I'd end up overeating. Also, combining protein and carbs for meals and snacks goes a looong way in staving off hunger. I've found the best approach is balance and moderation. The government should try this.

 

[Againsheila]

I don't know anything about science so that all flew over my head. What I do know is that everytime you hear about someone that was starved while they were in a prison they lost weight. I'm not saying people should starve themselves, I'm just saying that it sounds like BS to me when people say they can't lose weight no matter what they do. It seems like I usually hear people say it between bites of their bacon double cheesburger which has enough calories for 3 meals in it. Then they top it off with some fries and chocolate shake. All this happens over a wild game on the XBox too. So, ok, maybe there are a handful of people who really can't do anything about it but I don't believe it about the vast majority. And when there's nothing you can do there's still surgery.

Watched a documentary on fat on PBS years ago...they took a bunch of thin convicts and stuck them in a room for 2 weeks and didn't allow them to exercise but allowed them to eat all kinds of fatty foods. Only one of them gained weight. They took too people one fat, on thin, gave them the same diet and exercise plan and it was followed. the fat man gained weight, the thin one lost weight.

Another study I read in college had a group of fat people weighed before they entered a bakery and weighed afterward. None of them had eating anything, there was a miniscule increase in their weight.

I guess what I'm saying is there is more to weight than meets the eye.

Most fat people have eating and exercise problems, but not all. Some of them have medical problems, since you can't tell which is which my just looking at them, why not just treat them all the same way you would anyone else?

One of my favorite bumper stickers:

Oh Lord, if I can't be thin, please make my friends fatter.

Acutally to be honest with you, heavy people do not bother me. I use to get really pissed off and would speak up from time to time when people would say to me "You are lucky to be so thin" I would respond to them with "If I was fat would you say to me how lucky I am to be fat"? That would shut them up.

Thin people have health issues also! We are all human, and that is how I see it.

I used to have a friend that was always a minimum of 10 pounds underweight. Oh if only I could have given her 10 of my pounds, we would have both been happy.

 

[Amanda]

I knew I'd catch crap for it, but I had to say it.

It's not about being down on anyone it's about people taking responsibility for themselves or shutting up. Of course I've never met every fat person, but everyone of them I have met that has said anything about it in front of me has moaned about how hard (or impossible) it was to lose weight. And all of them... ALL OF THEM... ate like I described and rarely exercised, if you could call finally getting tired of what was on TV and getting up to search for the remote 'exercising'.

Weight lose doesn't come easy to me, I can't eat whatever I want. If I linger too long over fattening items on a menu my thighs get bigger. But I try to eat healthy and I exercise. I want to drop 10-15 more pounds and I'll be happy but I'm not obsessed. But you don't hear me crying about how it's impossible. I want something and I'm working toward my goal. I can't believe someone that weighs 480 can't find a way to drop a few pounds.

Sorry, but this is one case where you are judging what you think people are based on what you want to be, that's just not right.

What's the judgment? That someone that's stuffing junk food in their body at an alarming rate and not exercising could probably be doing more to lose weight? Yeah I guess I'm guilty of that.

 

[KittenKoder]

I knew I'd catch crap for it, but I had to say it.

It's not about being down on anyone it's about people taking responsibility for themselves or shutting up. Of course I've never met every fat person, but everyone of them I have met that has said anything about it in front of me has moaned about how hard (or impossible) it was to lose weight. And all of them... ALL OF THEM... ate like I described and rarely exercised, if you could call finally getting tired of what was on TV and getting up to search for the remote 'exercising'.

Weight lose doesn't come easy to me, I can't eat whatever I want. If I linger too long over fattening items on a menu my thighs get bigger. But I try to eat healthy and I exercise. I want to drop 10-15 more pounds and I'll be happy but I'm not obsessed. But you don't hear me crying about how it's impossible. I want something and I'm working toward my goal. I can't believe someone that weighs 480 can't find a way to drop a few pounds.

Sorry, but this is one case where you are judging what you think people are based on what you want to be, that's just not right.

What's the judgment? That someone that's stuffing junk food in their body at an alarming rate and not exercising could probably be doing more to lose weight? Yeah I guess I'm guilty of that.

This is where you are wrongly judging someone. Most fat people do not, many follow the "fad diets" in which they do just the opposite, and while Americans are generally sedentary I see more "big" people out walking than I see skinny fucks like me. I walk a lot simply because I don't like cars so to get from one place to the next it's walking or sometimes the bus. You do realize that the diet industry, or "health food" makes billions. Do you really think it's skinny people buying this garbage? No, it's fat people made self conscious by people as uneducated as yourself telling them it's their fault even when it usually has nothing to do with them eating too much, but because they are eating too little of what they need.

 

[Terry]

I have hypothyroidism, too. It was diagnosed about 10 years ago, when my son was 2. I take levothyroxin for it and have to watch my levels very closely because if I get above a 3.0 in my TSH levels, I will start gaining weight out of the blue. It is what it is. The biggest issue has been finding a doctor who will help me manage it. Some doctors think 5 is normal, some think 3 is normal, for me, I feel better at under 1.

I suggest you print out this page and take it to your doctor!

http://www.thyroidtoday.com/TTLibrary/current/AACE Newsletter.pdf

Everyone is different, we finally found out that I do better with my TSH at .25. Anything over that I have classic hypo symptoms. Mainly migraine headaches, hair falling out, fatigue, feeling cold, and dry skin.

Even when my TSH was in the normal range of 1.71 I was extremely having a hard time with the symptoms. I finally out of chance (military moves) found a doctor that knew everyone was different and knew about the new lab levels.

Some doctors and most endo doctors are lazy! Good Luck.

 

[Terry]

Amanda dear, I do know a woman who is close to 450 pounds and she eats salads, with no dressing, a lot of fish, and drinks water. She doesn't take a lot of calories in a day, she works full time, and has 3 kids to run after. She is active, exercises, so there are people out there even though you never met one.

She really eats like this and weighs that much? Sounds to me like she isn't eating enough calories to sustain her size. She likely needs say 2,600 cals/day (I'm just ballparking here; there are formulas you can use to get more accurate numbers) and if she's only eating 1,600 cals/day, her body thinks it's in 'starvation mode' and will not let go of any weight. If she upped her calories and continued exercising (exercising is great but calories are the magic bullet in weight loss) she would likely lose weight.

If you don't eat enough to support your body, your body will think it's in 'starvation mode' and hang onto every, single lb. it can. Finding the right number of calories that will sustain you but not put your body into 'starvation mode' vs. eating over what will sustain you thus causing weight gain (or no loss) -- it's a tricky little sucker. And it's requires constant tweaking.

My point is she doesn't eat junk food, she doesn't gorge herself on food, she isnt' the kind to eat ice cream then drink a diet soda type. She eats healthy foods, and takes care of herself. She has had her thyroid tested but that was years ago. Her family (mother and father) are skinny but her great grand mother was very large. Her doctor suggested to her that it was genetic.