"I may be fat, but I beat my eating disorder"

[Tonus]

“You’re not fat, you’re X (healthy, beautiful, etc.)”

My question to these people is why can’t I choose all of the above? I personally identify as fat, but when did fat become the opposite of healthy or of beautiful?

Around the 1960s?

I get the impression that she treats it as two extremes, and she has chosen the one she feels is the better of the two. If exercising 90 minutes and living on 400-600 calories daily was harming her, why not find a level of either that wasn't so dangerous? 30 minutes a day of exercise and 1200-1500 calories. There, was that so difficult? Heck, even if she's a bit overweight (she certainly doesn't seem "fat" in that second photo) as long as she exercises regularly and is managing her intake of stuff like refined sugar and salt, she should feel just fine and age pretty well. Rationalizing that it's better to be fat than to be too thin and overtrained is like defending your pack-a-day smoking habit by admitting that you no longer use heroin.

[Dystopia]

Being healthy is not a synonym to physical weight, but psychological/mental and social health, along with physical well being. Being a little overweight with good mental health is much better than being anorexic and having to deal with the mental issues that come with it. I have a female friend who looks like that and she is a black belt on karate with silver and gold medals achieved.

This obsession with health and fitness not only harms people's well being, but also deviates us from more pressing matters - It also justifies the state suppressing our individual freedoms, such as the UK government's ban on cigarettes for people born after 2000, creating a social accepted discrimination for people who exercise their bodily autonomy and personal choices differently. No one is 100% healthy

I'd totally invite her (on the second picture) for a threesome.

[CapnAwesome]

1000 times the number of people die from obesity related complications as do from eating disorders. Also it probably isn't unhealthy to be a little chubby in your early twenties, but that chubbiness is extremely like to turn into full out obesity in your 40s and 50s. I don't think the girl in question in the article looks terrible (or particularly attractive) in either picture but her message is all fucked up. Obesity passed up smoking as the number one cause of preventible death, but obese people are concerned that some men don't find them beautiful?

Here is a hint, you can make as many terrible facebook posts as you like, say that fat can be beautiful as much as you like and it's never going to change the opinion of me or million of other men about what we find attractive.

[IATIA]

... stuff like refined sugar and salt ...

Salt is not bad for us. We are salt-water animals and require salt.

[Exian]

First, I don't think it was fair of her for condemning people for not criticizing her weight before. For one, she doesn't look dangerously skinny, and for another thing, it could be that people were being polite. Mentioning a person's weight at any degree is now known to be rude.

Then, she gains weight and pushes her image out there with a message of "don't criticize my weight", which, if we remember, is what she criticized people for not doing in the first place.

Now, I don't know about her exact health issues. I think the studies and statistics can give us a good idea, but if we aren't in the doctor's office with her, it'll be hard for any of us to know what's healthy for her. Could be she's the spitting image of her healthiest weight. Who can say? On the flip-side, by her promoting what could be her healthiest weight, it's likely that others who identify as fat, but who aren't at their healthiest weight, will be sign on to this, and be encouraged to stay at that weight; like Parkers Tan said, the usage of the word fat is ambiguous on a social, non-professional level.

I think mental health should be a topic of discussion, along side of this discussion. Take the after picture; instead of being happy with herself at that weight, she could be tearing herself down into depression, which could lead to anorexia, as before, or cause her to over eat. Maybe that's what she aims to combat with her message; a negative mental state.

So, the question could be: Is she doing more harm than good by promoting a pro-fat message? Is she just encouraging some ambiguous variety of fat-obese people to stay at their possibly unhealthy weight, and be happy with it? Or, is she giving these people a chance, by helping them dig theirselves out of a depressive state; a state that contributes to an unhealthy weight, be it anorexia or obesity?

[Napoléon]

No, those studies discovered that all other common morbidity factors normalized for, slightly overweight people lived longer than "normal" people as well. They didn't look into anything related to underweight people.

Emphasis on the 'slightly'...

Did it take into account the fact that many of those who identify as 'slightly overweight' on the BMI scale are actually not fat in the slightest, often times they're more muscular or even just built bigger? Yeah, didn't think so. Not a compelling study mate.

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1000 times the number of people die from obesity related complications as do from eating disorders. Also it probably isn't unhealthy to be a little chubby in your early twenties, but that chubbiness is extremely like to turn into full out obesity in your 40s and 50s. I don't think the girl in question in the article looks terrible (or particularly attractive) in either picture but her message is all fucked up. Obesity passed up smoking as the number one cause of preventible death, but obese people are concerned that some men don't find them beautiful?

Pretty much bang on the money.

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She may not be society's ideal of feminine perfection, but that is a social construct, not a medical opinion.

The question isn't whether she's good looking, it's whether she's healthy. I get the sense people just assume I'm attacking her and saying she's ugly because she's "chubby", if you prefer that term. For me, if you can be called chubby, you can be called fat. I guess I throw that term around easier than some people. People are acting butt hurt because I said she's fat, she still looks fat in the second photo quite honestly and I make no apologies for it.

[CapnAwesome]

This woman doesn't look fat, to me:



She may not be society's ideal of feminine perfection, but that is a social construct, not a medical opinion.

She might not be obese, but she looks out of shape for sure. I would be extremely surprised if she could run more than a mile or do a single pullup.

[The Valkyrie]

Sorry, I know it's a serious subject but I can't resist:

"I beat bulimia"

[Thumpalumpacus]

She may not be society's ideal of feminine perfection, but that is a social construct, not a medical opinion.

The question isn't whether she's good looking, it's whether she's healthy. I get the sense people just assume I'm attacking her and saying she's ugly because she's "chubby", if you prefer that term. For me, if you can be called chubby, you can be called fat. I guess I throw that term around easier than some people. People are acting butt hurt because I said she's fat, she still looks fat in the second photo quite honestly and I make no apologies for it.

No one's asking you to apologize, and the word "fat" doesn't offend me. I certianly wasn't assuming you were attacking her. However, you seem to be saying that she's unhealthy because she's "fat" or "chubby" based on her appearance, but getting upset when people say they like her appearance.

Internalized social attitudes have a lot to do with eating disorders, whether they are internalized in the sufferer, or in the person calling them "fat". Pointing that out, whether in her (which I've already done) or in you (which I haven't), is not an attack.

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She might not be obese, but she looks out of shape for sure. I would be extremely surprised if she could run more than a mile or do a single pullup.

I didn't make any comments about her ability to fulfill any physical criteria you want to lay on. My commentary was aimed at social attitudes and the role they play in eatng disorders.

[CapnAwesome]

She might not be obese, but she looks out of shape for sure. I would be extremely surprised if she could run more than a mile or do a single pullup.

I didn't make any comments about her ability to fulfill any physical criteria you want to lay on. My commentary was aimed at social attitudes and the role they play in eatng disorders.

I understand, although I think it's funny when people think that someone is somehow bigoted for not being attracted to out of shape women. I can't really help whom I find attractive, whether it comes from a social construct or not. For myself I need to date in shape women (my girlfriend is a serious athlete) Not only is everything better when you are in shape, but all my recreational activities involve being physically active. Although skinny is definitely not equal to being in shape.