Why "fat shaming" is good for your health (running, exercises)

[LoriBee62]

Originally Posted by Aredhel

And THAT is what we need to change! And we can change it if we as a nation truly want to, although we're going to face massive political pushback from the corporate food industry and from its useful idiot minions who reflexively chant "Personal responsibility! Personal responsibility!" any time someone tries to point out that this is a societal-level problem.

I agree and well said. You can't stack the odds against people, then use "It's their choice" as your cop-out for a nation of sick people. Like Dr. Phil says, "How's that workin for ya?"

Originally Posted by Aredhel

You know what the biggest advance in treatment of high blood pressure has been? The development of extended release versions of antihypertensive drugs.

Yeah, don't get me started on Paula Deen either.

My hope is that the collapse of our healthcare system might actually have an upside in that people won't be able to afford to take a ton of expensive prescriptions to fix themselves any more. Which might turn people to healthy lifestyles to solve their health problems, which will increase the demand for whole food and holistic healing, and so the wheel turns.

Always follow the money. A massive, government-subsidized industrialized food industry creates a country of sick people which are treated through a massive government-subsidized pharmaceudical industry, and a billion dollar weight loss industry that stays in business through perpetual failure. With so much money at stake, there are a lot of hands in the pot working hard to keep things exactly as they are. And as long as employers and pension funds were footing the bill for health care, people didn't have much motivation to change. That foundation is crumbling, and personally, I hope it brings the whole house down.

[G0DDESS]

I fat shame the fatties, and I do it for the benefit of all.

No apologies.

[mkpunk]

Originally Posted by tlvancouver

Please research this as anorexia is a very complex set of psychiatric conditions and is about a life threatening disordered view of self and food. Read the psychiatric journals as I'm not a psychiatrist.

Just know that the poster above is wrong, very few anorexics are dieters taken to the extreme. Most have never been overweight and struggle significantly with OCD like thoughts. Some morbidly obese people may have similar thoughts but the vast majority don't.

Even though I don't believe the analogy works in other than a limited number of morbidly obese cases, it actually supports the proposition that we should not take an "I'm okay, you're okay" approach to obesity.

NO parent or family member would let anorexia go untreated, including forcing treatment to aid the patient as their thoughts are so disordered they don't see the harm they're doing. The same can't be said about morbid obesity.

Even posters above argue they should "just be left alone". That seems sad to me.

As of right now, there is no link between obesity and mental illness like say Anorexia and Bullima are. The only one is compulsive overeating (one that is NOT a credible and accepted illness. Maybe someday it will and there will be a link found but today there is none so your comment about treating it as a mental illness like Anorexia is off base.

The issue is weight is hard to talk about. Some people become anorexic because they are wrongfully fat shamed. Demi Lovato is a PERFECT example (though her issues were a bit more than just eating disorders.) She was shamed for being too fat and too ugly to date a Jonas brother by their teenage fans as well as bullying in school that led her to bulimia, drugs and self-harm. So yeah, fat shaming can end up being the wrong idea to help lose weight. At the time, Demi was a normal Disney female who was mostly slender but told she was ugly and fat enough to think purging food was the solution despite being mostly thin.

Originally Posted by lexdiamondz1902

We do shame people for all of the above (except for STIs because you could get an STI while only having one partner in your life. Hell, kids are born with STIs sometimes).

Yeah, doesn't anyone remember how gays and promiscuous heterosexuals who contracted HIV were shamed by many during the early days of the AIDS pandemic.

Originally Posted by tlvancouver

Except you miss the point, any comment about someone being fat is considered to be "shaming". It seems there can't even be a dialogue about this without that label being tossed around.

As stated before, the headline was intended to get dialogue going, which it has.

I'm not proposing we yell names at people, but normalizing obesity is NOT the answer, and that seems to be what those that are quick to allege "fat shaming" do.

Curing obesity IS about "fat people". The only solution is losing weight, eating less, more activity, more nutritious choices and CERTAINLY not raising another generation of obese kids.

So what should be done about the obesity crisis - lets agree active "shaming" isn't the answer. Do you believe "I'm okay, you're okay" fat acceptance is helpful or harmful?

Well it depends. Me making jokes about wrestlers like say Mark Henry, Big Show, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe being a "buffet battle royal" is not fat shaming. I am not doing it to their faces like say fashion police style shows on E! and other networks.

The problem is your view seems to be the way we fix obesity is saying "Hey fatty, eat salads not Fatburgers" rather than, "I think you should eat lean meats and salads rather than Fatburger hamburgers.

Originally Posted by jazzarama

It's you and a few others who want only to hear one thing --- overweight people have underlying medical conditions or psychological eating disorders, and anyway, so what, it's their business so don't mention health consequences. And if you do talk about health issues, it's a cover for shaming and hiding disgust of fat people.

I guess that's more than one thing.

No, I admit part of me being overweight is my choices, other parts was me being sick with asthma most of my childhood (until I was about 11/12) and having allergies to molds which made me not eat many good for you vegetables. Now I eat virtually any veggie besides greenbeans or lettuce. I'm also healthier now due to a gall bladder aliment that caused me to cut out carbs and eat mostly leaner foods with limited dairy (though the leaner meats I was always into doing.)

[WeHa]

Originally Posted by mkpunk

As of right now, there is no link between obesity and mental illness like say Anorexia and Bullima are. The only one is compulsive overeating (one that is NOT a credible and accepted illness. Maybe someday it will and there will be a link found but today there is none so your comment about treating it as a mental illness like Anorexia is off base.

You're 100% wrong. Look into binge eating disorder. It's far more common and prevalent than anorexia and bulimia and most who suffer from it are overweight. The good thing is that there is treatment for binge eating disorder that has a good success rate.

Binge Eating Disorder

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a type of eating disorder that is characterized by recurrent binge eating without the regular use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.

Symptoms

Frequent episodes of consuming very large amount of food but without behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting.

A feeling of being out of control during the binge eating episodes.

Feelings of strong shame or guilt regarding the binge eating.

Indications that the binge eating is out of control, such as eating when not hungry, eating to the point of discomfort, or eating alone because of shame about the behavior.

Health Consequences of Binge Eating Disorder

The health risks of BED are most commonly those associated with clinical obesity. Some of the potential health consequences of binge eating disorder include:

High blood pressure
High cholesterol levels
Heart disease
Diabetes mellitus
Gallbladder disease
Musculoskeletal problems

The prevalence of BED is estimated to be approximately 1-5% of the general population.

Binge eating disorder affects women slightly more often than men--estimates indicate that about 60% of people struggling with binge eating disorder are female, 40% are male.

People who struggle with binge eating disorder can be of normal or heavier than average weight.

BED is often associated with symptoms of depression.
People struggling with binge eating disorder often express distress, shame, and guilt over their eating behaviors.

People with binge eating disorder report a lower quality of life than non-binge eating disorder.

[Aredhel]

Originally Posted by G0DDESS

I fat shame the fatties, and I do it for the benefit of all.

No apologies.

Perfect example here of ignorance and arrogance in action, folks. Umpteen pages into this thread, and we get a comment that shows the person paid absolutely no attention to anything that was said during it. People like this, OP, are the MAIN reason having a conversation about this subject is so difficult. After a lifetime of dealing with morons like Goddess, fat people simply don't trust the motives of the vast majority who bring up the topic of weight (including most healthcare providers). (And the topic is ALWAYS weight/looks, never actual health.)

[iknowftbll]

Originally Posted by G0DDESS

I fat shame the fatties, and I do it for the benefit of all.

No apologies.

I could maybe appreciate someone who was honest about why they fat shame. I could maybe appreciate the honesty behind a statement like, "I do it for my own amusement" or "I do it out of a sense of my own shortcoming and by shaming someone else I feel better about myself." But the benefit of all? That's a steaming load of [edited] and everyone reading knows it.

[panasyncp17]

I skimmed through most of the thread so I apologize if it's been brought up already.

Obesity related deaths is just behind tobacco related deaths in the US. Why is "shaming" smokers generally accepted and "shaming" obese is generally not? Besides the obvious of smoking effects others in smell, second hand smoke, etc. While the obese are just hard to look at.

When talking about smokers you always hear "I have no sympathy for them, it's disgusting and their own choice." And that's fine. But say that about the obese and it's not.

Smoking is down as everyone is aware of the health effects and it's not as well accepted in society

Obesity is up as everyone is aware of the health effects and it is accepted as normal?

Comparing apples to oranges? Just I thought I had I guess.

[jazzarama]

Originally Posted by Aredhel

And THAT is what we need to change! And we can change it if we as a nation truly want to, although we're going to face massive political pushback from the corporate food industry and from its useful idiot minions who reflexively chant "Personal responsibility! Personal responsibility!" any time someone tries to point out that this is a societal-level problem. When 70% of the population is classified as being above a healthy weight, and when around 2/3s of the population is ranked on an activity evaluation as either sedentary or very sedentary, relying on individual efforts alone is just p*ssing into the wind.

We have to devise strategies that work with actual people, not theoretical people. Plans built around what people can theoretically do, rather than how they really act, always fail. (Just Say No? Abstinence-Only Sex Ed? We all know what rousing successes those were!).

We need to make eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise easy, or most people simply aren't going to do it.

You know what the biggest advance in treatment of high blood pressure has been? The development of extended release versions of antihypertensive drugs. It turns out that people are much more likely to be compliant with their medications when they only have to take one pill a day instead of four. Who'd a'thunk it? Only folks familiar with human nature.

Passing the buck to 'society' or 'the nation' is a feeble effort to release people from individual effort.

"We need to make ... getting enough exercise easy, or most people simply aren't going to do it."

What can be easier than exercising ? You can do it alone or with groups, expensively or cost-free, inside or outside, with TV or videos, at a gym or in your home or at work, almost any time of day.

We could, I suppose, ring a gong for everyone to attend exercise sessions in the town square and shame those who don't show up. Or reward those who do with smiley faces. Until then, however, sorry, I'll be a "useful idiot minion who chants "Personal responsibility! Personal responsibility!"

[Aredhel]

Originally Posted by jazzarama

What can be easier than exercising ? You can do it alone or with groups, expensively or cost-free, inside or outside, with TV or videos, at a gym or in your home or at work, almost any time of day.

None of which most people are ever going to do. News flash - there was NEVER a time in the past when the average person "exercised" (as in going out of their way to physically work out). In the past, people got the physical activity they needed in the course of carrying out their normal daily activities. THAT is what has changed, not the average person's motivation to work out (which was nonexistent in the first place).

We could, I suppose, ring a gong for everyone to attend exercise sessions in the town square and shame those who don't show up. Or reward those who do with smiley faces. Until then, however, sorry, I'll be a "useful idiot minion who chants "Personal responsibility! Personal responsibility!"

And you'll get nowhere with it. But have fun chanting!

[YourWakeUpCall]

I'm appalled that fat shaming is even a "thing". Since when is it acceptable to criticize/mock people for their choices? I'd like to see a "rude jackass shaming" trend wherein anyone who starts with this fat shaming nonsense is immediately barraged with insults regarding every aspect of their lives.