(originally posted at Skinny Therese )
I recently found this article online. I was researching people who had lost 100 pounds or more and had kept it off. I want to get a sense of what that is like even before I get to the maintenance phase of my journey. I want to talk a little bit about fat shaming.
I want to lose weight because it will substantially improve my quality of life. I will not tire out as easily throughout the day. I nearly collapsed from heat exhaustion this weekend while sight seeing in DC. It was so humiliating! I had not realized how out of shape I was until that moment. When I drop this weight, I will not be at risk for obesity-related diseases as I get older. It will increase my life expectancy. It will be easier for me to get affordable health and life insurance. I will be able to wear skirts and shorts again, which are much cooler in the summertime, because I will not suffer from the very painful “chub rub” – which is what a co-worker of mine at the ACLU used to call the rubbing together of one’s thighs underneath one’s skirt. I will save money on clothing. Plus-size clothing costs more money. Clothing is available in so-called “standard” sizes (12 and below) at thrift shops and other stores for a fraction of the cost. I will be looking for a new job in the coming months and will need to find a new interview suit soon – it is very difficult to find a well-fitting suit when you are a size 16/18 and again, alternations cost $$$$.
When I describe myself as “fat” I do not mean that in a shameful way. I mean it in a merely descriptive context. I do not associate any shame with the word. Fat is simply what I am at this point in my life. I also find that when you remove the shame, the weight loss “work” itself – the changing of eating habits and the exercise – seems like less of a chore.
I was horrified at how Kirstie Alley described herself after she put her weight back on! She could have just said: “Hey I stopped exercising and let my portions get out of control, so I gained the weight back. I need to step back and look at where I went wrong and be more vigilant about my eating and exercise habits.” That would have been sane . Instead she said: “I was so much more disgusting than I thought!” ” [I] loathed [myself]!” Huh?
What is there to loathe ? You are a wealthy, successful actress and business woman! You got fat, you didn’t name names before a Senate committee. Like it or not, Kirstie, Melissa Joan Hart and Valerie Bertinelli inspire a lot of people. In America, we don’t have royalty. Celebrities are our “Royalty.” Even B-List ones. The way these women described their fat selves does not send a very good message to those who struggle with weight issues. Instead it tells us that we ought to be ashamed of our fat lazy selves and that we don’t deserve to live! And no feeling makes a gal want to swan dive into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s faster that that one!
I am not ashamed of my fat. I accept myself as I am, which gives me the courage and strength to do better by giving my body what it needs to be healthy. Take a lesson Kirstie.
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Ironically, Kirstie Alley's entire philosophy is probably getting in the way of her goals. People who "loathe" themselves and go on restrictive diets are far more likely to do unhealthy weight cycling (colloquially, "yo-yoing") and are less likely to maintain weight loss than people who learn to love themselves at any size. (As reported by Newsweek.)
Racism and sizism are not the similar at all and attempting to compare them is insulting.
With regards to the rest of the post:
http://kateharding.net/but-dont-you-realize-fat-is-unhealthy/
This is feminism, you can do whatever you want with you body. But for people not the poster who are reading this blog and do not know about the fat acceptance movement, I would recommend reading Kate Harding's "The Fantasy of Being Thin".
I just want to make sure that it is well-known that self-acceptance without weight loss IS possible.
I don't think the post title is necessarily referencing racism. ".... is the new black" is a catchphrase originating in the fashion and entertainment worlds, primarily. The phrase was kinda co-opted by the "Gay is the new Black" phrase used a lot within the past few years. Depends on what use the OP was going for.
The post title is definately not a racist remark.
Fasionwise you can match any color with black. Some color combination jar the jar the eyes. End of story.
Thirding that "X is the new black" is a fashion-trend cliche going back to the early '90s and has nothing to do with race.
I have to say, it's a little dismaying how frequently that Harding essay gets linked to on this site as a source of authoritative information. The levels of cherry-picking and basic misunderstanding of science in it are considerable, even within the less-than-confidence-inspiring standards of science/medicine/health reporting and blogging. She may have good points on a number of issues, but I really can't recommend her in any way on things science-related.
I second your opinion about Harding's pseudo-scientific approach. I thought I was the one who noticed that. Good to see that I am not alone.
Thank you! I keep seeing this essay linked to as a valid scientific article.
Science-blogging in general is hit or miss, and health related science even moreso.
Her social points are valid, but most of her scientific points are really iffy, and you can find plenty of new, less than credible studies to make an argument to the opposite.
Kate isn't a science writer and I think she'd be the first to admit that, but she is a well-educated woman who thinks critically about issues and delves into the potential hidden agendas or interests of groups that have demonized fatness -- and no, I am not a member of the Kate Harding fan club nor the Shapely Prose community. If you don't find Kate's essay compelling, I have compiled a list of least a dozen clinical studies from the 1990s and 2000s that indicate the dismal results of dieting and long-term weight loss that I can send you by email.
The title meant "Fashionable"- nothing to do with race.
Ok, I apologize for "the new black" comment. It was a cover story on "The Advocate" a while back and I thought it was referring to that quote.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
I want to lose weight because it will substantially improve my quality of life. I will not tire out as easily throughout the day. I nearly collapsed from heat exhaustion this weekend while sight seeing in DC. When I drop this weight, I will not be at risk for obesity-related diseases as I get older. It will increase my life expectancy.
You can do all of this without losing a pound -- and this from someone who has maintained a significant weight loss for six years now. What you weigh is not the end-all-be-all to health and appearances can be deceiving. I was morbidly obese before I lost 60 percent of my body weight via a serious eating disorder and became "thin." People complimented me copiously and assumed I must be so much healthier than before when in reality, I was never so sick. When I entered into recovery, I gained back 27 percent of what I had lost and am now considered fat again. I have a thyroid deficiency that requires me to see my doctor a couple times a year. At my last checkup a few months ago, my doctor ordered a battery of tests which all showed that I am super healthy in all regards (save for the minor heart condition caused by my eating disorder). Even my blood sugar levels are stellar despite having a family history of type 1 diabetes and a personal history of hyperinsulinemia.
I follow an approach called Health at Every Size, which is a holistic approach to health. HAES is weight-neutral (that is, weight loss is not a consideration) but I do credit it with helping me maintain a weight loss in a healthy way -- and as so many weight-losers know, maintaining a loss can be more difficult than losing it. HAES may not help you find greater affordable clothing, but I find that I enjoy greater health, both physical and mental, when I no longer let others dictate what I should weigh or look like. I think it's wonderful that you are taking steps to improve your health, but I just caution you in judging these improvements by the number on your scale.
I am the author of the post and I agree with what you are all saying with regard to crash dieting, i.e. eating in a manner that is so unbalanced that you cannot possibly maintain it and presents a long term risk to your health. I was also healthy at a size 12 but at a size 18 I decidedly am not. It would be nice to get back to my weight before law school to start with. That would be a 60 pound weight loss. My ankles never used to hurt before and I never had high blood pressure. Bottom line is that if you are under 5'5" and you are over 200 pounds - that is probably not good for you. But like anything, there are exceptions to this rule.
I was one of those people that had no physical problem that made me heavier. My thyroid is fine and I didn't have asthma or a heart condition that made it difficult to exercise. I was simply a sedentary kid with a sweet tooth. I managed to carry extra weight when I was younger without a problem, but as you get older, those extra 60 pounds can become a problem. I have developed health problems that I did not have before. I have never had an eating disorder. I have no dysfunctional relationship with food. I also do not associate the number on the scale with my self worth. I associate it with feeling better. Since beginning this weight loss program, I have been actually eating MORE then I did before and the food is of better quality. And I understand that healthy weight loss will be slow and that maintaining it requires constant vigilance.
So I feel really great about what I am doing, but I can understand people's concerns with regard to the judgment and shame that fat people endure - having been one my entire life, I can tell you that it sucks. Also I do not judge other size 18 people who are healthy and do not need to or who choose not to lose weight. That is their business and it has nothing to do with me.
I also do not associate the number on the scale with my self worth. I associate it with feeling better.
When it comes to evaluating my health, the only numbers I pay attention to are those that are most indicative of health -- blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, vitamin and thyroid levels, etc... You insist that you have healthy relationships with body image and food, so I'm just curious as to why you aren't using these numbers to measure your health gains by instead of your weight. I'm also curious as to how you don't seem to consider how the lack of accessibility and higher price of plus-size clothing and health insurance are also forms of fat-shaming.
My ankles never used to hurt before and I never had high blood pressure.
It sounds very much like taxgirl1 is using objective and relevant measures of evaluating her health rather than using weight.
I personally agree with the overall concept that fitness can be independent of weight. That doesn't mean that it always is. Reading taxgirl1's posts, it seems clear that her desire to lose weight is motivated by the fact that she physically felt better at a lower weight.
While it would be wrong for any of us (or for her) to extrapolate this into meaning that all overweight people should lose weight in order to feel healthier (which I note is very clearly not what taxgirl1 expresses), I think it's just as wrong to imply that she shouldn't try to lose weight. Particularly when she's been so very clear that what she cares about isn't her weight per se, but rather physical concerns such as joint pain and blood pressure that she has reason to believe are tied to her weight.
I agree strongly with unequivocal's post. I don't think that the OP is implying that this is the case for all people, only that it is clear that in her case, she physically feels better at a lower weight.
I also have to make a comment about the other health markers that you suggested - 'blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, vitamin and thyroid levels', isn't there an element of privilege in these suggestions? In order to check your weight (even as a proxy for health in your own particular situation only), you only need to buy a cheap set of scales. To test for blood sugar, cholesterol and the other numbers requires doctors visits, tests or much more expensive machinery. It requires visiting a doctor and maybe going through shaming experiences, and possibly missing work, on a regular basis to get updates of your progress. This is not going to be possible for everyone.